Media, Capitalism, and Democracy

1 Course Unit

In this course we critically examine the complex and often-invisible relationships between political-economic structures and information/ communication systems. Drawing from various schools of economic and democratic theory, we will explore historical and international case studies of how capitalism shapes media systems, infrastructures, and institutions. In doing so, we will interrogate how commercial logics affect media organizations’ ability to provide for democratic society’s communication and information needs. As we unpack and denaturalize the ideologies, imaginaries, and unexamined assumptions that undergird these relationships, we also will consider structural alternatives, always asking the utopian but necessary question: Is another media system possible? 1 Course Unit