The Mass Media and Politics

Catalog description

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. COURSE OVERVIEW. Explores how communication practices construct, circulate and contest political ideas and authority. Examines both how media influence political attitudes, participation and policy outcomes, and how political identity and conflict are shaped symbolically through news, entertainment, digital platforms and public rhetoric. Approaches may draw from social scientific models of media effects or rhetorical and critical analysis of political discourse. Emphasizes case-based evaluation of messages, sources and strategies across institutional, journalistic and citizen communication. Course content may include material involving political disagreement, conflict or graphic representation, examined for purposes of analysis rather than endorsement. RELEVANCE AND APPLICATION. Develops literacy in how political messages are constructed, distributed and interpreted across media systems. Applies to careers in journalism, political communication, public affairs, advocacy, research, law and civic or governmental work. Supports informed participation in democratic life by strengthening abilities to evaluate claims, recognize framing and distinguish between reporting, persuasion and manipulation. DEEPENING UNDERSTANDINGS. Reveals how politics is communicated not only through speeches or news outlets, but also through satire, visuals, entertainment formats, algorithmic feeds and policy messaging. Demonstrates how political messaging often blends information, symbolism and emotion to shape interpretation. Highlights the ways messages are interpreted differently depending on audience history, identity and media environment. Clarifies how communication shapes what counts as “fact,” “controversy” or “consensus” in public life. TOPICS AND THEMES. May include study of political news coverage, campaign strategy, advertising, agenda-setting, framing, propaganda models, political entertainment, social media activism and theories of representation. Consideration of media regulation, government communication practices, the influence of media on policymaking and the production of ideology. Course material may draw on historical and contemporary cases from local, national or international contexts, including disputed elections and outcomes, political controversies and crises, disinformation and surveillance, and contested social movements. Prerequisites: POLS 206 or approval of department head; junior or senior classification. Cross Listing: JOUR 302 and POLS 302 .