Media & Politics
Introduction to media and politics focusing on US interactions between political actors, media institutions, and publics in a changing information environment.
Summary
What you’ll be able to do
Describe the functions of media and political communication in a democratic society.
Evaluate the performance of media in fulfilling democratic functions.
Explain the competing goals and interests that govern interactions between the media, political leaders, and mass publics.
Analyze media agendas, news framing, and attention to understand downstream effects on public opinion and politics.
Assess the quality of the contemporary political information environment.
Source: UW Guide 1· UW Guide 2
Grade history
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Prerequisites
Course mapSophomore standing
- Sophomore standing
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- Sophomore standing
Professors
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Student experience
the class
An introduction to the study of media and politics, examining the interactions between political actors, media institutions, and mass publics in a changing information environment, with a primary (but not exclusive) focus on the United States. Examines the critical functions that media institutions serve in political and democratic processes, shaping the nature and flow of information that citizens, public officials, and civil society need to make decisions in both public and private affairs. Explores the implications of evolving communication technologies for the nature of news and its consumption, attention and information processing, public opinion and the political agenda, political communication in campaigns and elections, and mass engagement in public affairs.
difficulty & workload
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Topics
- Functions of media in political and democratic processes
- Communication technologies, news consumption, and public opinion
- Political communication in campaigns and elections
Skills
- Describing and evaluating media's role in democratic processes
- Explaining interactions among media, political leaders, and publics
- Analyzing media agendas, framing, and attention effects
- Assessing the quality of the political information environment
Grades
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Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
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Model & dataset provenance
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"requirements_status": "valid",
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"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
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