Digital Media and Society (MA)

Explore how new, digital media impact societies in crucial ways and learn how digital media and technologies shape industry, culture, politics, human rights and the environment.

The emergence of new digital communication platforms has had significant impacts. Audiences are transforming into media producers; new business models are emerging; social media campaigns create new forms of politics; digital culture highlights practices of sharing and participation; and data collection and analytics affect an increasing part of our lives.

This offers new possibilities for digital citizens, but it also raises new questions regarding classic notions of privacy and freedom of expression, and it renders information and digital infrastructure a key resource.

MA Digital Media and Society addresses current challenges of online communication and internet studies. It enables you to develop specialist knowledge in areas such as social media, big data, citizen journalism, digital culture, the creative industries, internet governance, and digital rights. It also provides a theoretical and methodological grounding in media and communication studies.

This course provides you with a thorough understanding of the current transformations and with the analytical skills to investigate digital media in the context of social, political and economic change. We ask how online communication is shaped by users, states and businesses, and how our society is, in turn, affected by digital media.

This course draws on the strength and diversity of Cardiff University’s staff, giving you a unique opportunity to work with academics whose research explores issues such as citizen journalism, online activism, big data, internet surveillance, internet governance and digital rights.

You can get involved in our Research Group Digital Media and Society and thus become part of a dynamic research environment.

Please note this course focuses on academic research and does not provide practical training.

Career prospects

Graduates of our MA in Digital Media and Society are employed in a range of occupations, including the non-profit sector, digital business, online journalism, and regulatory institutions. They take on leading roles in social media campaigns, internet policy, human rights organisations, journalism, and creative industries.

As an academic course focusing on critical analysis, this programme also provides a perfect starting-point for PhD research and prepares you for careers in research institutions, both at university and other public or private institutions.

Please note: the Digital Media and Society (MA) is not a vocational journalism course. Students interested in this type of programme should apply for the International Journalism (MA) programme.