Assignment 5 – Media, Power, and Cultural Discourse

Assignment 5 Instructions
Length: 1500–2000 words total
Weight: 20% of final grade (2 questions × 10 marks each)
Instructions:
Answer any four of the following essay questions (Remember to reference relevant readings in
your answers, and use of quotations is encouraged. Also, please note that words in quotations
are not included in the word count):

1. Gasher et al. identify a number of theoretical approaches to thinking about mass
   mediated communication and power: (i) libertarian theory, (ii) social responsibility
   theory, (iii) mass society thesis, and (iv) political economic theory. Choose one
   theory and write a short description of it, and use this theory to defend an argument
   as to why or why not the internet should be regulated.
2. Briefly describe mass consumerism and mass democracy, and their significance in
   the context of public service broadcasting. In what ways did mass consumerism
   support mass democracy? What kinds of democratic issues were not addressed by
   mass consumerism?
3. Has the internet changed society? Or does society use the internet to make changes?
   Defend your answer.
4. Identify a Canadian hegemonic identity (either dominant or subordinate). Explain
   why you think it is hegemonic. For two bonus points, identify ways that the
   hegemonic identity you have described is being challenged and changed.
5. Carah and Louw argue for a culture of dialectics, where ideas are understood as
   limited and their refutation and negation encouraged. (i) Why do the authors
   encourage this? (ii) What is the alternative? (iii) Identify at least three aspects of
   Canadian culture that you think reflect a culture of dialectics. Defend your choices.