In June 2016, the first community of students graduated from the MSc in Media and Communication Studies at Lund University, Sweden. This book showcases a selection of outstanding postgraduate dissertations with contributions from Alfonso Forssell, Lisa Jalakas, Ally McCrow- Young and Javie Ssozi. Their work provides excellent examples of original and creative theses on fascinating topics in the area of media and communication studies. The empirical areas covered range from media literacy in Mexico and the role of Twitter in political communication across different East African countries, to consumer activism and animal rights, and audience perspectives on feminist advertising. All four texts were originally presented and evaluated as part of the final thesis exams in May 2016, in which they were awarded top grades. During the autumn of 2016 they have been revised and edited for publication in the publication series Förtjänstfulla examensarbeten i medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap (FEA), which was launched in 2008 by the department of Communication and Media to bring attention to and reward student work of a particularly high quality. The four theses have been chosen for publication as they, through the skillful combination of empirical evidence and theoretical analysis, demonstrate why and how the study of media and culture matters in understanding knowledge, power and subjectivity in our experience of public life and the world today.
