Networked Society: New Media For Democracy

Timetable

Classes start: October, 10th 2022, Mondays at 18.30-20.00, Faculty of Political Science and Journalism, room 125

Classes end: January, 30th, 2023

Module aim (aims)

This  module aims to enable students to:
1. Gain critical knowledge of the role of mass media communications in contemporary democracies.
2. Develop understanding of the codes, aesthetics, forms and conventions of a variety of digital media texts and practices through a range of analytical approaches.
3. Reflect on the ways in which mass media industries contribute to supporting or eroding democratic values and empowering citizens.
4. Consolidate, develop and apply critical and evaluative skills concerning engagement with, and interpretation of, the outputs of digital media within civic society.

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

Knowledge of basic concepts and processes in media studies, political science and sociology.

Suitable for students within the Fculty of Political Science and Journalism, Faculty of Social Science and the Faculty of History.

Syllabus

Main topics:

• Social media and Internet as a public sphere – introductory debate
• Ethical, Inclusive AI and Big Data usage: a call to civic awareness
• Can the Internet strengthen democracy? – discussion
• Can the Internet strengthen democracy? – case study
• Digital divide (movie +concepts + working in groups)
• Networked society: social movements, social protests
• Alternative online media: open editing, open news, gatewatching
• Information disorder: mis-, dis-, mal-information and its impact
• Fake news and factchecking updated
• Infodemic in the era of COVID-19 pandemic
• Trust in media, media polarization and filter bubbles

Reading list

• Castells, M. (2015). Networks of outrage and hope: Social movements in the Internet age. John Wiley & Sons.
• Coleman, S. (2017). Can the internet strengthen democracy?. John Wiley & Sons.
• Van Dijk, J. (2020). The digital divide. John Wiley & Sons.
• Webb, A. (2019). The big nine: How the tech titans and their thinking machines could warp humanity. Hachette UK.
• Zuboff, S. (2015). Big other: surveillance capitalism and the prospects of an information civilization. Journal of information technology, 30(1), 75-89.
• žInside the Macedonian Fake-News Complex https://www.wired.com/2017/02/veles-macedonia-fake-news/