COMA 230 - Introduction to Mass Communication

Credits: 3
Lecture Contact Hours: 3
Description: Understanding media in today’s world is more than a scholarly exercise; it is a necessary survival skill in a world that has been utterly changed by mass communication. All students, whether they will be practitioners, critics or consumers, have to be able to analyze the ways in which mass media is being used to change the world. This course provides the tools needed to accomplish this analysis.

Prerequisites: COMA 103
Corequisites: None.
Recommended: None.

Course Category: Liberal Arts | Humanities
This course counts toward Schoolcraft’s General Education Requirements.
This course counts toward a Michigan Transfer Agreement General Education Requirement.

This Course is Typically Offered: Winter Only
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Course Competencies

Explain key names, dates and events in the history of mass media.
Examine the general development and impact of government influence on mass media.
Analyze the relationships between mass communication, culture and mass media.
Evaluate the significant milestones in the development of the various types of mass media, including the growth of book publishing, newspapers and advertising, magazines, photography, film, radio, television, and the Internet.
Explain the basic economics of mass media.
Explain the relationship of programming to marketplace decision-making.
Discuss the basic theories and effects of mass communications.
Explain the relationship between media freedom, regulations and ethics.
Discuss 10 key contributors within the Mass Media arena.