Media and Political Imagination

Instructors

Dr. Surachanee Sriyai [hs.sriyai@gmail.com]

Course Description

This course is designed to explore one main thematical question: How does media affect politics? Students will get an opportunity to learn about the role of media in shaping political sphere through the concept of political communication as well as the implications of the society from both international and domestic perspective.

Learning Outcomes

Upon the completion of this course, students are expected to be able to:

• Possess well-rounded knowledge about political communication

• Describe important concepts in political communication literature

• Critically evaluate the contributions and shortcomings of existing literature

• Summarize (at least briefly) how the media is connected to politics, and how consequential are the outcomes of such interactions to society at large

Course Contents

Week 1 (20/1) Class Introduction

Week 2 (27/1) Introduction to Political Communication

This week lays a foundation for the entire course by introducing students to the concept of political communication and its importance in democratic aspirations • Perloff: Chapter 1,2

Week 3 (3/2) Media and Its Effects on the Public I

This week focuses on mechanisms that explain how the media may affect the general public and how they participate in politics • Perloff: Chapter 4,5

Week 4 (10/2) Media and Its Effects on the Public II

This week focuses on mechanisms that explain how the media may affect the general public and how they participate in politics • Perloff: Chapter 6,7

Week 5 (17/2) The New Information Sphere

This week covers the concept of new information sphere and its implication on media operations/functions in political sphere

• Coleman: Chapter 16

• Davis: Chapter 3,10

Week 6 (24/2) Digital Media I

This week introduces the zeitgeist of political communication literature about digital media (e.g., social media) • Chadwick: Chapter 14,15

• Coleman: Chapter 3

Week 7 (3/3) Digital Media II

This week compares the differences between traditional vs digital media operations • Field Trip

(10/3) Midterm Exam Research Proposal Due

Week 8 (17/3) RE: Fake News

This week emphasizes on the problems of fake news in a broad sense • Allcott, Hunt, and Matthew Gentzkow. 2017. "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31 (2): 211-36.

• Tandoc Jr, Edson C., Darren Lim, and Rich Ling. 2020. "Diffusion of disinformation: How social media users respond to fake news and why." Journalism 21(3): 381-398.

• Talwar, Shalini, Amandeep Dhir, Puneet Kaur, Nida Zafar, and Melfi Alrasheedy. 2019. "Why do people share fake news? Associations between the dark side of social media use and fake news sharing behavior." Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 51: 72-82.

Week 9 (24/3) RE: Fake News II

This week continues on the problems of fake news as well as conspiracy theory • Fourney, A., Racz, M. Z., Ranade, G., Mobius, M., & Horvitz, E. 2017. “Geographic and Temporal Trends in Fake News Consumption During the 2016 US Presidential Election”. CIKM 17: 6-10.

• Bovet, Alexandre, and Hernán A. Makse. 2019. "Influence of fake news in Twitter during the 2016 US presidential election." Nature Communications 10(1):1-14.

Week 10 (31/3) Political Campaign I

This week focuses on the role of media in political campaigns. USA will be used as the main illustrative case while some other areas may be used to make a comparison • Chadwick: Chapter 2,5

• Perloff: Chapter 8,9

Week 11 (7/4) Political Campaign II

This week builds upon the previous week by introducing additional strategies widely used by electioneers. • Perloff: Chapter 12,13

• Gaughan, Anthony J. 2016. "Illiberal democracy: The toxic mix of fake news, hyperpolarization, and partisan election administration." Duke J. Const. L. & Pub. Pol'y 12

Week 12 (14/4)

Internet Activism as New Social Movement

This week turns to the topic of internet activism, in the context of political communication; and how the rise of new media reshapes the dynamics of social movement • Farrell, Henry. 2012. “The Consequences of the Internet for Politics.” Annual Review of Political Science 15: 35-52.

• Shirky, Clay. 2011. “The Political Power of Social Media.” Foreign Affairs 90:28-41.

• Morozov, Evgeny. 2009. “The Brave New World of Slacktivism.” Foreign policy, 19(05).

• Bridwell, Jana M. 2013. “Twitter, Texting, and Street Demonstrations: Assessing Social Media's Political Relevance for Citizen.”

Week 13 (21/4) From Online Activism to Political Change I

This week critically evaluates the values and contributions of online activism to political change and democracy

• Daniela Stockmann and Mary Gallagher. 2011. “Remote Control: How the Media Sustain Authoritarian Rule in China.” Comparative Political Studies 44(4): 436-467.

• Howard, Philip N., Aiden Duffy, Deen Freelon, Muzzammil Hussain, Will Mari and Marwa Mazaid. 2011. “Opening Closed Regimes: What Was the Role of Social Media during the Arab Spring?”

Morozov, Evgeny. 2011. Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. PublicAffairs

Week 14 (28/4) Media and International Sphere

This week covers the role and functions of media in international area (e.g., international organizations)

Week 15 (5/5) Media and International Issues

This week focus on the effects of (digital) media in addressing international issues such as human rights and trade • Krain, Matthew. 2012. “J’accuse! Does Naming and Shaming Perpetrators Reduce the Severity of Genocides or Politicides?” International Studies Quarterly 56(3):574-589.

• Bak, Daehee, Surachanee Sriyai, and Stephen Meserve. 2018. “Internet and State Repression: A Cross National Analysis of the Limits of Digital Constraint.” Journal of Human Right 17(5):642-659.

• Freund, Caroline L. and Diana Weinhold. 2004. “The Effect of the Internet on International Trade.” Journal of International Economics 62(1):171-189.

Week 16 (16/5) Final Exam

Learning and Teaching Methods

The format of this class will be a combination of lectures and interactive discussions/activities. This means that roughly half of the class time we will be covering the readings; then, the other half will be dedicated to group-based activities and discussions.

Learning Resources

Chadwick, Andrew and Philip N. Howard. 2009. Routledge Handbook of Internet Politics. Routledge.

Coleman, Stephen and Deen Freelon. 2015. Handbook of Digital Politics. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Perloff, Richard M. 2018. The Dynamics of Political Communication (2nd Ed). Routledge.

Davis, Aeron. 2019. Political Communication: A New Introduction for Crisis Times. Polity Press.

Journal articles may be found through Google Scholars, etc.