Introduction to Mass Media - 1st year
Introduction to the public arts and the individual in broadcasting, journalism and advertising. Enables students to identify and analyze messages and images to which they are exposed as consumers of goods and services and as recipients of information from various sources, including print and electronic.
Objectives:
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Identify mass communication theories, trends, processes, and models;
2. Discuss various aspects of the media of mass communication, including historical development and the attendant economic, social and aesthetic impact on mass culture;
3. Critically analyze the ways in which mass communication media have influenced individual and mass consciousness;
4. Gather, identify and interpret mass media overt and covert messages;
5. Synthesize all course related material in an effort to develop strategies to interpret and assess the impact of the media in their daily lives.
Topics:
Course topics will include the following:
A. General Introduction to the Mass Media:
The importance of mass media
1. Mass media models
2. Mass media trends
3. Economics of the mass media
Theories of mass communication
1. Mass communication processes
2. Mass communication models
B. The Primary Mass Media
Print Media – Books, Magazines, Newspapers
1. History and influence of the print media
2. Conglomeration, globalization, demassification
3. Challenges facing the print media
Electronic Media – Ratio, Sound Recording, Television, Movies
1. History and important of electronic media
2. Technological development
3. News and entertainment programming
4. The computer age
C. Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations
1. News media traditions
2. Journalism trends
3. Importance of advertising and public relations
4. Research and psychology
5. Media relations
D. Mass Media and Society
1. Effects studies
2. Media-depicted violence
3. Media and cultural formation
4. Socialization, privacy and intrusion
Method of Instruction:
1. Lecture
2. Discussion
3. Analysis of media content
4. Small group activities
5. Debate
6. Audio visual
Types of Assignments:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply media theories to print and broadcast advertisements.
2. Demonstrate the ability to critically analyze persuasive techniques in television advertisements.
3. Demonstrate an awareness of mass communication theory related to the process of political campaigning via the media.
Sample Text:
1. The Media of Mass Communication (John Vivian, Allyn and Bacon, 1995)
2. How to Watch TV News (Neil Postman and Steve Powers, Penguin Books, 1992)
