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 166-006 Media, Politics and Society

Note

Formerly available as 166-107. Students who have completed 166-107 are not eligible to enrol in this subject. To be cross-listed for Sociology students

Availability

1st year

Credit Points

12.5

Coordinator

Tim Marjoribanks

Semester

2 (view timetable)

Contact

Two 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week

Subject Description

This subject is intended to provide students with an introduction to the ways in which news in constructed in the media, and to the social organisation of the media. The media is a crucial political and social actor in societies such as Australia in which information is becoming an increasingly valuable resource. We will undertake a critical analysis of television and newspaper reporting in the Australian context, analysing issues including the processes by which stories come to be considered 'newsworthy', and how various social groups are represented in the media. This will involve consideration of the extent to which mass media is able to generate and influence social and political agendas. We will also focus on the social organisation of the media, uncovering patters of ownership, occupational structures, and new communication systems. The social organisation of the media will be explained in the context of developments in information technology, globalisation and cultural information.

Assessment

Written work totalling 4000 words.

Prescribed Texts

  • S Cunningham & G Turner (eds), The Media in Australia: Industries, Texts and Audiences. (2nd ed) Allen & Unwin 1997.


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