Media discourses
Order Description
You may choose any topic that involves some detailed analysis of media text(s). We recommend, however, that you work within one of the themes :
1. media discourse and science
2. media discourse and society
3. media discourse and international crises
4. media discourse and consumer society (advertising)
Initial analysis using one or more ‘tools’
• Transitivity
• Modality (opinion/certainty)
• Image/Multimodality
• Metaphors
• Conversation and interaction analysis
The aim is to demonstrate your powers of analysis of texts. In each case you might consider how the media’s “social construction of reality” impacts on agenda-
formation in public opinion and political decision taking.
The text(s) should be included as an appendix (not included in the word count). You should include a version of the text on which you have numbered the lines or
sentences for ease of reference in the body of the essay.
The focus of the essay should be a text or (short) texts, for example, news/factual or ‘opinion’ media reports, websites, social media, flyers, advertisements,
pamphlets, transcripts of interviews or debates and so on
The essay should include a section explaining your theoretical approach and method of analysis – that is, you should make use of (and briefly explain) relevant
theories or models. This means you should engage with theoretical models and analytical methods discussed during the module.
you should present one or two examples, or case studies, of media discourse and you
should at least begin the process of analytical discussion of them. You should indicate which theoretical
positions or models from the literature you have engaged with and/or specify those which you consider
you will have to engage with in completing the final essay. You should also indicate your interim
conclusions in terms of whether your examples present support for, or a challenge to, those theoretical positions.