Anthropology
Global News Cultures
Module code: L6312E
Level 5
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Portfolio
On this module, you’ll explore news as a cultural and social practice, examining how it is produced, circulated and interpreted within diverse political, technological and media environments. Drawing on anthropological approaches, you’ll investigate the everyday worlds of journalism, from newsroom routines to the transnational movement of images, texts and data. Attention is given to:
- the symbolic power of news
- the social lives of media artefacts
- the cultural logics that shape journalistic norms and storytelling.
You’ll engage critically with concepts such as:
- representation
- framing
- mediation
- infrastructure.
You’ll develop skills in ethnographic and visual methods to analyse news production and reception as culturally situated practices.
You’ll learn to analyse platform logics and datafied news flows. You’ll build on your skills through:
- reflexive practice
- wellbeing-centred ethics
- case studies in climate communication and just transitions.
Module learning outcomes
- Explore how news cultures are embedded in and shaped by distinct political, economic, and sociocultural systems
- Critically examine how meaning is constructed through narrative, framing, and visual representation in news media.
- Use ethnographic and visual methodologies to investigate news production, circulation, and reception as culturally situated practices
- Reflect critically on ethics and wellbeing in digital news practices, recognising how representation can support human flourishing.