Required prerequisite knowledge

Admission to the MA Programme in Global Journalism

Relevance within study programme

GJ 313 Media Representation is an optional course in the MA Programme in Global Journalism at NLA University College and takes place in the second semester of the programme.

Introduction

GJ 313 Media Representation focuses on understanding how culture influences interpretation and representation. For journalists it is important to acknowledge how cultural socialization and worldview influence and effect the way one understands and reports about different situations. Insights from semiotics, post-colonial studies and social anthropology, amongst others, will shed light on how the others are represented. Through this course the students are given methods and tools to analyse intercultural media representation.

The course is divided into two main parts, where the first part focuses on how culture and societies and ultimately media productsare constructed. The purpose of learning about how cultures and societies are constructed is to show that a journalist's background and experiences influences the understanding and interpretation of a situation and context. The interpretation of a situation influences the representation of it. For journalists, whose goal is to truthfully report situations and realities, it is important to acknowledge and take into account the role of culture, recognizing that the same situation can be understood and interpreted differently. The importance of epistemology and ontology will be presented and discussed.

The second part of the course elaborates on the idea of representation and otherness. Edward Said's idea of orientalism is presented to get a historical presentation of this. The course will also deal with how media portrays and presents certain groups or communities. These issues will be discussed in relation to power structures and under-representation.

Related media theories of framing, agenda-setting and discourse analysis are also explored to strengthen the conceptual and analytical frames in media representation.

Learning outcomes descriptors

Knowledge

The student:

• can identify and explain major issues in media representation
• can explain common concepts used in culture theory and relevant literature in this field
• has knowledge of the theories of representation, otherness, epistemology and ontology
• and other relevant theories in the field

Skills

The student:

• can discuss the idea of representation in a historical and current context
• can by using an analytical approach detect various representation of others and discuss this in light of relevant theory

General competence

The student:

• is able to identify potential challenges when reporting from different cultural contexts and how to apply sufficient skills to report in line with journalistic values
• can critically analyse representation of others in media texts

Content

Course details

GJ 313-1: Construction of culture and society

The first section of the course deals with fundamental issues related to culture and society and how humans are influenced by these issues in their interpretation of reality.

GJ 313-2: Representation and otherness - current and historical perspectives

The second section of the course discusses the idea of representation, focusing especially on media representation. A historical approach is taken to show how history influences our current situation and representation.

Teaching and learning methods

The course has an introductory week with intensive teaching from Monday to Friday. The remaining six weeks of the course have weekly lectures. Online connection is available for the weekly lectures, but not for the introductory week.

Scope

250 -300 hours.

Coursework requirements

Compulsory components

Lectures in GJ 313 are not compulsory, but students are encouraged to be present in order to create a conducive learning environment. The written assignment and the oral exam are compulsory.

Final assessment

The assessment of GJ 313 comprises two parts:

• A 4000 word written assignment/paper (51% of the final grade)
• A 30 minute oral exam covering relevant issues in the field of media representation (49% of the final grade)

Permitted aids under examination

1. Written assignment/paper: All

2. Oral exam: None

Grading, examination

Both parts shall be individual work and are assessed according to the standard A-F grading system. One final grade is given for the course.

Assessment language

English or a Nordic language

Practice

None.

Course evaluation

Annually course evaluation in accordance with the quality assurance system for NLA University College. Students may also give their feedback on the course in the student group/ in class.

Available for Course Students

Yes 

Syllabus

Total reading: 676 pp. 

GJ 313-1: Construction of culture and society

• Elder-Vass, Dave (2012) The reality of social construction. Cambridge University Press. (280 pp)
• Entman, R. (1993) Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication 43(4): 51-58. (8 pp)
• Goffman, Erving (1974) Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1-38 (38 pp)
• Machin, David and Andrea Mayr (2012) How to do critical discourse analysis: A multimodal introduction. Los Angeles: Sage. 1-96. (96 pp)
• Scheufele, Dietram A. (2000) Agenda-setting, priming and framing revisited: Another look at cognitive effects of political communication. Mass Communication & Society 3 (2&3): 297-316. (20 pp)

GJ 313-2: Representation and otherness - current and historical perspectives

• Ahmed, Saifuddin and Jörg Matthes (2017) Media representation of Muslims and Islam from 2000 to 2015: A meta-analysis. The International Communication Gazette 79(3): 219-244. (26 pp)
• Byerly, Carolyn M. (2012) The geography of women and media scholarship. In: Karen Ross (ed.), The handbook of gender, sex, and media, 3-19. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. (17 pp)
• Faimau, Gabriel (2015) The conflictual model of analysis in studies on the media representation of Islam and Muslims: A critical review. Social Compass 9(5): 321-335. (15 pp)
• Gullestad, Marianne (2007) Picturing pity: Pitfall and pleasures in cross-cultural communication. Image and word in a North Cameroon mission. New York: Berghahn. 1-35. (35 pp)
• Kapuscinski, Ryszard (2008) The other. London: Verso. (104 pp)
• Orgad, Shani (2012) Media representation and the global imagination. Cambridge: Polity. 15-51. (37 pp)

Recommended additional readings for the course:

• Berger, Peter L. and Thomas Luckmann (1966) Social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. New York: Anchor Books. (200 pp)
• Fairclough, Norman (1995) Critical discourse analysis. London: Longman. Chs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7. (121 pp)
• Machin, David and Andrea Mayr (2012) How to do critical discourse analysis: A multimodal introduction. Sage. LA. 97-218 (122 pp)