“Media, Politics and Reporting Elections” offered at UCP, Lahore

► University began offering courses for MPhil, PhD programs in March.

By Amber Mubeen

The Faculty of Media and Communication Studies (FMCS) at the University of Central Punjab, Lahore has introduced “Media, Politics and Reporting Elections” for its MPhil (Research and Professional Tracks) and PhD programs in March.

The main focus of this course is to share the different dynamics of media and politics to get an in-depth understanding about media systems and political structures of different countries, particularly Pakistan and the United States.

This course will also cover the different dimensions of elections and the role of media to report it. Focus will be on improving an overall understanding of the students about role of the media in covering elections, investigative reporting, report writing skills, use of social media tools and the practices of ethics while reporting.

Case studies, critical analysis of print and electronic media, and some readings will be a compulsory part of this course. Besides, different class activities will be arranged for the students to develop their analytical skills towards the course.

FMCS assistant professor Amber Mubeen is teaching the course for the MPhil program. For the PhD program, the course “Media and Politics” has sensitized the component of “Reporting Elections.” Senior professor Dr. Rasheed Ahmad Khan has a PhD in political science and contributes to various newspapers of Pakistan.

Students are excited to study this course as they find it a dire need of the time to explore the underlying relationship of media and politics.

FMCS will invite some professionals (who attended the workshop of Reporting Elections) to shed light on the said area. FMCS Dean and Professor Dr. Mughees Uddin Sheikh will also deliver one to two special lectures as a guest speaker. We will also request Arizona State University to have one to two Skype sessions with our students.