The Culture of Media Companies

Course Objectives

This module aims at

• Defining “culture” in media companies
• Introducing the reasons why culture is relevant in understanding media companies
• Focusing on the role of history in creating, maintaining, and changing media cultures
• Providing historical case studies from the telegraph to the digital in order to understand continuities and changes in companies’ cultures and management
• Bringing students to acquire a long-term mentality when they think of (and in the future manage) the media

Course Description

After having defined what “culture” is in media companies, why studying it is relevant for media managers, and how cultures are shaped over time, this module focuses on different media cultures:

• Public and private cultures
• One-to-one and one-to-many cultures
• Convergence cultures
• Old media and maintenance cultures
• New media and innovation cultures
• Asian cultures
• Digital cultures

All these cultures will be analysed in theoretical and historical terms, with case studies of media companies from the telegraph to the digital. This is also an intermedia module, taking into account a wide range of media industries over time: for example, printed press, telecommunications, photography, music, broadcasting, digital media, and others.

Learning Methods

• Lectures from the instructors, both in class and online
• Invited speakers
• Debates among students
• Personal tutoring
• Presentations of students’ projects

Attendance

Attendance is strongly encouraged to join all the in-class and online activities and because class engagement is evaluated.

Examination Information

• 20% class engagement (group works, active participation)
• 30% research project
• 50% final oral exam

Required Material

A reader made of selected scientific papers and historical sources will be available to students at the beginning of the module and uploaded on iCorsi.