Mass Communication Undergraduate

communication theories

Media and Politics

New Media and Governance

Media and Democracy

to provide students with a thorough understanding of how news media differ around the world; * to provide students with knowledge of the major explanatory and normative theories of the news; * to equip students with the research methodologies needed for comparative media research, including analysis of official political and economic data, ethnography, in-depth interviewing, and content analysis; * to help students gain greater critical perspective on the way journalism is practiced in their own countries, and thus to appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of other media systems, vis-à-vis various democratic normative ends

How does journalism differ around the world? And to the extent that it does, why? Beyond the personal idiosyncrasies of individual journalists and media owners, which factors play the greatest role in shaping “national news cultures”: professional values and traditions, level and type of commercialism, government regulations, bureaucratic pressures or organizational dynamics, and/or audiences? Too much of our media criticism proceeds from hunches and assumptions, rather than real evidence, for the simple reason that it limits itself to a single national context (and often a single time period). Adequately sorting out the factors that shape our media environment can best be accomplished via comparative research. This course offers a conceptual roadmap to such a project as well as a close empirical look at the news media in a variety of national contexts. In addition to analyzing the factors that structure news media systems and the roles that media play in democratic societies, the course incorporates (1) a survey of research methods appropriate for comparative investigations; and (2) national and comparative case studies.