CDM 224 | Course Introduction and Application Information - Department of Cinema and Digital Media

Course Name

Political Economy of Media

Code	Semester	Theory (hour/week)	Application/Lab (hour/week)	Local Credits	ECTS
CDM 224	Spring	3	0	3	5

Prerequisites	None
Course Language	English
Course Type	Required
Course Level	First Cycle
Mode of Delivery	-
Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course	Discussion Case Study Lecture / Presentation
National Occupation Classification	-
Course Coordinator	-
Course Lecturer(s)	Prof. Dr. Ahmet GÜRATA
Assistant(s)	-

Course Objectives	Political Economy of Media aims to familiarize the students with key concepts in media economy, economic structuring of media industries, and the effects of the economic circumstances of media industries on public life.
Learning Outcomes	The students who succeeded in this course; Explain the functions and roles of media institutions towards sustaining public information flows, informed citizenship and democratic values. Understand the political effects of the economic structuring of media institutions. Identify various types of economic incentives and structures that shape the contemporary media landscape. Compare the roles and functions of private and public institutions and agencies Describe the labor processes and forms of value involved in media production Understand the economic restructuring of media industries after the emergence of digital media technologies.
Course Description	This course extends certain foundational theoretical debates into contemporary digital media landscape, and overviews the postfordist transformation of general economy, creative labor processes intensely involved in the production of informational content in today’s network society, and platform capitalism as an emerging economic modality.
Related Sustainable Development Goals

Course Category	Core Courses	X
	Major Area Courses
	Supportive Courses
	Media and Management Skills Courses
	Transferable Skill Courses

Week	Subjects	Related Preparation
1	Introduction
2	Political Economy of Media	Fuchs, pp. 61 – 92.
3	Media Concentration	Fuchs, pp. 133 – 173.
4	Political Economy of Media in Turkey	Çağrı Kaderoğlu Bulut, “The Political Economy of Media in Turkey: An Infrastructural Analysis”.
5	Global Media	"Fuchs, pp. 223 – 264. Arzu Öztürkmen, “Turkish Content: The Historical Rise of the Dizi Genre”."
6	Labour and Work in the Digital Media Economy	Fuchs, pp. 265 – 304.
7	In-class evaluation of assignments	Fuchs, pp. 305 – 331.
8	The Political Economy of Social Media	"Jian Lin and Jeroen de Kloet, “TikTok and the platformisation from China: Geopolitical anxieties, repetitive creativities and future imaginaries”."
9	Midterm week
10	Information Society and Digital Capitalism	Fuchs, pp. 333 – 362.
11	Artificial Intelligence	Francisco Sierra Caballero and Daniela Inés Monje, “Artificial intelligence and technological accelerationism A critique of cybernetic ideology”
12	Gender	Mickey Lee, “Who knows? Feminist epistemologies, gendered labor, and a political economy of communication”
13	Methods
14	Gaming
15	Final exams week
16	Final exams week

Course Notes/Textbooks

Christian Fuchs. Media, Economy and Society: A Critical Introduction. Routledge, 2024.

Joan Pedro-Carañana et al. (eds.) Political Economy of Media and Communication: Methodological Approaches. Routledge, 2024.

Terry Flew et al. (eds). The Digital Media Economy. Sage Publications, 2023.

Suggested Readings/Materials

Semester Activities	Number	Weigthing
Participation	1	10
Laboratory / Application
Field Work
Quizzes / Studio Critiques
Portfolio
Homework / Assignments	1	50
Presentation / Jury
Project	1	40
Seminar / Workshop
Oral Exams
Midterm
Final Exam
Total

Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade	4	100
Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade
Total

Semester Activities	Number	Duration (Hours)	Workload
Theoretical Course Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours)	16	3	48
Laboratory / Application Hours (Including exam week: '.16.' x total hours)	16		0
Study Hours Out of Class	14	4	56
Field Work			0
Quizzes / Studio Critiques			0
Portfolio			0
Homework / Assignments	2	12	24
Presentation / Jury			0
Project	1	22	22
Seminar / Workshop			0
Oral Exam			0
Midterms			0
Final Exam			0
		Total	150

#	Program Competencies/Outcomes	* Contribution Level
#	Program Competencies/Outcomes	1	2	3	4	5
1	To be able to have fundamental knowledge about narrative forms in cinema, digital and interactive media, and the foundational concepts relevant to these forms.	-	-	-	-	-
2	To be able to create narratives based on creative and critical thinking skills, by using the forms and tools of expression specific to cinema and digital media arts.	-	-	-	-	-
3	To be able to use the technical equipment and software required for becoming a specialist/expert in cinema and digital media.	-	-	-	-	-
4	To be able to perform skills such as scriptwriting, production planning, use of the camera, sound recording, lighting and editing, at the basic level necessary for pre-production, production and post-production phases of an audio-visual work; and to perform at least one of them at an advanced level.	-	-	-	-	-
5	To be able to discuss how meaning is made in cinema and digital media; how economy, politics and culture affect regimes of representation; and how processes of production, consumption, distribution and meaning-making shape narratives.	-	-	-	X	-
6	To be able to perform the special technical and aesthetic skills at the basic level necessary to create digital media narratives in the fields of interactive film, video installation, experimental cinema and virtual reality.	-	-	-	-	-
7	To be able to critically analyze a film or digital media artwork from technical, intellectual and artistic perspectives.	-	-	-	-	-
8	To be able to participate in the production of a film or digital media artwork as a member or leader of a team, following the principles of work safety and norms of ethical behavior.	-	-	-	-	-
9	To be able to stay informed about global scientific, social, economic, cultural, political, institutional and industrial developments.	-	-	-	X	-
10	To be able to develop solutions to legal, scientific and professional problems surrounding the field of cinema and digital media.	X	-	-	-	-
11	To be able to use a foreign language to communicate with colleagues and collect data in the field of cinema and digital media. ("European Language Portfolio Global Scale", Level B1).	-	-	-	-	-
12	To be able to use a second foreign language at the medium level.	-	-	-	-	-
13	To be able to connect the knowledge accumulated throughout human history to the field of expertise.	X	-	-	-	-