Political Science 120 - The Media and Campaign

Spring
2018
01
4.00
Masha Gessen
T 02:30PM-05:00PM
Amherst College
POSC-120-01-1718S
MERR 403
mgessen@amherst.edu

[IL, SC] We all know that the American media failed the American public during the 2016 election – or do we? Is it the job of the media to predict election outcomes accurately (or at all)? Is it up to journalists to alert the nation to the threat it faces? Are media professionals there to entertain, educate, or report impartially? And while we are at it, what is it to report impartially? This course will explore the assumptions that underlie journalism as it is practiced and consumed in the United States. Then, we will look at what went wrong, or what didn’t go wrong – what happened – with and in the media during the 2016 presidential campaign.


Limited to 18 students. Spring semester. Visiting Professor Gessen.

Permission is required for interchange registration during all registration periods.