COMS205-25S1 (C) Semester One 2025

Media and Politics

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 17 February 2025
End Date: Sunday, 22 June 2025
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 2 March 2025
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 11 May 2025

Description

The course provides an understanding of the role of the media in domestic and international politics. It does this by analysing key theoretical assumptions and debates on the role of media institutions in the struggle for power domestically and internationally. This course includes group work and requires active in-class engagement. It has on-campus and distance options. It features internationally-recognised top experts in the field of political communication as our guest speakers. Research, critical debate, collaborative work, networking, creativity, writing and presentation are among the core skills this course aims to advance.

Learning Outcomes

  • By the end of this course, students should be able to:
  • Explain how journalists and the media industry report politics
  • Understand how political actors attempt to use the media
  • Comprehend the influences the flows of political communication have on their discipline
  • Argue a position on media’s power in politics and public opinion formation
  • Describe media’s role in democracy and democratic processes such as elections
  • Elaborate on how propaganda works and its effectiveness
  • Apply analytical and critical thinking and problem-solving skills in diverse contexts
  • Gain greater knowledge and understanding of the mechanisms behind strategic influence of
           political communication, domestically and internationally
  • Develop competence in engaging with global and multi-cultural contexts of political
           communication from a research-informed analytical standpoint
  • Gain better understanding of traditional and contemporary realities of NZ’s society through
           political communication of and by NZ towards international partners.
  • Enhance research capacities through individual and group research and train in methods
           specifically relevant to studying political communication

Prerequisites

Any 15 points at 100 level from COMS or POLS, or
any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

Restrictions

Equivalent Courses

Timetable 2025

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 10:00 - 12:00 A5 Lecture Theatre
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
Tutorial A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 13:00 - 14:00 James Logie 104
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
02 Friday 14:00 - 15:00 James Logie 104
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
03 Friday 15:00 - 16:00 James Logie 104
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun

Course Coordinator

Natalia Chaban

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Quiz 15% Take place every second week: Weeks 2, 4, 6, ( & 11 Each quiz has 10 questions, Each quiz = 3% of the grade
FORUM 10% One forum post 8% by 22 March, a follow up queston 2% due 18 April. Post that attracts most questions gets 3% added to final grade. Bonus of up to 5% for active tutorial participation/contribution
Group Case Study 35% Group presentation (15%): April 4, during lecture on Monday, 11am-1pm Group written report (20%): May 5, 11:59pm
Essay 15 Jun 2025 40% Participants of the class are invited to choose and write one essay: not shorter than 1,300 words and not longer than 1,500 words. References are not included into this word count 23:50, 15 June

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $894.00

International fee $4,100.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .

All COMS205 Occurrences

  • COMS205-25S1 (C) Semester One 2025
  • COMS205-25S1 (D) Semester One 2025 (Distance)