CCHU9047 

The Press, the Public and the Public Sphere
Timetable for Lectures

Course Description

What is the role of the press in a modern society, and are there minimum standards that you as a citizen can expect from the press? What is the relationship between the press, the public and government in different societies? Has the growth of social media made the traditional press increasingly irrelevant as a forum for spreading information and opinions?

These are some of the challenging questions that this course will examine. The course aims to help students become better citizens by allowing them to develop a critical understanding of the different theories of the press and its functions, looking at institutional, governmental and business constraints on the press in different countries in the region, and looking at new models of citizen journalism and social media and the impact they might have on the relationship between the press, the public and government.

The course will expose students to different theoretical frameworks for understanding the functions of the media in democratic and authoritarian societies, the concept of the public sphere and its role in the formation of public opinion, and the role of public opinion in governance.

They will use these concepts to assess the performance of the media by critically analyzing media reports and assessing their quality.

Course Learning Outcomes

On completing the course, students will be able to:

  1. Critically evaluate various theories on the role of press in society.
  2. Apply this understanding to critically examine news reports in the press.
  3. Demonstrate understanding of how the public sphere is constituted in different societies.
  4. Understand the relationship between the press, public opinion and public policy.
  5. Evaluate the quality of information appearing in social media and other new forms of information exchange.

Offer Semester and Day of Teaching

Second semester (Sat)

Study Load

Activities Number of hours
Lectures 24
Tutorials 10
Reading / Self-study 60
Assessment: Essay / Report writing 30
Assessment: Presentation (incl preparation) 20
Assessment: Quizzes (incl preparation) 4
Total: 148

Assessment: 100% coursework

Assessment Tasks Weighting
Essay / Report writing 40
In-class presentation 20
Quizzes 20
Participation in lectures and tutorials 20

Required Reading

  • Christians, C. G., Glasser, T. L., & McQuaid, D. (2009). Normative theories of the media: Journalism in democratic societies. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. [Selected chapters]
  • Gillmor, D. (2004). We the media: Grassroots journalism by the people, for the people. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly. [Selected chapters]
  • Habermas, J. (1989). The structural transformation of the public sphere: An inquiry into a category of Bourgeois society (T. Burger, Trans.). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
  • Lippmann, W. (1922/1965). Public opinion. New York: Free Press.  [Chap. 1]
  • Schudson, M. (2003). The sociology of news. New York: W. W. Norton. [Selected chapters]

Recommended Reading

  • Chomsky, N. (1959). A review of B. F. Skinner’s verbal behavior. Language, 35(1), 26-58.
  • Everett, D. (2005).  Cultural constraints on grammar and cognition in Pirahã. Current  Anthropology,  46(4), 621-646
  • Everett, D. (2007, April). Cultural constraints on grammar in Pirahã: A reply to Nevins, Pesetsky, and Rodrigues (2007). LingBuzz.
  • Fitch, T., Hauser, M., & Chomsky, N. (2005). The evolution of the language faculty: Clarifications and implications. Cognition, 97,179-210.
  • Hauser, M., Chomsky, N., & Fitch, T. (2002).  The faculty of language: What is it, who has it, and how did it evolve? Science, 298(5598), 1569-1579.
  • Jackendoff, R., & Pinker, S. (2005). The nature of the language faculty and its implications for evolution of language. Cognition, 97, 211-225.
  • King, K. A. (2006). Child language acquisition. In R. Fasold & J. Connor-Linton (Eds.), An introduction to language and linguistics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Lust, B. C. (2006). Child language: Acquisition and growth. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Lust, B. C., & Foley, C. (Eds). (2004). First language acquisition : The essential readings. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
  • Nevins, I., Pesetsky, D., & Rodrigues, C. (2007, March). Piraha Exceptionality: A reassessment. LingBuzz.
  • Pinker, S., & Jackendoff, R. (2005). The faculty of language: What’s special about it? Cognition, 95, 201-236.
  • Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal behavior. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

Course Co-ordinator and Teacher(s)

Course Co-ordinator Contact
Mr T. Abraham
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, Faculty of Social Sciences		 Tel:3917 4017
Email: thomas@hku.hk
Teacher(s) Contact
Mr T. Abraham
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, Faculty of Social Sciences		 Tel:3917 4017
Email: thomas@hku.hk