POL 472: MEDIA & POLITICS

The major purpose of this course is to assist the student in obtaining an understanding of the impact of mass media on American politics. This course will focus on the historical events and institutional developments of the media; the functions of the mass media in politics news making, interpretation, socialization, persuasion and agenda setting; and assess the process of information dissemination. The impact of the media on legislation and the modern presidency will be examined as well as how individual presidents do their job and why. We shall also explore many of the social, political and economic controversies that dominate the local, national and international scenes today. Prerequisite: POL 101 with a grade of C or better or Permission of Instructor