Credit Hours: 4 -- Course Prerequisites: None   
Office Location: Commons 138   
E-mail: shadjiyannis@shawnee.edu   
Tel. #: (740) 351-3445 -- Fax #: (740) 351-3153 

This course examines the increasingly important role the mass media (both news and entertainment) play in our lives as citizens of this nation and residents of this world. This course will study the way the media “invent” a particular “social construct” and daily act to refine it, reinforce it, and propagate it further. As a result, a particular socialization occurs the essence of which, once understood, can provide powerful explanatory tools in understanding the behavior of polities. Various technologies of delivery, as important as the construct itself, of “mediated politics” will be examined from the local- to the global-reach level of the media. 

Upon completion of this course students will be knowledgeable of the various debates and fundamentals of the study of communication (e.g. public relations, propaganda, manipulation), and political socialization, journalism, evolving computer-driven technologies, and international relations. Students will be able to recognize the crucial importance of the media and their messages to their lives.

• The News about Democracy: An Introduction to the American Political Information System.

• News Content: Four Information Biases that Matter.

• The Political Economy of News.

• How Politicians Make the News.

• How Journalists Report the News.

• Inside the Profession: Objectivity and Other Double Standards.

• The News Public: Information Processing and Public Opinion.

• All the News that Fits Democracy: Solutions for Citizens, Politicians, and Journalists.

Students have up to two days from the time a missed exam is scheduled to take a make-up exam. An Excused Absence Form obtained from the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs must be provided in order to be able to take the make-up exam. Make-ups may be granted only for documented personal health or other care giver emergencies.  The make-up exam may differ from that given to the rest of the class.

There is no acceptance under any condition for academic dishonesty, whether it is plagiarism or other forms of cheating. Plagiarism is defined, according to Webster’s College Dictionary, as “the unauthorized use of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own.”  To avoid plagiarism it is necessary to place anything that is not yours in quotation marks and provide a citation for its source.

Students caught plagiarizing or cheating will receive an F in the course and they will also face disciplinary action which could lead to probation, suspension, or dismissal from the university.  For details on SSU’s academic misconduct policies consult your student handbook at http://www.shawnee.edu/pub/sah/StudentHandbook.pdf

If you have a specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disability and require accommodations, please let me know early in the quarter so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. By law, it is your responsibility to provide documentation of your disability to the Office of Disability Services, located in the Student Success Center , Massie Hall, (Ph) 351-3594, PRIOR to receiving services.

The pedagogy includes text readings, class lectures and discussions, news media content analysis, in-class film presentations, and, for extra credit, written reviews of recommended motion pictures viewed at home.

Students will be evaluated by two in-class essay exams (each worth 30% of the total grade), a book review (worth 30% of the grade) and by class attendance, scholarly behavior, and participation in discussions (10% of the total grade). The exams – a mid and a final – will cover roughly equal parts of the text. The book review is due on day 1, week 9. No late reviews will be accepted. Click here for general instructions for a successful book review. Students will be required to make a brief oral in class presentation of the book reviewed. Additional credit will be given to students who view at least 3 of recommended movies and submit reviews discussing and evaluating the movies’ messages and situations.

Students are encouraged to utilize their skills in doing all of the following for a better grade: 1) read assigned material in advance of the class; 2) keep updated of current events pertaining to the course’s subject; 3) voice questions and participate in discussions in and out of class; and 4) attend on a regular basis.

Bennett, Lance W (2005) News: The Politics of Illusion 6th Ed, New York: Longman