The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the mass media, and the role the mass media plays in American democracy. In this course, we will consider several key questions pertaining to the role of the media in democracy, such as: What effects do mass mediated messages have on voters? Do voters passively accept information found in the media, or do voters actively challenge this information? How do journalists and political elites interact? Finally, we will elaborate on the normative question of what role the mass media should play in democracy.