King's College London

The Global Media Industries MA equips students with the skills needed for a career in the media industries. The course focuses on developing theoretical and sector-based knowledge, creating opportunities for practical experience and developing desirable and transferable skills.

Students graduate from this MA equipped with applied knowledge, real-world insights, a critical grounding, and a conceptual understanding of the field. The course is crafted to enable an understanding of production, distribution, content, audiences, communication and markets. These critical foundations create a rounded understanding of how the media (and their various organisational formats) work, with graduates being empowered to reimagine the future of the global media industries.

During this Global Media Industries MA, you will discover how cultural, social, economic, or political conditions shape media industries, learning from various local, regional, and transnational examples. You will also develop your proficiency in project management, research methods, communication, and collaboration, which are desirable for careers in the media industry.

You’ll begin this global media industries master’s with a broad critical introduction to the main perspectives and approaches related to the study of the (global) media industries. This is when you’ll consider the reach and integration within the industry; the production, distribution, and consumption of media; the role nations play in a globalised media industry; what it means for labour, and more.

You will then get a chance to apply your knowledge with a collaborative project that addresses a genuine challenge faced by global media industries. Weekly workshop sessions will guide you through all stages of the project. Not only will you put into practice what you’ve been learning, but you’ll also start building a range of desirable skills and produce something you can include in your professional portfolio.

The rest of the Global Media Industries MA modules will be chosen by you. You could study the relationship between children, the media, and culture, learn more about the entertainment industries, or examine how the media and the city connect. Alternatively, you could choose to explore immersive media and extended realities, discover what it’s like for people working in the cultural industries, or consider the aesthetic economy and aesthetic markets.

This master’s culminates in a dissertation project. You will have the option to work on a traditional dissertation or to use a creative practice to produce your own arts-based research project. You could also find an external arts, media, and heritage organisation to collaborate with on a live brief and produce your unique research to inform your dissertation. Previous Global Media Industries MA students have partnered with organisations like Battersea Arts Centre, Black Live Theatre, Arts Council England, Dash Arts, King’s Cultural Institute, Live Cinema, Glyndebourne, Mahogany Opera Group, Lambeth Archives, OnRoad Media, Royal Society, Arts Cabinet, Iconem, and Greater London Authority.