Journalism, Communications and Politics BA (Hons)

Course overview

You will analyse and reflect upon changes to both politics and policy driven by the growth of social media, the communications industry and the 24/7 news cycle. In recent years, institutional politics have become more mediatised, and political leaders are now media-driven and speak in soundbites.

Political campaigning is no longer limited to pre-electoral periods and public relations strategists and political consultants have become more and more central to politics. These links are affecting policy too, both at the national and the international levels.

The spread of the internet and the development of social media has also brought changes to the relations between citizens and their political representatives, and constitute a new platform for citizens’ political deliberation, and for the organisation of activists, protesters, and new social movements (often at a transnational level). This new course aims to critically examine these and many other issues.

Career prospects

School of Journalism, Media and Culture

In 2016/17, 96% of the School’s graduates who were available for work reported they were in employment and/or further study within six months of graduating.

Our graduates find their skills to be helpful in a range of communications and public relations roles. Our alumni benefit from their ability to write copy quickly, effectively and for a specific audience. Our graduates often succeed in business due to their ability to structure a coherent written and verbal argument when pitching their business ideas.

Some of our graduates utilise their newfound knowledge of current affairs and world politics to pursue a career in journalism.

Because our undergraduate degrees do not provide journalism training or a journalistic accreditation, many chose to progress on to our Masters courses, such as broadcast, magazine, news or computational journalism, to gain their practical training.

School of Law and Politics

In 2016/17, 95% of the School’s graduates who were available for work reported they were in employment and/or further study within six months of graduating.

Politics at Cardiff is a respected recruitment pool for a variety of employers within this sector with the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales, the Department for Education, the UK Border Agency and a range of political parties all recruiting from the last graduating year.

Outside of the political sector, the degree is of interest to employers in both the public and private sectors, with graduates taking up management training opportunities within EY, Enterprise Rent A Car, Zurich Insurance and King Worldwide.