Syllabus

POL200
Media and Politics

Contact information
Ms. Elena Romanenko
E-mail: elena.romanenko@iaau.edu.kg
Office hours: 9:00-17:00 and by appointment
Office Room: A-107

Course description:

This is a course that examines the role of media in politics. By the end of the course, students will:

• Recognize the fundamental role of media in shaping the public’s perception of politicians, the
government, and the political structure.
• Understand the importance of the Internet and social media in the modern information age and
the profound effect it has on media coverage, campaigns, and privacy.
• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of certain media sources and develop ways to ascertain
the validity of information from media sources.
• Identify how political figures are affected by the media and ways in which political figures
respond to, influence, or even manipulate news coverage.

Readings:
1) Media, Politics and Public Life, Geoffrey Craig,2004;
2) Media, Politics and Network Society, Robert Hassan,2004;
3) Comparing Media Systems: 3 Models of Media and Politics, Daniel C. Hallin and Paolo
Mancini,2004;

OUTLINE AND SCHEDULE FOR THE COURSE

Week 1- September, 8- Introduction to the course;

Week 2-September, 15- Introduction:
Compulsory reading: Media, Politics and Public Life, Geoffrey Craig, 2004,Chapter 1, pages 3-
23;
Supplementary reading: “The role of social media in modern-day politics” ;

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Week 3- September, 22- Media, Politics and Network Society, Rober Hassan, 2004, Chapter 1,“What
is the network society”, pages 8-32;
Supplementary reading: “Theorising Social Media, Introduction”, pages 14-16;
Week 4- September, 29- Media, Politics and Network Society, Rober Hassan, 2004, Chapter 2, “ The
informationization of media and culture ”, pages 33-54;
Supplementary reading: Introduction to Media and Politics, Oates S., 12 April,2010;
Week 5-October,6- Comparing Media Systems: 3 Models of Media and Politics ,Daniel C. Hallin and
Paolo Mancini,2004, Introduction, pages 10-13, Chapter 2,Part 1, pages 21-45;
Supplementary reading: A Theory of Media and Politics,John Zaller, 24 October,1999;
Week 6- October, 13- Comparing Media Systems: 3 Models of Media and Politics, Daniel C. Hallin
and Paolo Mancini,2004, Chapter 3, Part 1, “The Political Context of Media Systems”, pages 46-65;
Supplementary reading: The Political Economy of Mass Media, Andrea Prat, 26 November,2013;
Week 7- October,20- Comparing Media Systems: 3 Models of Media and Politics, Daniel C. Hallin and
Paolo Mancini,2004, Chapter 4, Part 1, “Media and Political Systems and the Question of
Differentiation”, pages 66-86;
Supplementary reading: Understanding the expanding array of media that will define civic
engagement in the 21st century,W. Lance Bennett, 2004;
Week 8- October, 27- Comparing Media Systems: 3 Models of Media and Politics, Daniel C. Hallin
and Paolo Mancini,2004, Chapter 5, Part 2, “The Mediterranean or Polarized Pluralist Model”, pages
89-90, 106-110,119-124, 127-142;
Supplementary reading: The Growing Independence of Media and Politics, Frank Esser,2012;

Week 9- November, 3- Midterm examination

Week 10 - November,10-Comparing Media Systems: 3 Models of Media and Politics, Daniel C. Hallin
and Paolo Mancini,2004, Chapter 6, Part 2, “The North/ Central European or Democratic Corporatist
Model”, pages 143-146,146-150, 160-165, 165-170, 183-197;
Supplementary reading: Social Media-The New Power of Political Influence?, Ari-Matti Auvinen;
Week 11- November, 17- Comparing Media Systems: 3 Models of Media and Politics, Daniel C. Hallin
and Paolo Mancini,2004, Chapter 7, Part 2, “The North Atlantic or Liberal Model”, pages 198-207,
235-237,237-248;
Supplementary reading: Social Media in the Elections, Nic Newman, 2010;
Week 12- November, 24 -Article “The Media in Central Asia”, Eric Johnson, 1994, pages 3-37;
Supplementary reading: Media and Politics in Central Asia, Mehrdad Haghayeghi, pages 215-
227;

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 Week 13-December, 1- The Historical Development and Current Situation of Mass Media in
Kyrgyzstan, Ibraeva and Kulikova, Chapter 1, pages 6-9,20-36;
Supplementary reading: Internet Authorship: Social and Political Implication within Kyrgyzstan,
Ramesh Srinivasan and Adam Fish;
Week 14- December,8- The Historical Development and Current Situation of Mass Media in
Kyrgyzstan, Ibraeva and Kulikova, Chapter 3, “Development of Information Supply and Demand
”pages 36-44, “External and Internal Assessments of Democracy and Freedom of Expression in
Kyrgyzstan”, pages 44-56;
Supplementary reading: Media, Politics and the Emergence of Democracy in Bangladesh, Abul
Mansur Ahmed, 2003;
Week 15- December,15- The Historical Development and Current Situation of Mass Media in
Kyrgyzstan, Ibraeva and Kulikova, Chapter 4,”Legislative and Legal Environment for Media Activities
in the Kyrgyz Republic”, pages 57-70;
Supplementary reading: Law on Mass Media, Constitution,1993;
Week 16- December,22 Final Examination.

Supplementary readings:
1) “The role of social media in modern-day politics”,14.09.2012;
2) “Theorising social media. Introduction”, Daniel Trottier, Christian Fuchs;
3) “Introduction to media and politics”, S.Oates, 12.04.2010;
4) “A theory of media and politics”,John Zaller,1999;
5) “Media and politics”, Mahmoud Eid,2013;
6) “The political economy of mass media”, Andrea Prat, 26.11.2013;
7) “Understanding the expanding array of media that will define civic engagement in the 21st
century” W. Lance Bernett;

8) “The growing independence of media and politics”, Frank Esser, 2012;

9) “Social media-the new power of political influence”, Ari-Matti Auvinen;
10) “The media in Central Asia”, Eric Johnson,1994;
11) “Media and politics in Central Asia”,Mehrdad Haghayeghi;
12) “The historical development and current situation of mass media in Kyrgyzstan ”,
Ibraeva, Kulikova;
13) “Internet authorship: social and political implication within Kyrgyzstan”, Ramesh
Srinivasan, Adam Fish;

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 14) “Media, politics and the emergence of democracy in Bangladesh”, Abul Mansur
Ahmed, 2003;
15) “Social media in the elections”, Nic Newman, July 2010;
16) Law on mass media, Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, 1993;

Course Requirements & Grading Policy

In this course, students follow the current events from newspapers and write comments on the news
they read. Students are required to write a page long summary (not more) on weekly reading material,
finding key words of that material (that must be highlighted) before coming to lesson. Late submission
of summaries will cost students cut points. There will not be a Midterm exam as summaries and news
comments will be accepted as Midterm exam. At the end of the semester there will not be a Final exam
as students prepare two short papers.
Short paper 1: Students follow news on hot topics, compare news analysis, find what was the role of
media, was it effective for government decisions and report it in 2-3 pages long paper.
Short paper 2: Students choose one topic (hot issue), study it from different sources (Russian media,
European media, American media), find objectives, differences and similarities between sources and
report it in 2-3pages long paper.
Plagiarism is fully punished due to fail in the course.
Instructor reserves right to make changes in the syllabus.

GRADING
Short paper 1 25 %
Short paper 2 25%
Summaries 50%
Newspaper Comments 50%