This course that explores the ways in which electronic media (both “old” and “new”) in the 21st century are being shaped in a “convergent” and “digital” media environment where voice (sound), video (image), and data (information) are becoming inseparable technological domains. Accompanying this convergence are challenges and opportunities for old and new forms of media governance, which is a primary focus of this course. The course emphasizes the politics and economics that enable or constrain democratic media infrastructures as the environments in and through which media are produced and shared. It is rooted in the observation that media and telecommunications systems are increasingly vital public resources for social, economic, and political interaction in modern life. These systems are essential architectures, or spaces, that mediate how we reflect on and interpret contemporary events; how we participate in society as citizens, consumers, audiences, and political actors; how we transmit and reinforce ideas and values, and how we engage the imagination. In all of these processes, media and technology resources are not inherently neutral. Individuals and institutions with clearly defined objectives and economic interests influence their design, construction, implementation, use, and regulation.
View complete course outline: COMS361A2010 [.pdf]