CMST& 102 - Intro to Mass Media

Credits: 5
Variable Credit Course: No

Lecture Hours: 55
Lab Hours: 0
Worksite/Clinical Hours: 0
Other Hours (LIA/Internships): 0

Course Description: A survey of the media of mass communications, including newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, motion pictures, and electronic media, with an emphasis on function, structure, content, and social and cultural effects.

Prerequisite: ENGL 099 with a C or higher (or placement into ENGL& 101).
Distribution Requirements:

Humanities Distribution Requirement

Meets FQE Requirement: No
Integrative Experience Requirement: No

Student Learning Outcomes

Understand the influence of culture on mass communication by: Identifying the influence of mass communication on culture and culture on mass communication; Exploring cultural stereotypes in mass communication.
Develop critical thinking skills in applying learning to mass media contexts, specifically: Analyzing the relationship between media form and content; Evaluating communication strategies and informational content of various media; Developing connections between information functions of the media and current events.
Demonstrate knowledge of mass communications through: Characterizing the process and practices of organizations that produce, store, distribute, and transform information into mass communication messages; Identifying factors and forces that influence the impact and uses of the media for individuals, groups, societies, and cultures; Explaining how particular technologies become a communication medium of a particular type and serve a particular function and purpose; Exploring the influence of various technological imperatives on American history and the subsequent effects on culture; Applying textbook and supplemental reading assignments/research to individual or group projects.

Course Contents

Framework/types of mass communications
TV structures, functions, and programming
Popular culture and the media
First amendment and ethical issues and the media
Evolution of media structures
Media economics (advertising, PR, etc.)
Media and politics
Cultural representation/bias in the media

Instructional Units: 5