The difficulties confronting journalists in dangerous situations, as well as the technical limitations and opportunities of the communications technologies they employ, will be examined with a view to evaluating media performance and what can be done to manage these circumstances. This module examines the history and prospects of international satellite broadcasting. It is mainly concerned with the development and impact of transborder radio, television and satellite broadcasting with particular emphasis on the significance of news channels, audience taste and cultural impact, and the response of terrestrial broadcasters. It also looks at the political pressures on the formation of communications policy, including basic concepts for the analysis of policy formation. The second part of the course examines the different methods of paying for communications, the stages of the production process and the implications of the changing relationship between them for the shape of the communications industry.
Special attention is given to the economics of telecommunications and the problem of regulation.
The course will examine the means by which nation states conduct targeted informational activities in support of their foreign policy objectives. Different applications and roles of the external information services will be assessed in terms of journalistic ethics, approaches to the truth and the value of such activities in support of national and international objectives. The Objective of the dissertation is to allow students to develop the research skills required for carrying out investigations in the area of international communications, including the development of hypotheses, the identification of relevant sources and the evaluation of conflicting evidence. International Communications Programme are required to complete a dissertation of 12,000 to 15,000 words. This module includes preliminary training in carrying out the required research and the preparation of a research proposal as well as the completion of the dissertation.