The French Media: From Ink to Link

This subject will consider the French news media landscape from a historical point of view where the French nation-state played a central role as a regulatory body, to new forms of ownership and deregulation in global contexts of news production and consumption. Students will examine the historical development of the French press in light of changing technological, political and economic factors. The relationship between political satire, caricature, scandals and censorship will be considered and the central role of the French printed press in shaping public opinion and sustaining national identity problematised. Students will also be introduced to a range of discourse analysis techniques to examine critically media discourse as it unfolds in French/French speaking contexts. This subject will be taught and assessed in French. Prior experience in Journalistic Studies is neither assumed nor required.

• 1Gain a comprehensive understanding of the wider literary or linguistic methods used in the specialist fields of French Studies as well as of general research and analytical skills
• 2Reflect on their identity as a bi/multi lingual person and as a global citizen
• 3Learn to do self-directed small research projects in the field of French Studies and to locate and critically analyse pertinent research literature in both French and English
• 4Proficiently employ learning and research technologies in French and English
• 5Interpret and give a critical analysis of French journalistic texts including satire, caricature or cartoons and other multimodal texts
• 6Gain a solid understanding of the development of French journalism from the Revolution period to the present time, the printed press in particular
• 7Gain in depth appreciation of the various genre of French journalistic texts in relation to socio-political contexts, purpose and audience
• 8Master the skills to work responsibly and autonomously in a team through effective collaboration with others.