Why Does Media Matter for Development? (FutureLearn)

Explore how the media can help to tackle poverty and inequality all around the world. Learn why the media matters for international development. This comprehensive four-week course will show you the ways that international development is conceptualised, imagined and communicated as an area of study. You’ll decipher the ways in which these understandings impact individuals living in different parts of the world, and how the media can shape, address and enhance key ideas and debates.

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Discover the integral role of the media in international development

Through a range of different case studies - including in Kenya’s capital Nairobi - you’ll discover the integral role of the media and communication in development processes and social change.

You’ll address key ideas, concepts and debates about media representations of development, community media, participatory media, public media and the use of social media within international development campaigns.

Identify how the media can tackle uneven international development

You’ll also get to grips with how the media can tackle uneven international development - and the poverty that comes with it - as well as how the media can promote further development.

Learn from international development experts at the University of East Anglia (UEA)

The School of International Development at UEA is a leading global centre of excellence in research and teaching in international development.

You’ll be learning from experts within the international development field, and will be under the guidance of academics who regularly advise on policies for poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.

Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction and representations of development

Week 2: Participatory and community media

Week 3: Social media and development

Week 4: Public Media
What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

- How media can tackle poverty and inequality, around the world

- The key ideas, concepts and debates in media and international development

- A range of case studies to discover the role of media and communications in development processes and social change

- Media representations of development, community media, participatory media, public media and social media in campaigns

- How media promotes development in your country / community and in other parts of the world