Summer 2024

• Time, location:     online
  
• Instructor:             Bill Grigsby, Department of Anth/Soc;
• Contact:                 bgrigsby@eou.edu

Texts:

• Robert Cialdini. 2011. Influence: Science and Practice (5th edition). Boston: Pearson.
• Richard Paul and Linda Elder. 2020. Fact over Fake: A Critical Thinker’s Guide to Media Bias and Political Propaganda. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
• A variety of other readings accessible through Canvas

Course catalog description: Americans are exposed to more propaganda–considerably more–than any other society. A sizable portion of it is presented as ‘news.’ This course examines the commercial and alternative news media, how they are structured, and how we consume them. News organizations get to decide what to cover, what not to cover, where to cover it, how to cover it, and how long to cover it. How are those decisions made? What is the role of persuasion, either by news organizations, or through the efforts of outside forces and pressure groups, and how does propaganda coexist with democratic process? (Syllabus)

Prerequisites: None. Soc 205 recommended & college level reading/writing. Gen ed:  SSC (5 credits)