MJ4600 Gender, Journalism and Social Media Course description

Through this course the students shall acquire an overall insight in both the historical development of media and the social construction of gender, and the impact of gender for different media expressions, for the role of journalists in society and for journalism in general. The students will be exposed to recent theories of gender and society and will improve their knowledge about research on gender, journalism and media, with special emphasis on social media. The students will work theoretically and analytically with studies of journalism in different fields, for example the history of journalism, news journalism, cultural journalism, and the relationship between social media and journalism, and do empirical investigations in the field through a term paper.

No prerequisites

The student should have the following learning outcomes upon successful completion of the course:

Knowledge

The student

• has an advanced grasp of important theoretical approaches to the field and this field's relation to other fields of media research
• has a specialized knowledge of the relations between societal processes and gender issues and the main discourses on gender both in industrialized and developing countries
• has acquired a comprehensive overview of the challenges faced by journalism and media when it comes to gender representation and the role of gender in the journalist profession, and also knowledge about the ways in which social media are gendered

Skills

The student

• can analyze different media representations and institutions by applying various streams of gender theories based on advanced studies of gender and media
• can apply a variety of methodologies to analyze media texts in order to reveal gendered stereotypes and to discuss and develop alternative coverage, for example a more balanced and gender sensitive journalism
• can analyze in-depth the impact of gender for the development of the journalist profession and its priorities, and the ways in which social media are gendered and influence mainstream journalism

General competence

The student

• can analyze and communicate gender-related professional issues as well as questions when it comes to integrating gender in media research ethics
• has acquired profound competence through independent research work on gender, journalism and social media
• has acquired journalistic skills and insight through in-depth theoretical knowledge as well as practical analytic work within the research area of media and gender

The course includes lectures, discussions, multimedia conferences and group work.

No course requirements

A term paper of 13-16 pages, 1 ½ line space, Times New Roman size 12, within the thematic field of the course.

The term paper may be written in either English or Norwegian.

Students who have failed the regular written examination may submit a revised version of the exam one time.

Students with legitimate absence are entitled to submit the term paper to the new examination.

All utilities are allowed as long as the source reference rules are followed.

The paper is assessed according to a grading scale where A (highest) to E (lowest) denote a pass and F denotes a fail.

Assessment is done by an examination committee with one internal and one external examiner.