Skagit Valley College

Catalog Course Search Details

 Course Title:   Intro to Mass Media

 Title Abbreviation:   INTRO TO MASS MEDIA

 Department:    CMST&

 Course #:    102

 Credits:    5

 Variable:     No

 IUs:    5

 CIP:    090403

 EPC:    n/a

 REV:    2018


 Course Description  

A survey of the media of mass communications, including newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, motion pictures, and electronic media, with an emphasis on function, structure, content, and social and cultural effects.

 Prerequisite  

Prerequisite: Appropriate placement or grade of 2.0 or higher in ENGL 099.

Additional Course Details

Contact Hours (based on 11 week quarter)

Lecture: 55

Lab: 0

Other: 0

Systems: 0

Clinical: 0


Intent: Distribution Requirement(s) Status:  

Academic Humanities, Elective  

Equivalencies At Other Institutions

Other Institution Equivalencies Table
Institution Course # Remarks
CWU 201
E.C.C.
U of W T
WSU T
WWU 240

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

  1. Understand the influence of culture on mass communication by:
    • Identifying the influence of mass communication on culture and culture on mass communication.
    • Exploring cultural stereotypes in mass communication.
  2. Develop critical thinking skills in applying learning to mass media contexts, specifically:
    • Analyzing the relationship between media form and content.
    • Evaluating communication strategies and informational content of various media.
    • Developing connections between information functions of the media and current events.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of mass communications through:
    • Characterizing the process and practices of organizations that produce, store, distribute, and transform information into mass communication messages.
    • Identifying factors and forces that influence the impact and uses of the media for individuals, groups, societies, and cultures.
    • Explaining how particular technologies become a communication medium of a particular type and serve a particular function and purpose.
    • Exploring the influence of various technological imperatives on American history and the subsequent effects on culture.
    • Applying textbook and supplemental reading assignments/research to individual or group projects.

General Education Learning Values & Outcomes

Revised August 2008 and affects outlines for 2008 year 1 and later.

2. Critical Thinking

Definition: The ability to think critically about the nature of knowledge within a discipline and about the ways in which that knowledge is constructed and validated and to be sensitive to the ways these processes often vary among disciplines.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
2.1 Identify and express concepts, terms, and facts related to a specific discipline.
2.2 Analyze issues and develop questions within a discipline.
2.3 Identify, interpret, and evaluate pertinent data and previous experience to reach conclusions.
2.4 Evaluate decisions by analyzing outcomes and the impact of actions.
2.6 Recognize how the value and biases in different disciplines can affect the ways in which data is analyzed.
2.7 Identify and evaluate connections and relationships among disciplines.

3. Communication

Definition: Understanding and producing effective written, spoken, visual, and non-verbal communication.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
3.1 Recognize, read, and comprehend academic and/or professional writing.
3.2 Recognize, produce and demonstrate appropriate interpersonal, group, and public speaking skills.
3.3 Demonstrate effective listening skills.
3.4 Produce academic and/or professional writing and integrate it into written and spoken projects.
3.5 Recognize, comprehend, and use non-verbal behaviors appropriate to a given context.
3.6 Recognize, comprehend, and use visual communication appropriate to a given context.
3.7 Adapt communication to diverse audiences and media.

4. Community & Cultural Diversity

Definition: Recognizing the value of human communities and cultures from multiple perspectives through a critical understanding of their similarities and differences.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
4.2 Understand, value and respect human differences and commonalities as they relate to issues of race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and culture.
4.3 Understand the historically and socially constructed nature of—and the meanings attributed to—human differences.
4.4 Demonstrate effective communication across differences in human communities and cultures.
4.5 Adapt to and function effectively in communities and cultures different from one's own.
4.6 Utilize ethical practice in relation to diverse communities and cultures for the promotion of equity and social justice.

6. Individual Awareness & Responsibility

Definition: Understanding, managing, and taking responsibility for one’s learning and behavior in varied and changing environments.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
6.3 Apply successful organizational strategies of planning, goal setting, prioritizing, resolving conflict, and managing time to specific goals and/or projects.

10. Technology

Definition: Understanding the role of technology in society and using technology appropriately and effectively.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
10.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the development and impact of technology in human experience (history, global, and local).
10.2 Demonstrate an understanding of legal, ethical, and environmental issues in the use and misuse of technology.
10.3 Use technology appropriate to the context and task to effectively retrieve and manage information, solve problems, and facilitate communication.
10.4 Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of technology in one’s personal and professional life.

Course Contents

  1. Framework/types of mass communications
  2. TV structures, functions, and programming
  3. Popular culture and the media
  4. First amendment and ethical issues and the media
  5. Evolution of media structures
  6. Media economics (advertising, PR, etc.)
  7. Media and politics
  8. Cultural representation/bias in the media