PMCb1007 Democracy and media

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2024
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 7 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Jan Holzer, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Martina Novotná, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Martina Novotná, Ph.D.
Department of Media Studies and Journalism – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Vlastimil Havlík, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Media Studies and Journalism – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Thu 10:00–11:40 U41
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 32 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 29/32, only registered: 0/32
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course focus on the coexistence of politics and media in the democratic societies. The course encompasses the normative foundations, historical development and current opportunities and challenges for politics and media in democracy. The course explores media in the non-democratic, transitive, and democratic regimes, the journalistic values, roles of media, public service media, power of media and to the commercialized media, the normative and regulatory framework. The course requires reading, class discussions, group project and its presentation, and an essay. The course Democracy and media complements the courses Media, Politics, and Society and Political, party and media systems.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, a student will be able to: - demonstrate an understanding of key theories relating to the role of media in democratic and non-democratic societies; - identify and describe key elements of and influences on mediated political communication in democratic societies; - compare and contrast transitive and democratic media and political systems; - demonstrate a range of relevant study skills, including researching a bibliography on a topic related to democracy and media; - effectively lead a class discussion; - work effectively collaboratively to prepare and present a group presentation; - develop ideas and arguments effectively in written (essay) and oral (presentation) form.
Syllabus
  • Week 1: Introduction Week 2: Classical non-democratic regimes: typology, identity, practice Week 3: Media in non-democratic regimes Week 4: On the road from non-democratic to democratic regime: transitive practice Week 5: Media in transitive societies Week 6: Project week – individual meetings of the projects’ groups and preparation of group projects Week 7: The types of democracy Week 8: Media in democracy Week 9: Democracy challenges for media: Changing publics, changing media, changing journalism Week 10: Modern Non-Democratic and Hybrid Regimes and Role of Media Week 11: Project week – individual meetings of the projects’ groups and finalisation of group projects Week 12: Presentations of the group projects and discussion Week 13: Presentations of the group projects and discussion
Literature
    required literature
  • Hanitzsch, T., Vos, T. P. 2018. Journalism Beyond Democracy: A new look into journalistic roles in political and everyday life. Journalism 19(2): 146–164. doi:10.1177/1464884916673386.
  • Karl, T. Lynn (2005): From Democracy to Democratization and Back: Before Transitions from Authoritarian Rule, working paper pro Stanford Institute on International Studies, No 45, 2005, http://iis-db.stanford.edu/pubs/20960/Karlsep05.pdf.
  • Barrios, M. M. and T. Miller. 2021. Voices of Resilience: Colombian journalists and self-censorship in the post-conflict period. Journalism Practice 15(10): 1423-1440.
  • Surowiec, P. and V. Štětka. 2020. Introduction: Media and illiberal democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. East European Politics 36(1): 1–8. doi: 10.1080/21599165.2019.1692822.
  • Sehl, A., Cornia, A., Nielsen, R. K. 2016. Public Service News and Digital Media (March 29, 2016). Reuters Institute Reports. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2771076
  • Linz, J. J.: Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes, London, Boulder 2000, pp. 1-40.
  • McQuail, D. and M. Deuze. 2020. McQuail’s Media & Mass Communication Theory. Seventh Edition. Sage. Part 2, chapter 4: Theories of media in society, pp. 103-142.
  • Sparks, C. 2008. Media systems in transition: Poland, Russia, China. Chinese Journal of Communication, 1(1), pp. 7–24. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17544750701861871
  • Shirikov, A. 2021. Who Trusts State-Run Media? Polarized Perceptions of News Credibility in Non-Democracies. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3686299
  • Roylance, T.: The Twilight of ‘Modern Authoritarianism. Freedom House 2015. On-line https://freedomhouse.org/blog/twilight-modern-authoritarianism
  • Waisbord, S. 2018. Truth is What Happens to News. On journalism, fake news, and post–truth. Journalism Studies 19(13): 1866–1878. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2018.1492881.
Teaching methods
The course is taught in the form of lectures and seminars. Students are expected to read all the required readings and actively participate in seminar discussions. Students are expected to work collaboratively on a group project and its presentation. Students submit an essay individually.
Assessment methods
Assessment methods and criteria: Class discussion (0-20 points) The group project (0-20 points) Presentation of the group project (0-30 points) Essay (0-30 points) Final grade Points A 100-92 B 91-84 C 83-76 D 75-68 E 67-60 F 59 and less
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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