Course Objectives

Part 1: Media sociology and the social role of journalism.

Students will learn to view and reflect upon various social mechanisms which help shape the power and social roles of the media. This part of the course will increase students’ understanding of the sociology of journalism and how the mass media and society mutually influence each other. Students will be expected to discuss topics concerning the relationship between the political and journalistic cultures, structural issues related to the power and economics of the media, and the impact of technological changes and globalisation. Students should be prepared to explain the central hypotheses and theories in media sociology, such as the gatekeeper model, the agenda effect and media-technological determinism.

Part 2: The history of journalists and journalism

Students should be familiar with the most crucial developmental trends in the Norwegian and foreign (mainly Anglo-American) press. Students should be able to discuss the social, economic and technological premises which throughout history have formed a foundation for professionalizing the journalistic trade and influencing the social role of the press. Students will acquire historical background which will place the practices of the modern media-trade’s journalistic organisations in perspective.

Part 3: Textual analysis and communication theory

Students will develop their critical textual understanding and be able to carry out simple analyses of media content and journalistic texts. Knowledge of various analytical strategies and greater understanding of mediated communication will give students insight and understanding into opinion production, journalistic reality images and the power and influence of the media.

Course Description

The introductory course Media, Journalism and Society presents theories on communication and scientific analysis on the mass media, as well as analyses and explanations of news journalism, together with analyses and descriptions of news journalism and the printed page as institution, industry and practice. The course is interdisciplinary and combines humanistic theory and methods with both social-science and historical approaches to the field of media.

If practically possible, a visit to an important media player, with local roots in the vicinity of the campus, will be arranged in order to illustrate and exemplify central parts of the syllabus in an interesting manner.

The course will provide a solid foundation for further studies in media science and/or journalism at Norwegian universities and university colleges.

The course is divided into three parts:

Part 1: Media-sociology and the social role of journalism

The social role of the mass media will be discussed with a special emphasis on how political, cultural and structural conditions may be discussed in relation to questions concerning the power of the media, market-orientation and globalisation. This part will focus especially on the practices, codes and culture of journalism and the news media considered from a sociological perspective, as well as how political interests and the ownership concentration of multinational media companies influences the field of journalism. Each student must submit a portfolio of 2500-3000 words.

Part 2: The history of journalists and journalism

This part will provide an introduction to the historical development of the printed press in Norway and in a number of other countries. Central themes include the development of the press as an institution, including the freedom of the press and “the fourth estate”, the social dimensions of newspaper texts over a period of time, the professionalisation of journalism, and the development of various journalistic genres and formats. In the work on group projects students will be encouraged to focus on local media firms. A group project consisting of an student-designed cooperative-project between three and four students will result in a written submission comprising 4000-6000 words.

Part 3: Text analysis and communication theory

This part provides an introduction to basic text-analytical approaches such as semiotics, rhetoric, hermeneutics and discourse theory. Central communication theory concepts and models will also be examined. The approaches of humanist theories and analysis strategies and the answers these provide will also be clarified. Students will work on the simple analysis of specific journalistic texts. Each student must submit a portfolio for this part comprising 2500-3000 words.

READING LIST

Total number of pages: c. 1410.

Texts marked with * will be included in the compendium of articles. Students must ensure that they get hold of the other texts on the reading list before the start of the course.

Part 1 Mediesosiologi (c. 500 pages):

Martin Eide (red.) (2001): Til Dagsorden!, Gyldendal Akademisk Forlag .

Chapter 1: ”Journalistisk makt. Et oppslag”, Martin Eide, pp. 13-59.

Chapter 2: ”Maktens grunnlag”, Odd Raaum, pp. 59-86.

Chapter 3: ”Journalistikkens makt i den globale tidsalder”, Tore Slaatta, pp. 112-136.

Chapter 8: ”TV-nyhetenes eksponeringsmakt”, Knut Helland, pp. 228- 256.

Chapter 10: ”Kildene og mediemakten”, Sigurd Allern, pp.273-304.

Chapter 13: ”Nett og nettpresse”, Terje Rasmussen, pp.354-378 (186 pages).

Michael Schudson (2003): The Sociology of News, Chapters 1-3, 6-11, W.W.Norton & Company (97 pages).

Toril Aalberg, Eiri Elvestad (2005): Mediesosiologi, Samlaget, Oslo (147 pages).

*Raymond Williams: “The Technology and Society”, Chapter 3, pp. 47-57. In The Media Reader: Continuity and Transformation, Hugh Mackay and Tim O’Sullivan (eds.), Sage, London 1999 (10 pages).

Gripsrud, Jostein (2002): Mediekultur, Mediesamfunn, Del 1: ”Publikum og mediene”, pp. 5-100, Universitetsforlaget (95 pages).

Part 2 Journalistenes og journalistikkens historie (c. 500 pages).

*Thore Roksvold (1996): ”Riss av norske avisers sjangerhistorie” in Thore Roksvold (red.) Avissjsangre over tid, pp.9-107, Institutt for journalistikk, Fredrikstad 1996. (95 pages).

Gripsrud, Jostein (2003): Mediekultur, Mediesamfunn Del 3: ”Produksjon og rammevilkår” pp. 229-325, Universitetsforlaget (96 pages).

*Schudson, Michael (2005): “The Emergence of the Objectivity Norm in American Journalism” pp.19-37 in Svennik Høyer and Horst Pøttker (eds.) Diffusion of the News Paradigm 1850-2000, Nordicom, Gøteborg 2005 (18 pages).

*Pöttker, Horst (2005): “The News Pyramid and its Origin from the American Journalism in the 19th Century. A Professional Approach and an Empirical Inquiry”, pp. 51-65 in Svennik Høyer and Horst Pøttker (eds.). Diffusion of the News Paradigm 1850-2000 , Nordicom, Gøteborg 2005 (14 pages).

*Stensaas, Harlan S. (2005): “The Rise of the News Paradigm” pp. 37-51 in Svennik Høyer og Horst Pøttker (eds.) Diffusion of the News paradigm 1850-2000 , Nordicom, Gøteborg (14 pages).

*Høyer, Svennik (2005): “Old and New Journalism in The London Press. The 1880 and 1890s”. pp. 65-75, in Svennik Høyer and Horst Pøttker (red.) Diffusion of the News Paradigm 1850-2000, Nordicom, Gøteborg (10 pages).

*Høyer, Svennik and Epp Lauk (2003): “The Paradoxes of the Journalistic Profession. An Historical Perspective” in Nordicom Review, Vol. 24, no. 2 (pp.3-17) (14 pages).

Rune Ottoson, Lars Arve Røssland, Helge Østbye (2002): Norsk Pressehistorie, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo (229 pages).

Part 3 Tekstanalyse og kommunikasjonsteori (c. 400 pages).

*Fairclough, Norman (1995): Media Discourse, London 1995 (Extract 50 pages).

Chapter 4 “Critical analysis of media discourse”, pp. 53-75.

Chapter 5 “Intertextuality and the news”, pp. 75-103.

*Peter Larsen (1999): ”Teoretiske og analytiske grunnbegreper”, pp.15-31 in Peter Larsen og Liv Hausken (red.) Medievitenskap. Bind 2: Medier, tekstteori og tekstanalyse, Fagbokforlaget (Extract 16 pages).

*Knut Helland (1999): Chapter 2 ”Nyhetsinstitusjonens tekster”, pp.189-204 in Peter Larsen og Liv Hausken (red.), Medievitenskap. Bind 2: Medier, tekstteori og tekstanalyse, Fagbokforlaget (Extract 15 pages).

*David Hesmondhalgh (2006): “Discourse Analysis and Content Analysis”, pp. 120-156 in Marie Gillespie and Jason Toynbee (eds.) Analysing Media Texts, Open University Press, Berkshire (Extract 36 pages).

*Jostein Gripsrud (2006): “Semiotics: Signs, Codes and Cultures”, pp. 9-43 in Marie Gillespie and Jason Toynbee (eds.) Analysing Media Texts, Open University Press, Berkshire, 2006, (Extract 34 pages).

*Espen Ytreberg (2006): Medie- og Kommunikasjonsteori, Universitetsforlaget, pp. 7-69 (Extract 62 pages).

*Thore Roksvold (1989): Retorikk for journalister, pp. 11- 68, Cappelen Akademisk Forlag (Extract 57 pages).

Gripsrud Jostein (2002): Mediekultur, Mediesamfunn Del 2: ”Perspektiv på medienes tekster”, pp. 107-222, Universitetsforlaget (115 pages).

Learning Methods

The teaching will partly consist of lectures and seminars, in total 100 teaching hours. Individual supervision will also be given.

Students will also spend some time working independently in groups on group projects.

Assessment Methods

Submission of portfolio for part 1 counts for 20 % of the final grade.

Portfolio submission for part 3 counts for 20% of the final grade.

The group project for part 2 must be approved by the subject teacher and be allocated passing marks before the student may be permitted to sit the examination. The theme of the projects must be approved by the subject teacher.

The final examination counts for 60% of the final grade, and includes all three parts.

The portfolios and the final examination will be graded A to F, where E represents the lowest passing grade.

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean