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• Mass media structures
• History of individual media
• Media issues, economics and trends
• Societal and cultural relationships with the media
• Media literacy
• Media effects
• Legal issues involving media
• Global media

At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Evalute the role, power and influence of the mass media
2. Recognize the influence and role of technology in affecting mass media content and the impact it has on society
3. Develop critical thinking skills to analyze media’s influence
4. Identify the major mass media
5. Understand the development/history of the mass media in the United States
6. Describe roles of the mass media in society and society's relationship with the media
7. Define the five freedoms of the first amendment
8. Demonstrate a general understanding of legal responsibilities of the mass media, including areas of libel, privacy, pornography, copyright and freedom of information
9. Understand global media trends

Quizzes/Exams
Short writing assignments
Research Projects
Critiques and peer review

Rodman, George. Mass Media in a Changing World, McGraw Hill

Vivian, John, Media of Mass Communication, Allyn & Bacon.

Baran, Stanley. Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture, McGraw-Hill

Biagi, Shirley. Media/Impact, Wadsworth Publishing

Pavilik, John et al. Converging Media: A New Introduction to Mass Media, Oxford University Press

Campbell, Richard et al. Media Essentials: A Brief Introduction, Bedford/St. Martin’s

Media Education Foundation and the Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook University offer a large list of sources for this course