Mass Media in Asia
Bac Ninh, 2017
Institution code: COMM2379 (RMIT University - Vietnam campus)
Teaching period: Trimester 3/2017
Role: Course Coordinator & Lecturer
Curriculum innovation:
I taught and substantially revised this course so that it would (1) be distinctive enough as a unit in comparison with other courses offered within the same Contextual studies strand, (2) include a substantive component on fake news, a topic en vogue in 2017, (3) align with the course learning objectives set by the university.
Innovations within this course include:
1. Elevating the rigour of academic content assigned for this course, as this course is pitched at the second-year level. Course readings feature classic media & communication theories overlooked elsewhere in the program curriculum, such as Marshall McLuhan, Chomky’s Manufacturing consent, and Hallin & Mancini’s comparative media framework.
2. Cementing academic literacy through diversifying assessment. Course assessments include (1) a weekly inter-teaching and peer-learning exercise, (2) an audience research report, and (3) a video essay investigating fake news in Asia.
3. Implementation of a wide range of in-class and after-class activities that facilitate independent learning. Examples of these include the flexible use of multimedia illustrations during lecture, screening of technological science fiction during tutorials as starting points of discussions.
Syllabus:
Week 1: Introduction to mass media in Asia
Week 2: Normative theories of mass media: Four theories of the press & beyond
Week 3: Understanding media in context: Media systems beyond the Western world
Week 4: Media & the nation building project in Asia
Week 5: Political economy of mass media: 'Manufacturing consent'
Week 6: Is the mass audience dead? Fragmentation, customisation, and the active audience
Week 7: Basic research design for audience research (Independent learning week)
Week 8: The global mass media landscape: Media imperialism
Week 9: The medium is the message? Marshall McLuhan and the Toronto school
Week 10: Fake news (1): What's in a name? Disinformation, misinformation, and other lies
Week 11: Fake news (2): The curious case of Internet hoaxes. Post-truth politics in Asia
Week 12: Screening & Discussion of student video essays