Sociology of mass communication

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Sociology of mass communication

• Olessia Koltsova
• Assoc.professor,
• Higher School of Economics (St.Petersburg)
• koltsova_at_hse.spb.ru

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On-line materials for the course at
http//www.ecsocman.edu.ru/db/msg/247741.html

• Course syllabus (with seminar-by-seminar reading
  lists and tasks)
• Student reading (topic-by-topic and in a general
  list), stresses Russian-language sources
  available on-oline
• Advanced literature in English (for teacher)
• Methodological recommendations for teacher
• Lecture synopses and/or shortened transcripts
• All kinds of student tasks
• Grading /evaluation system and grades
• Some key texts and schemes
• Announcements and notes

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Other courses on-line

• Sociological methods in advertising
• Mass media and social problems

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Course structure

• based on major areas of media studies
• Part 1. Russian media an overview
• Part 2. Media theories an overview
• Part 2. Major branches of media studies
• (application of media theories to these
  branches)
• Studies of media production
• Studies of media content
• Studies of media consumption
• Part 4. Special topics
• (the most resonant topics are selected)

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Literature the major problem

• Basic (high-quality) texts are untranslated and
  based on non-Russian media
• They are brought from abroad for teachers use
• Sources for students (of lower quality) are found
  in Russian and copied into electronic readers
• Links to sources available on-line are collected
  on the site

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Basic textbooks

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  ????????? ????, 2002.- 240 c.
• ?????? ????, ????? ????. ????? ????????. ?.
  ????? 2005.

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Textbooks and readers for teacher

• McQuail, Denis. McQuails Mass Communication
  Theory. 4th edition. London, Thousand Oaks, New
  Delhi Sage, 2000.
• Boyd-Barrett, Oliver Newbold, Chris (eds).
  Approaches to Media. A Reader. London Arnold,
  1995
• Downing J. (ed), McQuail D., Schlesinger P.,
  Wartella E. (assoc.eds) The SAGE Handbook of
  Media Studies. London Sage, 2004.

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Publisher RoutledgePublication date
05/05/02006ISBN 0415345154Series
BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East
European Studies
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Communication with students

• Through the site and its announcements
• Electronic versions of readers and syllabi can be
  copied at the department
• All major announcements are sent via E-mail

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Final grade

• Formal test 30
• Mini-research reported in 1-2 pages 30
• Analysis of interview transcripts
• Media text analysis
• Focus-group
• Essay based on mini-research 6-8 p. 40
• Each missed seminar minus 1 grade (of 10)

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Seminar team work an exampleApplication of
theoretical concepts to given media texts
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Seminar goals

• Development of skills of critical reading
• Development of skills to resist ideological
  methods used in media texts
• Problematizing of the notion of objectivity in
  journalistic works
• Elaboration students attitude to this notion

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Theories used Thompsons modes of operation of
ideology

• John B.Thompson. Ideology and Modern Culture.
  Critical Social Theory in the Era of Mass
  Communication. Oxford Polity Press, 1990.
• Symbolic phenomenon is ideological when it
  supports domination
• legitimation
• dissimulation
• unification
• fragmentation
• reification

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Students group task

• Having read the article, answer the questions
• What is the conflict about?
• Who are conflict participants?
• What are their positions 9if represented in
  article)?
• What Thompsons modes of operation of ideology
  can be traced in the article (with examples)?
• Define the notion of objective coverage of
  conflict
• Edit a part of the article according to this
  definition

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Post-graduate teaching

• Less theories
• Less in-class work
• More autonomous research at home
• More specific topics

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Post-graduate courseMass media and social
problems

• 2 theoretical seminars
• 8 seminars on specific social problems prepared
  and held by students (preceded by lectures)
• 15 for theoretical seminar
• 35 for research presentation and seminar
  preparation
• 35 for essay based on presentation
• 15 for evaluation of and discussion on others
  research

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Structure of home research

• Home research for seminar further essay (in
  couples)
• Study a social problem and/or a particular case
• Study its coverage in media (through Integrum
  database)
• Comparison, analysis and solutions