COMM 405Political Economy of Communications

3 credits · Communications · Penn State

COMM 405 takes a critical look at the structure and practices of the U.S. mass media within the U.S. and global political economy. The normative purpose of the course is to consider whether a media system operates in a manner which supports and promotes the development of a democratic society. As such, the course is both a theoretical and practical exploration of the study of political economy and the development of capitalism as it relates to the mass media. Topics include: the structure of contemporary capitalism (its nature and logic); the ownership and control of mass communications; commercialism, advertising and their impact on U.S. society, the mass media and journalism: the economic structure and organization of the cultural industries and precarious labor; the political economy of digital media; media policy; the tenets of democratic communication.