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Understanding Media Power [S-13-51]

What’s behind the news? The media are among the most powerful institutions in the world. News media in particular play a fundamental role in shaping how we view the world, what we know, what we don’t know, and what we view as important. Consequently, it is crucial for ordinary people to understand how media institutions work and how they are (or are not) helping democracy to flourish. This course will provide some basic tools for becoming a critical consumer of the news at a time when the news business is changing dramatically. We will explore some of the main insights provided by scholars of the media, and we will take a look at some of the most important patterns in how U.S. news media outlets cover the world.

John Collins is Professor and Chair of Global Studies at St. Lawrence University and is the Director of The Weave (www.weavenews.org), an independent media project focusing on underreported stories. He has a background in cultural studies and discourse analysis and has been teaching about the news media for fifteen years.

SUGGESTED LINKS:

http://www.weavenews.org – The Weave: Mediocracy Unspun

http://www.cnn.com – CNN

http://www.aljazeera.com – al-Jazeera English

http://www.democracynow.org – Democracy Now!

http://www.propublica.org – ProPublica

http://www.freepress.net – Free Press