Course summary

Undertaking a PhD in journalism and public relations provides you with access to a wide range of professional and academic opportunities including quality-assured supervision, producing articles for various media and delivering lectures. You will become part of the Media and Cultural Studies team contributing to a vibrant learning community. During your studies you will have the opportunity to present papers at conferences, write articles for academic journals and contribute articles to edited collections alongside other publications. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to enrol on a nationally recognised Teaching in Higher Education qualification, allowing you to host undergraduate and postgraduate seminars. We are a leading research unit at Newcastle University with a strong PhD culture. Our research environment supports world-leading, internationally excellent scholarship. Our approach is distinct and interdisciplinary, focusing across theoretical and applied areas. Our research is characterised by a critical cultural studies approach, with PhD supervision normally available in the following research areas: •journalism work in transition; the political economy of local media; new understandings of 'local'; widening diversity in the news workforce; journalism education (Mr David Baines) •social media; intimacy and changing social relationships; changing media technologies and personal life; gender, media and culture (Professor Deborah Chambers) •public relations; corporate social responsibility; ePR (Ms Laurel Hetherington) •journalism; discourse; ideology; political communication; media theory; national identity; war, politics and propaganda (Dr Darren Kelsey) •critical discourse analysis; discourse analysis of new (social) media; national identity; political discourse analysis; ethnicity and immigration; international politics; the Middle East (Dr Majid Khosravinik) •financialisation; the political-economy of Britain since the 1970s; political and financial elites; the UK Treasury; political rhetoric and its construction; the rhetoric of economics; heterodox economics •data journalism; infographics; news values; newswork ethnography; online journalism; search engine optimisation; social media (Murray Dick). Delivery: This programme is taught on the Newcastle campus. Attendance is flexible and agreed between you and your supervisors depending on the requirements of the research project. Facilities: As a postgraduate research student in multimedia journalism and public relations you will benefit from the Culture Lab facilities, the University's interdisciplinary research and practice centre.