RECENT ASSIGNMENT

Assessment three: 2000 word research essay (50%) due Tuesday 11 June by 5pm (examination period) You must answer one of the following questions:
1. Is there political bias in news reporting? If so, should we be concerned about that?
2. Has journalism driven social, economic and political progress or would it instead be more accurate to say that journalism has been swept along by such progress (and often only slowly and reluctantly at that)?
3. Can we ever hope to prove that the media influence thought and action?
4. Does media ownership still matter in an era of proliferation of media content? Why/why not?
5. Choose one of these three as a case study: 1) Brexit (UK), 2) Donald Trump’s campaign victory in 2016 (US) or 3) the revolving door of Australian prime ministers in the past decade. To what extent can certain media owners/outlets/organisations be held responsible for these events?
6. Should citizens be concerned about the relationship between politicians (and their media advisers) with journalists and reporters?
7. What is ‘fake news’ and what is its potential impact upon politics, democracy and journalism?
8. ‘Political satire does a better job at holding power to account than political journalism’. Do you agree? Why/why not?
9. How does the media promote celebrity politicians and how does this fit with notions of how the media ‘should’ work in a democracy?
10. If journalism as we have known it is truly coming to an end, should we be celebrating or afraid?
The goal of the final essay is for you to develop a critical analysis of a key issue from the teachings in Politics and the Media and your wider readings. This will require you to show (1) a wide understanding of competing arguments that various authors are making, and assess their strengths and weaknesses (2) to form your own viewpoint after engaging with others’ analyses and to set and articulate appropriate limits on your field of inquiry to comply with the 2000 word requirement (3) demonstrate your academic writing skills and understanding of academic conventions such as referencing and (4) show an understanding of the relevant theories that intersect with the question to which you are responding.