Outline

Overview

This unit examines politics and media. From the relationship between news media and electoral politics, the study of the intersection of media and power now includes the consideration of new media forms and their relationship with the "soft" politics of representation and performativity.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Government and International Relations
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Milica Stilinovic, milica.stilinovic@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Milica Stilinovic, milica.stilinovic@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Presentation	Team-based seminar facilitation	15%	-	15 minute debate style presentation.
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Argumentative Essay	20%	Week 05 Due date: 27 Mar 2020 at 23:00	1500 words
Outcomes assessed:
In-semester test	Exam/quiz n/a	15%	Week 08	1 hr
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Content Analysis/Policy Brief n/a	50%	Week 13	3000 words
Outcomes assessed:
= group assignment ?

Assessment summary

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100
Distinction	75 - 84
Credit	65 - 74
Pass	50 - 64
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Introduction + Media Ages	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 02	Institutions	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 03	Media Effects: Priming, Framing + Stereotyping	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 04	Agenda-Setting	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 05	Propaganda + Fake News	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 06	Policy + Gamification	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 07	Electioneering + Campaigning	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 08	Exam/Quiz Week	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 09	The Subaltern Speaks	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 10	Whistleblowers Vs. National Security	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 11	War + Peace Reporting	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 12	Terrorism + Securitisation	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 13	Recap	Seminar (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: According to Faculty Board Resolutions, students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are expected to attend 90% of their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board. The Examiner’s Board will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold.
Lecture recording: Most lectures (in recording-equipped venues) will be recorded and may be made available to students on the LMS. However, you should not rely on lecture recording to substitute your classroom learning experience.
Preparation: Students should commit to spend approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

WEEK ONE:

- Langdon, Winner, 1989, “Do artefacts have politics?”, The Whale and the Reactor: A Search for Limits in an Age of High Technology, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 19-39

WEEK TWO:

- Tiffen, Rodney, 2006. The Press. In Stuart Cunningham, Graeme Turner (Eds.), The Media and Communications in Australia: 2nd Edition, Australia: Allen and Unwin, pp. 97-112.

Walker, Christopher, and Robert W. Orttung, 2014, “Breaking the News: The Role of State-Run Media”, Journal of Democracy, 25(1), pp. 71-85

WEEK THREE

Perloff, Richard, M., 2014, “Framing”, The Dynamics of Political Communication: Media and Politics in a Digital Age, New York: Routledge, pp. 156-179

Cohen, Stanley., “Folk Devils’ and Moral Panics: The Creation of Mods and Rockers”, Third Edition. Routledge. pp. 1- 21.

WEEK FOUR:

Sanders, Karen, 2009, "The People: Opinion, Polls and Participation", Communicating Politics in the Twenty-First Century, New York: Palgrave Macmillian, pp. 143-161.

Vromen, Ariadne, 2017, “Social media use for political engagement”, Digital Citizenship and Political Engagement: The Challenge from Online Campaigning and Advocacy Organisations, London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 51-75.

WEEK FIVE:

Mullen, Andrew and Jeffery Klaehn, 2010, “The Herman–Chomsky propaganda model: a critical: approach to analysing mass media behaviour”, Sociology Compass, 4(4), pp. 215–229.

Allcott, Hunt, and Gentzkow, Matthew. “Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives 31.2 (2017): 211–235.

WEEK SIX:

- Rodríguez Bolívar, Manuel. “The Influence of Political Factors in Policymakers’ Perceptions on the Implementation of Web 2.0 Technologies for Citizen Participation and Knowledge Sharing in Public Sector Delivery.” Information Polity 20.2-3 (2015): 199–220.

- Ramadan, Zahy. “The Gamification of Trust: The Case of China’s ‘social Credit.’” Marketing Intelligence & Planning 36.1 (2018): 93–107.

WEEK SEVEN:

Belfry Munroe, Kaija and Munroe, H.D., 2018, “Constituency Campaigning in the Age of Data”, Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique, 51: 135-154.

Washbourne, Neil, 2010, "On the Media Marketing of Parties and Leaders: Emergence and Consequences", Mediating Politics: Newspapers, Radio, Television and the Internet, Maidenhead: Open University Press, pp. 31-50

WEEK EIGHT:

Exam week. No readings.

WEEK NINE:

Blue, Ethan, 2017, “Seeing Ms. Dhu: inquest, conquest, and (in)visibility in black women’s deaths in custody”, Settler Colonial Studies, 7(3): 299-320.

Fraser, Nancy, 1990, “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy”, Social Text, 25/26: 56-80.

WEEK TEN:

- Ireland-Piper, Danielle, and Crowe, Jonathan. “WHISTLEBLOWING, NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOM OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION.(Australia).” Federal Law Review 46.3 (2018): 341–365

WEEK 11:

Galtung, Johan, 2013, “Peace Journalism”, Media Asia, 20(3), pp. 177-180.

Russ-Mohl, Stephan, 2013, “The coverage of terrorism and the Iraq War in the: ‘issue-attention cycle’”, Selling war: the role of the mass media in hostile conflicts from World War I to the War on Terror, Josef Seethaler, Matthias Karmasin, Gabriele Melischek and Romy Wöhlert (eds), Chicago: Intellect Books, pp. 219-235.

WEEK 12:

Gaufman, Elizaveta, 2018, “Defining Securitization, Enemy Images, and Memory”, Security Threats and Public Perception: Digital Russia and the Ukraine Crisis, Springer: 13-50.

Lim, Soyeon, 2016, “The contested ethics of mainstream reporting of terrorism in the social media age”, Te Mata Koi : Auckland University Law Review, 22, pp. 249- 280

WEEK 13:

No readings.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. have an awareness of media theory
LO2. criticially engage with media theory
LO3. understand the contemporary media landscape
LO4. conduct team-based leadership of group learning.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

No changes have been made since this unit was last offered.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

GOVT6336: Media Politics

Semester 1, 2020 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect