An analysis of the relationship between mass media and political decision-making, including a structural analysis of political and media institutions. Particular attention is paid to the formation of public opinion through messages and strategies, and the impact of public opinion on public policy. The study of communication is conducted in many different contexts - medical, organizational, family, interpersonal, mass media.
Political communication is but one of many contextual examinations.
Fundamentally, we are exploring the role of communication in the life of the person as citizen. Politicians must be careful of the names they pick for things because it is the name and not the thing that people will accept or reject. This course in political communication is about the role that we, the public, play in this process. By the end of the semester, you will discover how symbols bind you to others, divide you from others, and create the communities with which you identify and from which you draw much of your own identity. You will also learn from your analysis papers who in the mass media contribute to this process.