Media and journalism studies

The aim of the new doctoral study program Media and Journalism Studies is to acquire key professional knowledge and skills in the field of media and journalism studies. Graduates will get a deep theoretical insight into the subject matter of their dissertation. They will also acquire expertise and deepen their skills in media-science research methods. During the course of study, they will partake in compulsory foreign academic internships and optional internships (i.e. in media organizations, analytical agencies, etc.). The graduate will be prepared not only for further academic careers in the field (for example, as a university lecturer, researcher, member of international research teams), but also for media-science research careers in practice (for example, as an analyst focused on the research of online media users, and on the monitoring of mediated topics, such as being the head of research teams and analytical departments of media houses, or as analyst-managers) and in the management of media organizations.

The program also takes into account the results of internal research conducted in 2016 by the Department of Media Studies and Journalism among Master’s degree graduates. This research has shown that graduates, due to their experience in media practices, recommend an increased program emphasis on internationalization, greater theoretical depth and breadth of knowledge and related research/analytical skills, and stronger skillsets regarding their ability to engage in public debates on the Czech media landscape, as well as pursue domestic and foreign grant projects.

Practical training

Existing data sets from previous and current research, including online accessible content, photographic or video materials, or examples from their own research practices are utilized in the program. In addition, direct engagement between elite foreign researchers as well as domestic and foreign experts from professional analytical and media practice is also employed. However, the primary emphasis is placed on experiential education and the development of theoretical, methodological, professional and other key skills under the direct guidance of supervisors and other internal and external educators and on intensive work with specialized literature. In particular, in courses focused on extending students’ research and publishing skills, there is a deepening (or re-introducing) of methods based on the use of hardware and software research, analytics and publishing tools (tools for online data collection and management, online tools for experimental methods, eye trackers, collaboration tools, etc.).

The offered course Analytical Practice is a professional internship in the non-academic sphere, typically in research and marketing agencies (CVVM, Focus, Median, etc.) and analytical departments of media organizations. The internship ranges from 2 to 12 weeks. The aim of the course is to provide doctoral students with intensive contact with non-academic research and analytical practices, which is necessary both for the creation of functional relations between academic and non-academic research and for providing knowledge and competencies that will facilitate the student's possible employment in the non-academic sphere.

Further information

http://medzur.fss.muni.cz/en

https://www.fss.muni.cz/admission/phd_studies?lang=en

The primary sphere of graduate employment is the academic sphere, both domestic (where the graduates of doctoral programs are a major source of personal reproduction of the domestic field community) and foreign. In the domestic context, there is a lack of high-quality graduate students in doctoral studies, the result of which is an scholarly community somewhat (and atypically) saturated by graduates within adjacent academic disciplines (sociology, political science, psychology).

In relation to non-academic career paths and to the employability of graduate students in the field of Media and Journalism studies in the private sphere and public and state institutions, the following options are offered for PhD students:

The media and communications services markets in the Czech Republic and public and political figures need doctoral graduates of media and journalism programs focused on the research of media, media audiences and online and mobile technology users; graduates with such expertise and analytical/methodological capabilities can enable agents involved in the production of media content and services to respond strategically to social and technological changes that rapidly and dramatically transform this realm.

The emergence of new (digital, network and mobile) media is a major challenge for the media industry and the public and political sphere associated with the growing need for media analysts in the field of media studies. The entry of new media into the audio-visual sector and reporting on one hand, and into the sphere of public, political and commercial communication on the other, is linked to a distinct and ever-increasing transformation of media audiences' behavior and the fragmentation and individualization of the production and economic strategies of broadcasters and content producers. Therefore, a systematic understanding of this transformation, and, hence, the ability to adequately respond to it, cannot be done without the analysis of both media audiences and their actions and the content they consume. The need for experienced analysts is growing at the same time not only for the media industry, but also for data and communication service providers who, while having vital data packages mapping their users' behavior, are actually unable to interpret this data in a more sophisticated and plausible manner without collaboration with media experts.

No information available