NMC 473 | Course Introduction and Application Information - Department of New Media and Communication

Course Name

Alternative Media

Code	Semester	Theory (hour/week)	Application/Lab (hour/week)	Local Credits	ECTS
NMC 473	Fall/Spring	3	0	3	4

Prerequisites	None
Course Language	English
Course Type	Elective
Course Level	First Cycle
Mode of Delivery	Online
Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course	-
National Occupation Classification	-
Course Coordinator	Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Sarphan Uzunoğlu
Course Lecturer(s)	Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Sarphan Uzunoğlu
Assistant(s)	-

Course Objectives	This course aims to explore the history, perspectives, definitions, and the social agents of alternative media practices, while encouraging the students to probe into alternative media projects, addressing its political, social, and cultural aspects.
Learning Outcomes	The students who succeeded in this course; Reflect on the main theoretical debates on alternative media; Develop a critical approach to mass communication process and mass media; Consider alternative ways of producing, organizing, and be engaged with/in the media; Evaluate cultural, social, economic and political implications of alternative media practices performed by diverse social actors; Identify the opportunities and challenges for alternative media in the contemporary media environment.
Course Description	This course provides the foundations for understanding the main theories, discourses and academic debates within alternative media, while probing into scholarship on its theory, history, politics, aesthetics, and practice. It explores a great variety of alternative media practices including subcultural, radical, tactical, social movement, community, participatory,\nethnic minority, indigenous and transnational media. The course also elaborates on the roles, opportunities, and challenges for these media in\nthe changing media ecosystem.
Related Sustainable Development Goals

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

Week	Subjects	Related Preparation
1	Introduction to the course: Course overview, expectations, and assessment methods. Defining contemporary media: scope, platforms, and paradigms. Introduction to major themes: media convergence, globalization, digitization.	Hallin, D. C. (2004). Comparing media systems: Three models of media and politics. Cambridge University Press.
2	Mainstream media and news value in the age of hyperdigitalization	Harcup, T., & O’neill, D. (2017). What is news? News values revisited (again). Journalism studies, 18(12), 1470-1488. Herman, E. S., & Chomsky, N. (2021). Manufacturing consent. In Power and Inequality (pp. 198-206). Routledge. – chapter 1 Chomsky, N. (1997). What makes mainstream media mainstream. Z magazine, 10(10), 17-23.
3	Alternative media theory: An introduction	Bailey, O. G., Cammaerts, B. and Carpentier, N. (2008) Understanding Alternative Media. Berkshire: Open University Press – chapter 1 Sandoval, M., & Fuchs, C. (2010). Towards a critical theory of alternative media. Telematics and informatics, 27(2), 141-150. Atton, C. (2008). Alternative media theory and journalism practice.
4	User needs and media: Do we really need alternative media?	Online Workshop week Rauch, J. (2015). Exploring the alternative–mainstream dialectic: What “alternative media” means to a hybrid audience. Communication, Culture & Critique, 8(1), 124-143.
5	What makes alternative media alternative? Assignment	Steppat, D., Castro, L., & Esser, F. (2023). What news users perceive as ‘alternative media’varies between countries: How media fragmentation and polarization matter. Digital Journalism, 11(5), 741-761. Holt, K., Ustad Figenschou, T., & Frischlich, L. (2019). Key dimensions of alternative news media. Digital Journalism, 7(7), 860-869.
6	Audio community media: Community radios and community podcasts	Lewis, P. (1984) “Community Radio: The Montreal Conference and after”, in Media, Culture and Society, vol. 6, pp. 137-150 Funk, M. (2017). Decoding the podaissance: Identifying community journalism practices in newsroom and avocational podcasts. ISOJ Journal, 7(1), 67-88. Datta, A. (2022). ‘Thick time’: Experiments with feminist urban futures in community podcasts. Geoforum, 134, 108-117.
7	Right-wing alternative media: A theoretical nonsense or no?	Holt, K. (2019). Right-wing alternative media. Routledge. Mayerhöffer, E. (2021). How do Danish right-wing alternative media position themselves against the mainstream? Advancing the study of alternative media structure and content. Journalism Studies, 22(2), 119-136.
8	Midterm
9	Finance models for alternative media	Teixeira, L. M., & Jorge, A. (2021). Crowdfunding platforms in the political economy of alternative media. Comunicação e sociedade, (39), 183-202. Ferrucci, P., & Nelson, J. L. (2019). The new advertisers: How foundation funding impacts journalism. Media and Communication, 7(4), 45-55.
10	Understanding Turkey’s alternative media sphere	Ataman, D. (2018). Bianet: A parallel news corpus in Turkish, Kurdish and English. arXiv preprint arXiv:1805.0509 Ataman, B., & Çoban, B. (2020). Counter-surveillance and alternative new media in Turkey. In Digital Media, Political Polarization and Challenges to Democracy (pp. 100-115). Routledge. Gurleyen, P. (2017). Alternative media and alternative journalism: Theoretical approaches-AND-Alternative media: The life support of journalism in Turkey.
11	Case Studies in Alternative Media	Readings from Lievrouw (2011) Alternative and Activist Media. Activity: Group presentations on different case studies, with critical analysis on their political, cultural, and economic impacts.
12	Global Alternative Media Trends Activity: Group presentations on different case studies, with critical analysis on their political, cultural, and economic impacts.	Frayha, A., & Kraidy, M. M. (2021). Megaphone: Social-Media-Native Outlets Between Editorial Independence And Algorithmic Constraints. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research.
13	Digital Activism and Future Directions of Alternative Media Activity: Group presentations on different case studies, with critical analysis on their political, cultural, and economic impacts.	Ozkula, S. M. (2021). What is digital activism anyway? Social constructions of the “digital” in contemporary activism. Journal of digital social research, 3(3), 60-84. Treré, E. (2018). Hybrid media activism: Ecologies, imaginaries, algorithms. Routledge. Downing, J. (2008). Social movement theories and alternative media: An evaluation and critique. Communication, culture & critique, 1(1), 40-50.
14	Participatory culture Activity: Group presentations on different case studies, with critical analysis on their political, cultural, and economic impacts.	Carpentier, “Defining Participation” Benkler, “Peer Production and Sharing”
15	Course Review and Final Exam Preparation
16	Final Exam

Course Notes/Textbooks

Suggested Readings/Materials

Couldry, N. and Curran, J. (eds.) (2003) Contesting Media Power: Alternative Media in a Networked World.ISBN-10: 0742523853;

Bailey, O. G., Cammaerts, B. and Carpentier, N. (2008) Understanding Alternative Media. Berkshire: Open University Press. ISBN-10: 0335222102;

Coyer, K., Dowmunt, T. and Fountain, A. (2007) The Alternative Media Handbook. London: Routledge.ISBN-10: 041535966X;

Downing, J. (2000) Radical Media: Rebellious Communication and Social Movements.ISBN- 10: 0803956991;

Chadwick A and Howard P (eds) Routledge Handbook of Internet Politics. New York: Routledge.ISBN-10:0415780586;

Dahlgren P (2009) Media and Political Engagement: Citizens, Communication and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN-10: 0521527899;

Lievrouw, L. (2011) Alternative and Activist Media. Cambridge: Polity Press. ISBN-10: 9780745641843

Tanrıöver, O. (2021). Alternatif medyanın kamusal alan oluşturma açısından rolü: Açık Radyo örneği (Master's thesis, Marmara Universitesi (Turkey)).

İnamoğlu, G. (2018). Yeni medyada yurttaş gazeteciliğinin yeniden üretimi: Çevre gazeteciliği bağlamında yeşil gazete örneği.

Algül, F. (2022). Community Media Case Studies. Social Entrepreneurship, 161.

Semester Activities	Number	Weigthing
Participation
Laboratory / Application
Field Work
Quizzes / Studio Critiques
Portfolio
Homework / Assignments	1	20
Presentation / Jury	1	10
Project
Seminar / Workshop
Oral Exams
Midterm	1	30
Final Exam	1	40
Total

Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade	3	60
Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade	1	40
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	10	2	20
Field Work			0
Quizzes / Studio Critiques			0
Portfolio			0
Homework / Assignments	1	6	6
Presentation / Jury	1	6	6
Project			0
Seminar / Workshop			0
Oral Exam			0
Midterms	1	10	10
Final Exam	1	30	30
		Total	120

#	Program Competencies/Outcomes	* Contribution Level
#	Program Competencies/Outcomes	1	2	3	4	5
1	To be able to critically discuss and interpret the theories, concepts and ideas that form the basis of the discipline of new media and communication.	-	-	-	X	-
2	To be able to critically interpret theoretical debates concerning the relations between the forms, agents, and factors that play a role in the field of new media and communication.	-	-	-	X	-
3	To have the fundamental knowledge and ability to use the technical equipment and software programs required by the new media production processes.	-	-	-	-	-
4	To be able to gather, scrutinize and scientifically investigate data in the processes of production and distribution.	-	-	-	-	-
5	To be able to use the acquired theoretical knowledge in practice.	-	-	-	-	-
6	To be able to take responsibility both individually and as a member of a group to develop solutions to problems encountered in the field of new media and communication.	-	-	-	-	-
7	To be informed about national, regional, and global issues and problems; to be able to generate problem-solving methods depending on the quality of evidence and research, and to acquire the ability to report the conclusions of those methods to the public.	-	X	-	-	-
8	To be able to critically discuss and draw on theories, concepts and ideas that form the basis of other disciplines complementing the field of new media and communication studies.	-	-	-	-	-
9	To be able to develop and use knowledge and skills towards personal and social goals in a lifelong process.	-	-	-	-	-
10	To be able to apply social, scientific and professional ethical values in the field of new media and communication.	-	-	-	-	-
11	To be able to collect datain the areas of new media and communication and communicate with colleagues in a foreign language ("European Language Portfolio Global Scale", Level B1).	-	-	-	-	-
12	To be able to speak a second foreign language at a medium level of fluency efficiently.	-	-	-	-	-
13	To be able to relate the knowledge accumulated throughout the human history to their field of expertise.	-	-	-	-	-