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PMCb_1010 Media effects
(Syllabus for Spring Term 2024)
Teacher: Mgr. et Mgr. Michal Tkaczyk, Ph.D.
Contact: tkaczyk@fss.muni.cz
Classes: P52, Tuesday, 2:00-3:40 PM
Course Description
The course acquaints the students with the media effects theory and research, with an
emphasis on the effects of political communication. The focus will be on learning how to
understand the effects of political communication rather than on memorizing a catalog of
facts. The course is divided into three thematic modules. The first one introduces media
effects as a distinct branch of media studies. It provides a historical overview of paradigm
shifts in media effects research and introduces basic concepts, models, theories, and methods
used in media effects research. The second module narrows the scope on political
communication effects, and it surveys different types of effects on individuals, such as effects
on opinion formation and change cognitive and behavioral effects, concluding with theoretical
models proposing the conditionality of those effects. The final module focuses on the effects
of political communication on political systems and institutions, such as political polarization
or mediatization of politics.
Course aims
The course intends to develop students’ understanding of political communication effects.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, the learner will be able to:
• explain basic concepts and theories of media effects and illustrate them in historical or
actual cases;
• explain and classify specific political communication effects;
• identify the audiences most susceptible to the effects of political communication;
• apply fundamental concepts and theories of media effects in reflection of various
forms of mediated political communication;
▪ take a critical stance towards the various forms of mediated political communication
based on critical reflection on their possible effects on a political system.
Course Requirements
Students will be evaluated based on assignments and the final exam. The detailed breakdown
of the assignments is listed below:
A) Open book short online test (10x)
B) Position paper (3x)
C) Final exam
Evaluation criteria and grading scale
Grade composition
Assignment % of Grade Points
Open book short online tests 10 % 10
Position paper (team work) 40 % 30
Final exam 50 % 40
To pass, students are supposed to get at least 50% of points for each type of assignment.
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Grading scale
A: 73-80
B: 65-72
C: 57-64
D: 49-56
E: 41-48
F: 0-40
Teaching and learning methods
Classes combine lectures, discussions, and activities in pairs or small groups. Students are
encouraged to make questions, present arguments and alternative viewpoints during classes.
Outside classes, students complete required readings (prior to class), participate in teamwork
on team assignments (Position Papers), and prepare for the final exam.
Study literature and material
The study literature is divided into required and recommended. The required literature
comprises less demanding chapters from textbooks or academic encyclopedia entries. It
provides basic knowledge on the subject, and is a prerequisite for participation in the class.
Completing required readings is verified through the semester with Open book short online
tests.
The recommended readings extend the basic knowledge, primarily consisting of empirically
oriented studies related to the class topic. These studies are a helpful resource, in particular
for Position Paper 3.
When possible, the literature will be provided by the instructor and made available in study
materials via IS. The literature is also available in the library or through the E-resources of
FSS Central Library.
Occasionally, additional materials and resources may be assigned. These will be made
available via IS.
Assessment methods
A) Open book short online test (10x) – assess if student completed required reading prior to
classes. Tests take place before each class with required reading, and are administered via the
Information System. Each test is rated 0 to 1 points. More detailed information about
administration of open book short online test will be provided by instructor.
B) Position papers (3x) – develop and assess more complex academic skills such as analysis,
argumentation, interpretation, application or teamwork. Position papers should be worked out
in small groups of five students. More detailed information about position papers, grading
criteria, and how groups will be created will be provided by instructor. Detailed specifications
of topics for all three position papers will be available in study materials via IS.
C) The final exam – assesses recall and understanding of basic concepts and key ideas
presented in the course. It consists of 20 mainly close-ended questions. The final test is
administered in PC Lab. More detailed information about the final test and its administration
will be provided by instructor.
D) Evaluation of the group work – in the end of the course each group member will assess
individual team members contribution to the project, including his/her own via dedicated
form. Getting at least 70% of score for group work is necessary condition for Position papers
to be included in final grade.
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Course Contract
The syllabus serves as a contract between the instructor and the students. Every student is
responsible for reading the entire syllabus at the beginning of the semester and complying
with the terms outlined in it. The instructor reserves the right to make changes to the syllabus
during the course. Any changes will be made in writing and students will be updated about
changes by email without delay.
Academic Integrity and Classroom Code of Conduct
You are expected to act in accordance with the Masaryk University standards for academic
integrity. Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest, and
responsible manner, and includes a commitment not to engage in or tolerate acts of
falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts include but are not limited to
plagiarism, cheating on examinations, pop quizzes, or assignments, and will not be tolerated
in this class and dealt with according to standard University procedure.
Office Consultation
Students interested in office consultation are welcomed in the office 5.45 during my
consultations hours by prior arrangement by email.
Personal Communication Devices Policy
Students are expected to refrain from the use of personal communication devices during class
time for purposes other than class-related academic purposes.
Brief course outline
Week 1 20.02. Introduction to the course
Week 2 27.02. Introduction to scientific study of media effects
Week 3 05.03. Scientific (r)evolutions in media effects research: overview of media
effects research history
Week 4 12.03. Narrowing the scope: Classification of political communications effects
Week 5 19.03. Effects on political opinions formation and change
Week 6 26.03. Cognitive political effects: Agenda-setting, Priming, Framing, and
Knowledge Gain
Week 7 02.04. Effects on perception of political system: Systemic Perceptions, Causal
attribution, Climate of Opinion
Week 8 09.04. Behavioural Effects on Voter Turnout, Citizen Engagement, Civic
Participation and Socialization
Week 9 16.04. Day of the Faculty
Week 10 23.04. Conditionality of political communications effects
Week 11 30.04. Effects on political polarization
Week 12 07.05. Mediatization effects on politics
Week 13 14.05. Summarization of the course
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Course outline
Week 1 Introduction to the course
Introduction to the course content and organization.
Week 2 Introduction to scientific study of media effects
Key concepts: media effects, causality and correlation, media effects typology,
media use/exposure, information filtering, processing, and meaning making
Key questions
What is a media effect?
How can we conceptualize media effects?
What types of media effects can we distinguish?
Key readings
Chapters “What Is a Media Effect?” and “Media Influence” in POTTER, W. J.
(2012). Media Effects (Pp. 33-63). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
Additional readings
SPARKS, G. G. (2015). Chapters 1 “A Scientific Approach to the Study of Media
Effects” and Chapter 2 “Scientific Methods in Media Effects Research” in Media
effects research: A basic overview (Pp. 1-53). Australia: Wadsworth.
Week 3 Scientific revolutions in media effects research: overview of media effects
research history
Key concepts: strong media effects, magic bullet model, hypodermic needle model,
limited-effects paradigm, two-step flow of communication, selective exposure to
communication, the rediscovery of strong media effects, cultivation theory,
conditional effects paradigm, transactional models
Key questions
How has the scientific understanding of media effects evolved over time?
Which theories turned out to be most prevalent, and what are their main ideas on
media effects?
Key readings
SPARKS, Glenn Grayson, 2015. Chapter 3 “A Brief History of Media Effects
Research”. Pp. 54-75 in Media effects research: A basic overview. Fifth edition.
Australia: Wadsworth. ISBN 978-1305077478.
Additional readings
NEUENDORF, K. A., & JEFFRES, L. W. (2017). Media effects: Accounts, nature,
and history of. The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects, 1-13.
BENNETT, W. L., & IYENGAR, S. (2008). A New Era of Minimal Effects? The
Changing Foundations of Political Communication. Journal of Communication,
58(4), 707–731. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.00410.x
VALKENBURG, P. & BETH OLIVER, M. (2020). “Media Effects Theories”. In
OLIVER, M. B., RANEY, A. A., & BRYANT, J. (Eds.). Media effects (pp. 16-36).
Routledge.
Week 4 Narrowing the scope: Classification of political communications effects
Key concepts: political communication, typologies of political communication
effects, democracy-related media use outcomes
Key questions
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What political effects does the media have?
What are the effects of political communication?
How can we conceptualize and classify those effects?
Key readings
Chapter 9 “The Effects of News and Political Content” In SPARKS, G. G. (2015).
Media effects research: A basic overview (pp. 225-252). Australia: Wadsworth.
MCLEOD, D. M., KOSICKI, G. M., & MCLEOD, J. M. (2009). Political
communication effects. In Media effects (pp. 244-267). Routledge.
Additional readings
SCHULZ, W. (2015). Political Communication. In W. Donsbach (Ed.), The
International Encyclopedia of Communication (pp. 1–13). Wiley.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405186407.wbiecp051.pub2
STRÖMBERG, D. (2015). Media and Politics. Annual Review of Economics, 7(1),
173–205. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-080213-041101
TSFATI, Y., & WALTER, N. (2019). The world of news and politics. In Media
Effects: Advances in Theory and Research.
Week 5 Effects on political opinions formation and change
Key concepts: attitude, attitude change, functional approach to attitude change,
elaboration likelihood model, factors influencing the persuasion process, effects of
political campaigning on voting intentions and partisan attitudes
Key questions
What influence does political and media communication have on attitude change?
Do political campaigns matter?
Which factors determine the effectiveness of persuasion?
Key readings
Chapter 8 “Persuasive Effects of the Media” In SPARKS, G. G. (2015). Media
effects research: A basic overview (pp. 189-224). Australia: Wadsworth.
Additional readings
Chapters “Studying political campaigns and their effects” and “Do political
campaigns matter? Yes, but it depends” In FARRELL, D. M., & SCHMITT-BECK,
R. (Eds.). (2003). Do political campaigns matter?: campaign effects in elections and
referendums (pp. 1-21, 183-193) Routledge.
KATZ, D. (1966). Attitude formation and public opinion. The Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science, 367(1), 150-162.
O'KEEFE, D. J. (2016). Persuasion: Theory and Research. SAGE Publications. [In
particular chapters 1, 8-12]
PETTY, R. E., BRINOL, P., PRIESTER, J. R. (2009). Mass media attitude change:
implications of the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. In BRYANT, J. &
OLIVER, M. B. (Eds.), Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research (pp.125-
164). Routledge.
Week 6 Cognitive political effects: Agenda-setting, Priming, Framing, and Knowledge
Gain
Key concepts: agenda setting and agenda building, media salience, priming, media
framing, political knowledge gain
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Key questions
How does the media shape our understanding and interpretations of politics and
social events?
Does the consumption of news increase citizens' political knowledge?
Do people learn about politics from social media?
Key readings
MCCOMBS, M. (2005). A Look at Agenda-setting: Past, present and future.
Journalism Studies, 6(4), 543–557. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616700500250438
DE VREESE, C. H. (2005). News framing: Theory and typology. Information
design journal, 13(1), 51-62. https://doi.org/10.1075/idjdd.13.1.06vre
Additional readings
Chapter “Knows Little? Information and Choice” In NORRIS, P. (2003). A virtuous
circle: Political communications in postindustrial societies (pp. 208-233).
Cambridge Univ. Press.
ENTMAN, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm.
Journal of communication, 43(4), 51-58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-
2466.1993.tb01304.x
EVELAND, W. P., HAYES, A. F., SHAH, D. V., & KWAK, N. (2005).
Understanding the Relationship Between Communication and Political Knowledge:
A Model Comparison Approach Using Panel Data. Political Communication, 22(4),
423–446. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600500311345
AMSALEM, E., & ZOIZNER, A. (2023). Do people learn about politics on social
media? A meta-analysis of 76 studies. Journal of Communication, 73(1), 3–13.
https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqac034
Week 7 Effects on perception of political system: Systemic Perceptions, Causal
attribution, Climate of Opinion
Key concepts: media malaise, spiral of cynicism, strategy framing, spiral of
salience, climate of opinion
Key questions
Should journalists be blamed for spreading political cynicism and scepticism among
citizens?
What are the dynamics of public opinion formation?
What is the role of media in shaping a climate of opinion?
Key readings
Schuck, A. R. T. (2017). Media Malaise and Political Cynicism. In P. Rössler, C. A.
Hoffner, & L. Zoonen (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects (pp.
1–19). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118783764.wbieme0066
Additional readings
STRÖMBÄCK, J., & SHEHATA, A. (2010). Media malaise or a virtuous circle?
Exploring the causal relationships between news media exposure, political news
attention and political interest. European Journal of Political Research, 49(5), 575–
597. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2009.01913.x
BOUKES, M. (2022). Episodic and Thematic Framing Effects on the Attribution of
Responsibility: The Effects of Personalized and Contextualized News on
Perceptions of Individual and Political Responsibility for Causing the Economic
Crisis. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 27(2), 374–395.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161220985241
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NEWTON, K. (2006). May the weak force be with you: The power of the mass
media in modern politics. European Journal of Political Research, 45(2), 209–234.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2006.00296.x
STRÖMBÄCK, J., DJERF-PIERRE, M., & SHEHATA, A. (2016). A Question of
Time? A Longitudinal Analysis of the Relationship between News Media
Consumption and Political Trust. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 21(1),
88–110. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161215613059
PATTERSON, T. E. (2015). Game versus Substance in Political News (K. Kenski
& K. H. Jamieson, Eds.; Vol. 1). Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199793471.013.43
Week 8 Behavioural Effects on Voter Turnout, Citizen Engagement, Civic
Participation and Socialization
Key concepts: voter turnout, citizen engagement, civic participation, socialization
Key questions
Does media coverage of the election campaign have an effect on turnout?
Do Internet and social media use affect engagement and participation?
Key readings
NORRIS, P. (2003). A virtuous circle: Political communications in postindustrial
societies. Cambridge Univ. Press. [Chapter “Stays Home?Political Mobilization”,
pp. 255-278]
Additional readings
EKMAN, J., & AMNÅ, E. (2012). Political participation and civic engagement:
Towards a new typology. Human Affairs, 22(3), 283–300.
https://doi.org/10.2478/s13374-012-0024-1
BOULIANNE, S. (2009). Does Internet Use Affect Engagement? A Meta-Analysis
of Research. Political Communication, 26(2), 193–211.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600902854363
BOULIANNE, S. (2015). Social media use and participation: A meta-analysis of
current research. Information, Communication & Society, 18(5), 524–538.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1008542
BOULIANNE, S. (2020). Twenty Years of Digital Media Effects on Civic and
Political Participation. Communication Research, 47(7), 947–966.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650218808186
Week 9 Day of the Faculty
Week 10 Conditionality of political communications effects
Key concepts: moderation, mediation, OSOR model, political sophistication and
involvement, partisanship, worldviews and values, attention, information-processing
strategies
Key questions
To the extent that political communication has some effects, does it always have the
same effects on everyone and under any circumstances?
Which factors play a role?
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Key readings
OLIVER, M. B. (2009). “Individual Differences in Media Effects” In BRYANT, J.
& ZILLMANN, D. (Eds.), Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research (pp.
507-524). Routledge.
Additional readings
LEE, N. (2017). Communication Mediation Model. In P. Rössler, C. A. Hoffner, &
L. Zoonen (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects ( pp. 1–9).
Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118783764.wbieme0093
DE VREESE, C. H., & BOOMGAARDEN, H. G. (2006). Media Message Flows
and Interpersonal Communication: The Conditional Nature of Effects on Public
Opinion. Communication Research, 33(1), 19–37.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650205283100
BARNIDGE, M., GUNTHER, A. C., KIM, J., HONG, Y., PERRYMAN, M., TAY,
S. K., & KNISELY, S. (2020). Politically Motivated Selective Exposure and
Perceived Media Bias. Communication Research, 47(1), 82–103.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650217713066
PARK, C. S., & GIL DE ZÚÑIGA, H. (2021). Learning about Politics from Mass
Media and Social Media: Moderating Roles of Press Freedom and Public Service
Broadcasting in 11 Countries. International Journal of Public Opinion Research,
33(2), 315–335. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edaa021
Week 11 Effects on political polarization
Key concepts: echo chambers, balkanization, polarization
Key questions
Can the media contribute to a deepening of political cleavages in society?
Is there an association between the platformization of the public sphere and
increased political polarization?
How did the emergence of communication echo chambers and the balkanization of
media audiences influence the political system?
Key readings
PRIOR, M. (2013). Media and Political Polarization. Annual Review of Political
Science, 16(1), 101–127. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-100711-135242
Additional readings
MACKOVÁ, A., NOVOTNÁ, M., ČEJKOVÁ, L., & HRBKOVÁ, L. (2024). One
way or another? Discussion disagreement and attitudinal homogeneity on social
networking sites as pathways to polarization in Czechia. Journal of Information
Technology & Politics, 21(1), 54–68.
https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2023.2202650
Chapter “Polarization” In SUNSTEIN, C. R. (2017). #Republic: Divided democracy
in the age of social media (pp. 59-97). Princeton University Press.
SHEHATA, A., EKSTRÖM, M., & TRYGGVASON, P. O. (2022). Selective
Exposure and New Political Cleavages: Media Use and Ideological Reinforcement
Over Time. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 19401612221112003.
https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612221112003
Week 12 Mediatization effects on politics
Key concepts: mediatization, media logic, political logic, personalization and
spectacularization of politics, infotainment,
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Key questions
What is the media logic?
How does the media logic influence politics?
How does mediatization affect people’s perceptions of a political system?
Should mediatization be considered a challenge to democracy? Why?
Key readings
MAZZOLENI, G. (2008). Mediatization of Politics. In W. Donsbach (Ed.), The
International Encyclopedia of Communication. Wiley.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405186407.wbiecm062
Additional readings
ESSER, F., MATTHES, J. (2013). Mediatization effects on political news, political
actors, political decisions, and political audiences. In KRIESI, H. et al. (Eds.),
Democracy in the age of globalization and mediatization (pp. 177-201). Springer.
MAZZOLENI, G., & SCHULZ, W. (1999). ‘Mediatization’ of Politics: A Challenge
for Democracy? Political Communication, 16(3), 247–261.
https://doi.org/10.1080/105846099198613
ESSER, F. (2013). “Mediatization as a challenge: Media logic versus political logic”
In KRIESI, H. et al. (Eds.), Democracy in the age of globalization and mediatization
(pp.155-176). Springer.
STREET, J. (2005). Politics Lost, Politics Transformed, Politics Colonised?
Theories of the Impact of Mass Media. Political Studies Review, 3(1), 17–33.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-9299.2005.00017.x
Week 13 Summarization of the course. Q&A session.