Lucy Johnson (MA in Media, Communication and Politics)

Posted on: 5 November 2024 in Posts

Youth and Campaigns Officer for Tim Farron MP and the Liberal Democrats

I chose to study an MA in Media, Communication and Politics at the University of Liverpool as the relationship between politics and the media has always intrigued me, and I was eager to learn more about how this impacts on the current political climate.

I really enjoyed aspects of all the modules I studied, but in particular Mediating the Past, and Media, Culture and Everyday Life are two that stand out for me. Mediating the Past allowed me to link my media studies to my love of history and the city of Liverpool, while Media, Culture and Everyday Life provided me with the opportunity to look into the effect social media has on our daily lives.

For my dissertation, I chose to explore how female politicians and panellists were portrayed by the media during the 2016 EU Referendum TV debates. This was a topic which I was personally invested in and something which I wanted to analyse further in order to prove my theory. Here, the Research Methods module was very useful in providing me with different detailed methods of analyses and ideas which I subsequently made use of in my final project.

After finishing the course, I landed an internship with Liberal Democrat MP, Tim Farron. His office were impressed with my knowledge and skills in the role, and subsequently my contract was extended for another twelve months. As a result I have experienced, a council by-election, local elections, European elections, and a snap General Election - it's been a busy year and a half!

Overall, I would highly recommend this course to prospective students as provides you with both the knowledge and skills to pursue a career in the dynamic world of politics and media.