POLITICAL SCIENCE 432 - Ideological Media

Institution:

Hobart William Smith Colleges

Subject:

Description:

This seminar is focused on the media. In his book, The Sociology of News, Michael Schudson describes the traditional functions of the media in a democratic society. He argues that the media are here to inform us, to give us the kind of information which will allow us to make informed political and social decisions. Without the media as an "objective" conveyer of information, we are trapped by politicians who will often slant a story to support their political position (don't we all do this ). Thus, to make a rational decision, we need facts - and we also want to do much more than listen to "both" sides of the argument. In a democratic society, we depend upon the "objective" or "mainstream" media to supply us with facts. People on both the political left and the political right argue that the media are not objective. Over the last ten years, the political right in particular has been arguing that the so-called mainstream media are really left of center. Fox is really a much needed right of center station to counter the mainstream press. This class will examine whether or not the media can be "objective," and in particular, will focus on right and left of center media forms. (

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

WWW.HWS.EDU

Phone Number:

(315) 781-3000

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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