Topic: Defining global journalism and media systems Description: How has globalization brought in global journalism; digitalization and the “global village”? Is there a single clearly defined framework to define media systems? Four theories of the press. Models of media and politics in Western Europe and North America. Other models of media systems. What defines media systems, and the role of government?

Topic: International news flow in the digital age Description: Is there a global flow of news if everyone reads different news tailored to their interest and behavior? Are the poorest countries ignored in the global digital flow of news? Changes with social media. How has news consumption changed? The digital age changed media and content presentation.

Topic: International news media coverage of wars Description: We’ll turn to the conflicts in Ukraine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and The Balkans using critical sources to deepen the understanding of new 21st-century challenges journalists who cover war are facing. Neutrality in war reporting by international media. International media and national interests of the countries they broadcast from. Is there a global piece without global media?

Topic: News Media Landscape: UK, Western and North Europe Description: Private and public media outlets as a part of the integrated media landscape compete with each other. Do UK tabloids have too big an influence on society? The role of BBC. Ombudsmen as a successful way to have a public influence on media editorial policy. Are German media the most dynamic market in Europe? Five large German companies dominate the newspaper market. Why is self-regulation successful? Media in North Europe successfully built a democratic corporatist model with a high degree of professionalism, strong media, and strong political parallelism.

Topic: News Media Landscape: Central and Eastern Europe Description: Is privatization of the media market a way to use money instead of ideology to control media? How did Hungary lose its media freedom? Will Poland go in the same direction? Does the Czech Republic still serve as a media role model?

Topic: News Media Landscape: Russia Description: We’ll review the post-Soviet development of news media in Russia, and the recent laws regulating news media. How is the media landscape organized in a country with 11 time zones and 100 minority languages besides Russian? USSR media landscape and media today. The role of Roskomnadzor, the law on “foreign agents”. Has the digital revolution been successfully controlled? Information as a weapon. Centralized TV news shows as a way to govern.

Midterm exam - Quiz in the class - Essay (at home)

Topic: News Media Landscape: China Description: What does absolute authoritarian control of news media look like? We’ll look at China for the answer. Media subordinated to political power. Convergence in the Chinese way. Opening up to the world and closing down domestically. Hierarchy is the basic principle of society and in media.

Topic: News Media Landscape: United States and Canada Description: How has media changed in the United States? Does media concentration negatively influence society? Is the media system and media ownership one of the reasons the US has been faced with polarization in society? Did Canada escape this trap?

Topic: News Media Landscape: Middle East Description: Media changed society in the Middle East. We’ll track the revolutionary effect social media had on coverage of the 2011 Arab Spring democracy movements, and indeed on the events themselves. Focus on: New media and News media

Topic: News Media Landscape: Africa Description: Rapid change in media outlets in Africa. The specific role of the platform of radio due to accessibility issues. Regular attacks on journalists and restrictions are becoming common. We’ll examine a wide range of current and recent environment stories worldwide. Social media taxes as a control tool. The media landscape in South Africa.

Topic: Breaking the wall, the role of RFE/RL, VOA, BBC, RFI. CCTV and Russia Today’s operations. Sputnik as the government tool. VOA and RFERL are financed by the US Congress but are not government-dependent. How operations of VOA, RFERL, BBC, and RFI moved from fighting for the audience with the same editorial principles and goals to fighting with media with different editorial policies and goals.

Topic: Media landscape: Latin America Why does Latin American media struggle? Who controls media? How media system has been organized? Media concentration leds to problems.

Topic: Final Exam Review Description: We will catch up on any missed material and review for the final exam, which covers all lectures, readings, and viewings from the second half of the semester.

FINAL EXAM To be divided into two parts: 1. QUIZ – online, live 2. Essay – homework