SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

CMNS 331-4

POLITICAL COMMUNICATION: ANALYZING NEWS DISCOURSE

Prerequisites:

CMNS 230 or 235 or permission of the instructor (which is normally rated on the basis of 60 credit hours). Note: Students who have taken CMNS 341 for credit may not take this course for further credit.

Course Themes:

Much of what we know, or think we know, about the political world is derived from the mass media. In this course we will examine the news media as a set of institutions which has important political and ideological implications. We focus on news discourse as a form of political communication, and consider what impacts news content, and what methods can be used to analyze the ways news media creates meaning.

Students should be forewarned that this course has a strong emphasis on theory. We will review, among other concepts: critical and cultural theories of news, political economy of news, the role of news media in democratic societies, and theories of discourse analysis and ideology.

There will be a two-hour lecture each week and weekly one-hour tutorials.

NOTE: There will be tutorials in the first week of classes.

Readings:

There are four required texts and one recommended text. Additional readings may be assigned in the extended course outline, available at the first class. Students will be expected to monitor the news media regularly and use examples in their tutorial presentations.

Required Readings:

Stuart Allen, News Culture. (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1999
Robert Hackett and Yuezhi Zhao, Sustaining Democracy? Journalism and the Politics of Objectivity (Toronto: Garamond, 1998).
Robert W. McChesney, Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy. (New York: Seven Stories, 1997).
Political Communication Courseware. Compiled by Kathleen Cross. Cmns-331, Summer 2002.

Recommended Readings:

Tim O'Sullivan, John Hartley, et al. Key Concepts in Communication and Cultural Studies, 2nd Edition. (London: Routledge, 1994).

Evaluation:

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will follow Policy T10.02 with respect to “Intellectual Honesty”, and “Academic Discipline” (see the current Calendar, General Regulations Section).