dissertation題目及要求：
What is the role of journalism in an increasingly globalized news industry? Is journalism increasingly a commodity or a service? Is “global news” substantially different from traditional news? If so, how?
Discuss and evaluate the role of journalism in relation to key aspects of critical theory, political economy and the “propaganda model” view of journalism.

dissertation用途：Master essay
dissertation語言：英語
英國留學生媒體學碩士dissertation參考文獻：Harvard格式
字數要求：3000
學校排名：英國前20
dissertation提交日期：2010-04-28

參考閱讀資料:請參考網頁左邊的Module information: library reading list.
以及Learning resources: lecture notes, online course reading folder

Module Number: COMM5210M
Module Name: Communications and Global Changes
Module Tutors: Dr.GiorgiaAiello &Dr. Katharine Sarikakis
Student Name: Peng, Qiwan
Student Number: 200499461
Email Address: [email protected]

Dear Dr Aiello,

I am a postgraduate student of your Communications and Global Changes class (COMM5210M) on Wednesdays, and also your Media, Culture and Globalization class (COMM5310M) on Thursdays.

I am writing to apologize for my absences during next two weeks: much to my regret that I will not be able to take your classes on 21st, 22nd, 28th, and 29thApril. Due to the volcanical cloud in Iceland, my air plane from China to the UK has been cancelled and I am afraid I it will be delayed until 4th May.

I am sure you will upload all the important information on the VLE, so I am not worried about my study very much.

I sincerely hope that you can understand my situation, and I hope my absences will not be considered as the real “academic absence”. Would you please let me know how you are going to deal with these absences?

My name is Peng, Qiwan (Student No. 200499461).

Once again, I am sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Sincerely yours,
QiwanPeng

Communications and Global Change

MODULE OUTLINE

Module Aims & Objectives

This module explores the institutions of international communications by focussing on historical trends in mass communications, critical theory, cultural industries, and the political economy of global communications. We seek to provide a forum for discussion of inequity in global communications by building student skills as analysts of the structures, institutions, and political economy of global media.

Apart from looking at some of the main actors on the global media stage, we will consider key international debates about flows of cultural products such as television programs and news, and their possible impacts. We will investigate national identity and policy-making in a global environment, international organizations and their function, alternatives to Western commercial media hegemony, the right to communicate (is there one?), and the possibilities for more egalitarian international communications processes.#p#分頁標題#e#

Essay topics:

1. Technological change brings about social change. Do you agree? Discuss the impact of communications in society by paying attention to gender and/or development.

2. Discuss the ways in which changes in global communications are reflected in global communication policy initiatives. What are the major ideological and normative concerns behind policy debates? To what extent do policy outputs express the interests of various stakeholders involved in global policy?

3. What are the arguments surrounding the cultural imperialism thesis? What are the counter-arguments? Is the cultural imperialism thesis adequate enough to explain gender disparities in global communications? Discuss in relation to the flow of information, meanings and global content.

4. What are some of the key arguments regarding media ownership and media concentration within the political economy perspective? Discuss in relation to issues of media content, cultural and political diversity, and power relations in global cultural production.

5. What is the role of journalism in an increasingly globalized news industry? Is journalism increasingly a commodity or a service? Is “global news” substantially different from traditional news? If so, how? Discuss and evaluate the role of journalism in relation to key aspects of critical theory, political economy and the “propaganda model” view of journalism

Reading

The reading list focuses on international communications as it connects to the specific themes of this class. It is not intended to be inclusive. The tutors will be pleased to recommend further reading on any topic of interest to you. It is recommended that study groups meet at least once a week to discuss key readings. Your reading should be supplemented by critical examination of media output and of the views of media practitioners, as well as your reading of the additional books and journal articles you identify. The internet may be a useful source for up to date information on these topics, if used with great care. Only in exceptional cases should it be used to research your essay.

Much of the reading comes from academic journals that are available on-line via the University library catalogue. A selection of book chapters identified as key readings will be made available electronically as soon as possible. If you are not certain that a reading is available to your classmates electronically, please be sure not to remove it from the library or displace reference copies of readings. Please notify your tutors immediately if you have difficulty obtaining any reading (after making a reasonable effort, of course). Additional readings may be recommended during the semester or provided in class.

The following books will be used extensively in the module or are useful as supplementary reading pertaining to the module as a whole:

Artz L and Y R Kamalipour (eds.) (2003) The Globalization of Corporate Media Hegemony State University of New York Press#p#分頁標題#e#

Mosco ,V. (2009) 2nd ed. The Political Economy of Communication Sage

Sarikakis K and L Shade (eds.) (2008) Feminist Interventions in International Communication : Minding the Gap. Rowman and Littlefield

Thussu, D. K. (2006) International Communication. Continuity and Change (2nd edition). London: Hodder.

MODULE PROGRAMME

1. Introduction:
Debates on International Communication and Global Change
This lecture will introduce the course outline and objectives, and introduce the themes of the module. It provides a preliminary examination of the significance of the idea of `communication’ and an overview of the development of thinking about `international communications.’

Key Readings
Downing J D H Drawing a Bead on Global Communication Theoriesin Y R KamalipourGlobal Communicationed (2002) Wadsworth Thomson Learning
Sarikakis K and Shade L (2008) Revisiting International Communication: Approach of the Curious Feminist in Sarikakis and Shade Feminist Interventions in International Communication.

2. Issues in Communications revolutions and Social Change
We discuss the relationship between media and social change and question the extent to which communications technologies shape society. Are social groups affected in the same ways?

Key Readings
Gallagher M Feminist Issues and the Global Media System in Sarikakis and Shade eds. Feminist Interventions in International Communication
英國留學生媒體學碩士dissertationHamelink C (2002) The Politics of Global Communications in Y R KamalipourGlobal Communicationed (2002) Wadsworth Thomson Learning
Mosco V (2004) Chapter 2: Myth and Cyberspace in the Digital Sublime MIT Press

3. Global Communications, change and global policy
Given the structures and institutions of international communications which we have discussed, to what extent are national and international governmental organisations able to facilitate or limit the production and distribution of mass media? Which regulations serve the public interest, and which do not?

Key Readings

Chakravartty, P. and K. Sarikakis (2006) Media Policy and Globalisation, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press chapter 2
Prasad K Gender sensitive communication policies for women’s development: issues and challenges in Sarikakis and Shade Feminist Interventions in International Communication

4 Introduction to political economy of global communications

Students are introduced to political economy theory and its application to contemporary mass media. We question if there is a possibility for a healthy public sphere within the context of highly concentrated corporate media, focussing on ownership, commodification, marketisation and internationalisation.

Key Readings
Herman, E and Chomsky, N (1994) Manufacturing consent: the political economy of the mass mediaLondon: Vintage (especially chapter one)#p#分頁標題#e#
Mosco V (2009) The Political Economy of Communication Today (chapter 6) in The Political Economy of Communication

5 The political economy of global media: the economics behind the globalization of communications

The political economy approach focuses our analysis on the power relations which constitute mass communications processes around the world. In this session, we concentrate on the specific processes through which a small number of trans-national corporations have consolidated their control over global cultural production.

Key Readings
Bagdikian, B. (2004) The New Media Monopoly Beacon Press (especially chapter 2 “The Big Five”)
Cunningham, S., E. Jacka and J. Sinclair (1998) Global and Regional Dynamics of International Television Flows, pp. 177-192 in D.K. Thussu (ed.) Electronic Empires: Global Media and Resistance London: Arnold.
Flew, T. (2007) Understanding Global Media London: Palgrave Macmillan (chapter 3)
Herman, E. S. &McChesney, R. W. (1997) The global media: The new missionaries of corporate capitalism. London; Washington: Cassell.
Shade L and N Porter (2008) Empire and Sweatshop Girlhoods: The Two Faces of the Global Culture Industry in Sarikakis and Shade Feminist Interventions in International Communication

6 The Impact of Communication Technologies: Possibilities and Limits
.This session will explore debates surrounding the impact of communication technologies. It discusses the role of discourse and language in shaping our understanding of new communication technologies and social change.

Key Readings
Crow B and K Sawchuck (2008) The Spectral Politics of Mobile Communication Technologies: Gender, Infrastructure, and International Policy in Sarikakis and Shade Feminist Interventions in International Communication
Deuze, M, (2008) Toward a Sociology of Online News in Paterson, C and Domingo, D (eds) Making Online News, NY: Lang
Paterson, C (2007) International news on the Internet: Why more is lessEthical space : The International Journal of Communication Ethics 4(1): 57-66; alternatively available as Paterson, C. (2006) “News Agency Dominance in International News on the Internet” at http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/papers/cicr/exhibits/42/cicrpaterson.pdf

7 Imperialism and the free flow doctrine
The concepts of media and cultural imperialism arose three decades ago out of empirical evidence of massive imbalances in the flow of communications internationally. We discuss international debates over this issue and the US-led advocacy of a “free-flow doctrine” in response.

Key Readings
Boyd-Barrett, O. (1998) Media imperialism reformulated in Thussu, D. K. (Eds.) Electronic empires: Global media and local resistance. London: Edward Arnold, pp. 157-176.
Comor, E. (1997) The retooling of American Hegemony: US foreign communication policy from free flow to free trade in A. Sreberny-Mohammadi, D. Winseck, J Mckenna and O. Boyd-Barrett (eds) Media in Global Context: A Reader. London: Hodder Arnold.#p#分頁標題#e#
Galtung, J. (1971) A structural theory of imperialismJournal of Peace Research, 8, 2, 81-117.
Hamelink, C. (1995) Information Imbalance Across the GlobeQuestioning the Media: A Critical Introduction (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage (pg. 293-307)
Hesmondhalgh, D (2008) (6) Neoliberalism, Imperialism and the Media in The Media and Social Theory D Hesmondhalgh and J Toynbee (eds) Routledge
Masmoudi, M.. (1979)The New World Information OrderJournal of Communication 29(2), Spring, pp. 172-185
Schiller H. (1991) Not Yet the PostImperialist Era in Media and Cultural StudiesMeenakshi Gigi Durham, Douglas Kellner (eds) Blackwell Publishing, 2001(originally, Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 8)
Straubhaar J. (1997) Distinguishing the global, regional and national levels of world television. In Media in Global Context, ed. A Sreberny-Mohammadi, D Winseck, J McKenna, O Boyd-Barrett, pp. 284–98. London: Edward Arnold

8 Globalization, glocalization and Cultural Change
Competing views of what the globalization of culture and mass communications entails have substantially driven from the fore debates about cultural imperialism, and empirical research into communications flows suggests it may indeed be less significant. Other views suggest that such processes may be more complex than once thought, but are no less relevant.

Key Readings
Aiello, G. and Thurlow, C. (2006).Symbolic capitals: visual discourse and intercultural exchange in the European Capital of Culture scheme. Language and Intercultural Communication, 6(2).
Bicket D. (2005) Reconsidering Geocultural Contraflow: Intercultural Information Flows Through Trends in Global Audiovisual TradeGlobal Media Journal 4 / 6 Spring
Thurlow, C. and Aiello, G. (2007).National pride, global capital: a social semiotic analysis of transnational visual branding in the airline industry. Visual Communication, 6(3).
Thussu, D. K. (2006) Media on the Move: Global Flow and Contraflow, London, Routledge (especially chapter 1)

9 The commercialization of international journalism

Is journalism a commodity or a service? If a service, is it for audiences or advertisers? And should it be regarded as any different from any other commodity or service? Is there such a thing as “global news?” Whom does that serve? We discuss the role of ownership in international news and discuss how aspects of critical theory, political economy, and the “propaganda model” view journalism as a force of control, rather than emancipation.

Key Readings
Bagdikian, B. (2004) The New Media Monopoly Beacon Press
Baker, N (2004) Invisible Giants Quiet Revolution in Paterson, C. and Sreberny, A, eds, International News in the Twenty-first Century, University of Luton/John Libbey
Boyd-Barrett, O. (1997) Global News Wholesalers as Agents of Globalization, pp. 131-44 in A. Sreberny-Mohammadi, D. Winseck, J Mckenna and O. Boyd-Barrett (eds) Media in Global Context: A Reader. London: Hodder Arnold.#p#分頁標題#e#
Hackett, R. Is there a democratic deficit in US and UK journalism?in Allan, S. (ed.) (2005) Journalism: Critical Issues Maidenhead: Open University Press
Harding P. (2009) The Great Global Switch-Off: International Coverage in UK Public Service Broadcasting report, Oxfam, January. (linked from the bottom of this page: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/campaign/actions/help_save_the_news.html)
Paterson, C. (1998) Global Battlefields: The Globalization of News pp. 79-103 in O. Boyd-Barrett and T. Rantanen (eds) The Globalization of News. London: Sage.
Zachary G.P. (2006) Journalism ManifestoDvorak Uncensored viaAlternet. Posted February 9, available at http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/31775/

Comment
20Years of Propaganda?
Critical Discussions and Evidence of the Ongoing Relevance of the Herman and Chomsky Propaganda Model
University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, May 2007
Report on some of the conference proceedings
Conference Overview
The year 2008 will mark the 20th anniversary of the publication of the book, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky (Pantheon, 1988). In this book, the authors put forth a model, the Propaganda Model (PM), as a way of understanding how the mass media system interrelates with the economy, political system and society. Since putting forth their PM (with its ownership, advertising, sources, flak and ideology filters), there have been many changes and technological advances in the communication and media landscape. The 2007 conference, and the spring 2008 publication based upon the proceedings, will, through vigorous debate, discussion and fresh insight, make great strides in critically analysing (perhaps revising and updating) the ongoing relevance of the Herman-Chomsky Propaganda Model as a useful conceptualisation for understanding 21st century media and society.
Plenary Discussion
The Propaganda Model's Usefulness for Understanding 21st Century Media and Society
Edward Herman
The PM is stronger now than it was twenty years ago when we published Manufacturing Consent. Each of the filters has changed, rendering them more powerful. (1) Ownership filter has changed because of corporate concentration and the process of globalisation. Public service broadcasting has also declined in its importance and influence. Also, the media conglomerates are much closer to governments now and are consequently much more influenced by them. (2) Advertising filter has changed because of corporate concentration and globalisation. Newspaper sales are in decline and many advertisers have migrated to the Internet. Therefore, their power over the media has increased; the balance of power has moved decisively in their favour. (3) Sourcing filter has changed because media corporations have cut back on their investment in news production in favour of more 'infotainment'. There is also a greater reliance now on pre-packed government sources. Government are now the 'primary definers' of what constitutes news. Governments, in effect, now manage the media, rendering them more dependent and malleable. (4) Flak filter has changed in that governments are more powerful as flak agents. We have also witnessed the emergence of the blogging phenomenon and the growing influence of right-wing bloggers as flak agents [see Eric Boehlert (2006) Lapdogs, Free Press]. (5) The ideology filter has been transformed as anti-communism, although not yet dead, is considerably weaker. It has been replaced by the 'marvel of the market'. The notion of 'terrorism' is also a powerful ideology which is suitably vague e.g., state versus non-state terrorism and the ignorance that the United States (US) is arguably the prime terrorist state in the world today. The rise of the Internet potentially challenges the model. However, it still holds for the operation of the mass media. Also, its impact and emancipatory potential should not be overestimated; research has shown that only six per cent of Internet users are accessing alternative sources with most using existing news outlets. We are also witnessing an attempt by media conglomerates to try and control the Internet - manifest in the current battle over net neutrality for example. In short, new technology is being re-occupied by the old guard. The existence of mass protest movements, which are part of the resistance to the capitalist system, does not alter the PM. The model is focused upon the operation of elite institutions. The PM demonstrates that such resistance, together with the general population, is the target of corporate propaganda. We need to keep these two phenomena - the PM and progressive social movements - separate in our analysis. The PM is a model of class warfare [see Jeff Faux (2006) Global Class Warfare, Wiley]. Faux focused on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the fact that the general publics in North America and Mexico opposed NAFTA, as reflected in public opinion polls. However, as the PM predicted, the media uniformly favoured NAFTA. The book by David Harvey [(2005) A Brief History of Neo-liberalism, Oxford University Press] and the PM fit together beautifully. There is also the book by Thomas Ferguson [(1995) Golden Rule, University of Chicago Press] in which he uses the example of the media obsession with the defence budget when most of the general public wanted greater spending on education. Once again, as predicted by the PM, the media focused on the former at the expense of the latter. The US media has been a perfect accomplice for US foreign policy. Media apologetics have recently reached a new low, with Iran the latest target of US aggression. We are no longer in an age of Orwell; we are in the age of Kafka. #p#分頁標題#e#
John Downing
Is the PM too narrow? Its focus is imperialism on the part of the US and it is therefore US-centric. What about the relationship between domestic and foreign news issues and coverage and the relationship between news and entertainment? The PM makes the sweeping assertion that we are all fact gathers, but is this true? Are people riveted to the facts? Will the exposure of media lies bring about political change? The PM stress on information leads to a split-level analysis. On the one hand, the five filters are seen as effective where there is elite consensus. On the other hand, the rhetorical level of critique, using denunciation and sarcasm and manifest in terms such as the 'manufacture of consent', implies agency on the part of media workers. In terms of domestic news coverage, does the PM still apply? Can the PM be modified to incorporate entertainment media, video games, etc? Would it survive such a modification?
Robert Hackett
The PM as a model is readily accessible to students. It presents an empirical and moral critique of the state of the mainstream media. However, there are some serious limitations to the model. It is reductionist in nature and there are too few variables. There are other factors which lock the media into a propaganda role, for example the links between intelligence agencies and the media. Also, ideology is reduced to that of propaganda campaigns. The PM treats the mainstream media in terms of institutions of capital. However, it does not pay attention to internal institutional factors, for example the agency of news journalists. But new production is not simply a production line as the PM implies. The PM is also functionalist and disempowering in terms of the agents of social change. Furthermore, it takes no account of audience effects, despite using terms like indoctrination, etc. Finally, there is the issue of division amongst the elite and the existence of audience mobilisation in support of alternatives. A useful model to complement the PM is the hierarchy model proposed by Pamela Shoemaker and Stephen Reese [(1991) Mediating the Message, Guildford Publications] which provides a device for conceptualising media operations and effects. Another useful model, which attends to agency and structure, is that of field theory, proposed by Pierre Bourdieu. The PM certainly has political resonance, but these other models are arguably more sophisticated and provide for comparative analysis.
Workshop
Expanding the Propaganda Model
Colin Sparks
I am a Marxist and an unapologetic reductionist; this type of analysis has its merits if we are to try and understand the complex world that we live in. European media systems are very different to that in the US and a number of criticisms can be levelled at the PM from a Marxist perspective. (a) The notion of the capitalist elite - the PM treats the elite as if it were a unified bloc, where divisions are tactical rather than fundamental. However, there can be major disagreement within the elite, for example the campaign by the Mirror newspapers in Britain against the Iraq war. Of course, the owners of this media group are capitalist, so how should we account for this? In addition to the class war between capital and labour, there are differences between different fractions of capital, i.e., capital versus capital as well as capital versus labour. Evidence of such divisions undermines the PM. (b) Bourgeois democracy - the debate about the media as an institution needs to be contextualised within the reality of what is a bourgeois democracy. However, some societies are characterised by a greater range of what is considered legitimate opinion, when compared to the US, the country the PM is based upon. (c) The political economy of the media - what we have is a media system produced by the elites for the masses. Therefore, the elites must attend, in however distorted a way, to the concerns of the masses if they are to sell their media. (d) International differences - public sector broadcasting is widespread in Europe and this makes for a different media system. The newspaper market is also more competitive in Europe compared to the US; political differentiation is therefore more marked. (e) Competing sources - there are a more diverse range of sources in European media systems. Plus, a dependence on corporate and government sources does not necessarily imply that the media will automatically 'follow the line'. (f) The social position of journalists - they are wage workers, even if a recent study found that many British journalists had been schooled in the private sector. Consequently, the newsroom is also a site of class conflict. Journalists' professionalism is a distorted expression of their desire to be autonomous from the corporations they work for. Conclusions: professional autonomy of journalists is an important factor, journalists can be 'won over' and should be targeted and supported in the class war, and there is a crucial difference in media operation in 'normal times' compared to crisis periods. This has implications for the role of the media and its function in crises. #p#分頁標題#e#
Workshop
Alternative Media, Social Change and the Propaganda Model
Oliver Boyd-Barrett
The PM is a well-crafted synthesis of the work produced by media sociologists in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, particularly British research. It drew upon political economy work (Peter Golding, Graham Murdock), the sociology of organisations (Jeremy Tunstall) and cultural studies (Stuart Hall). However, what is missing from the PM? It does not attend to 'framing', propaganda per se (the psychology of persuasion), it falls into the 'science trap' with its preconditions and it fails to account for agency. The PM is an example of a 'deficit model', that is to say, it is underpinned by a belief that the media should be a watchdog, a fourth estate and a defender of the public sphere against concentrated power. It is therefore premised on the notion that if only the media did these things, then everything would be okay. However, is this really what the mass media aspire to, have ever aspired to? The penetration of the media by intelligence agencies (planting stories) surely deserves to be a sixth filter? [See the research by Richard Keeble (2006) 'Hacks and spooks', www.medialens.org]. What we need is a model that conceives the media as a means of social control, which attends to corporate power, capitalism, the ruling class and the secret government.
David Miller
I want to talk about manufacturing compliance - looking at the role that the media play in the reproduction of capitalist societies. Criticisms of the PM: (a) It is a model of media performance not the role of the media in society. (b) The PM neglects the role of the public relations industry and organised propaganda. (c) The PM has nothing to say about public opinion or media impact. If we expand upon these, the title of the book in which the PM was outlined i.e., Manufacturing Consent implies some sort of media impact. However, the model does not account for media effects. Critically, however, there is evidence that propaganda can have an impact upon public opinion, consider for example the role of weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war [see PIPA/Knowledge Networks Poll, 'Misperceptions, the Media and the Iraq War at www.worldpublicopinion.org].
Furthermore, the role of public relations/propaganda has expanded greatly over the last twenty years. The industry is not just concerned about shaping the media agenda and public opinion. It is also concerned with communicating with elites, for example the role of the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg Group. The industry and their political allies aim for 'total spectrum dominance'. Consequently, information provided by the media and propaganda is blurred and are seen as one and the same thing. Then there are the issues of hegemony, power, consent and coercion. Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks are instructive here. Leadership by an elite is not just based upon the consent of the masses, it is also based upon occasional coercion (the deployment of lies, threats, etc.) and the media is one arena in which this occurs, hence the manufacture of compliance. #p#分頁標題#e#
Lecture
Pedagogy and the Propaganda Model
SutJhally
I teach the PM as a scientific model, a hypothesis, a model concerned with content and, just as importantly, with absences i.e., it provides a structural analysis of the media system that identifies not just what is there but what is not there. The PM is easily tested. Empiricism is very important for progressive-left forces as the evidence is on our side. The flexibility of the PM is also a distinct advantage. It needs to be adapted, however, to take account of new technologies (such as the Internet), the end of the Cold War, etc. There is a new ideological filter: the 'war on terror'. The PM is useful for teaching undergraduates, for introducing them to the skills they need to think analytically and critically. The PM was the basis for the film, 'The Myth of the Liberal Media' (see Media Education Foundation to access the film). The idea of a liberal media is a deflection device and this is a good starting point for media and communication students. There is a section in the film from the 'Manufacturing Consent' DVD which tests the PM in terms of the Cambodia versus East Timor coverage. What is missing from the film, however, is any analysis of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Why? Looking back, this is my reluctance to deal with this controversial topic because of the powerful flak forces that operate. This phenomena also permeates the academy, witness Eqbal Ahmad who paid a high price for keeping the issue of Palestine alive in the face of a concerted campaign for pro-Israeli forces in the US, such as the American-Israel Public Affairs 英國留學生媒體學碩士dissertationCommittee and the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting, and Israel itself. The right-wing is now targeting universities, for example David Horowitz and company. Karl Marx differentiated between the mode of analysis and the mode of exposition, for example the difference between his Grundrisse and Capital. Progressive-left politics requires (a) scientific analysis and (b) translation of such analysis for ordinary people. The division within media and communication studies, between political economy (i.e., PM) and cultural approaches (i.e., Stuart Hall) is not a useful one. Progressive-left forces need to take teaching seriously.
Andy Mullen, Northumbria University.