Govt-Media Relatns Digital Age

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Government-media relations has changed significantly as communications technology continues to allow each side to convey information and context more directly into the popular bloodstream without the other -- or at least without as much deference to the other. The co-dependence that has historically existed was already being upset by today’s “prosumers” -- individuals who can now produce and consume news and information right from their own back pockets -- but it is being further disrupted by a steady breakdown in the public’s trust of government and media institutions. This course will try to make sense of this new environment and explore potential solutions. Students will produce response papers and one final paper. Guest speakers with experience from the State Department, Pentagon and media will visit. (John Kirby served the Obama administration as both Pentagon Press Secretary and State Department Spokesperson. He retired from the Navy as a two-star admiral and was most recently the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs.)