Communication 339 - Media and Public Policy

This course provides students with media policy literacy and critical knowledge on evolving debates on media and technology policy in the United States, and its implication for democracy and the development of media systems. We will examine laws, policies and regulations affecting legacy and digital media, including universal service, net neutrality, free speech, access to information, advertising, online privacy, data protection and intellectual property. Students are introduced to practices of public interest advocacy and media technology policy-making, identifying stakeholders and vested interests in this process. By the successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Explain how media law and media policy are constituted, and analyze substantive issues on the contemporary media and technology policy agenda in the U.S.; Understand the socio-political relations and political-economic context that surround key media policy debates; Recognize how different forms of regulation shape media institutions, identifying the tensions between commercialism and different public interest goals; Understand rights and responsibilities of users/ consumers/ producers of media messages; Develop understanding and skills on different genres of policy writing and communication.

Comm 122 Students who do not meet the prerequisites may seek permission of the instructor to enroll (mfuentes@umass.edu).