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1 THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES FACULTY OF ARTS MECM90010 Strategic Political Communication Subject Guide Winter Intensive 2020 July 20 & 21 and 23 & 24 The website for this subject is available through the Learning Management System (LMS) at: https://le.unimelb.edu.au/new- lms/info-for-students The LMS is an important source of information for this subject. Useful resources such as lecture / seminar notes, lecture recordings and subject announcements will be available through the website. It is your responsibility to regularly check in with the LMS for subject announcements and updates. You will require a university email account (username and password) to access the Learning Management System. You can activate your university email account at: https://accounts.unimelb.edu.au/manage https://le.unimelb.edu.au/new-lms/info-for-students https://le.unimelb.edu.au/new-lms/info-for-students https://accounts.unimelb.edu.au/manage 2 Teaching Staff Subject Coordinator: Professor Sally Young Sally Young has researched, taught and published widely in the areas of Australian politics, media, political communication and journalism studies. Her latest book, Paper Emperors, is a political and corporate history of Australian newspapers from 1803 to 1941 (UNSW Press, 2019). She is currently working on volume two. Sally is also the co-author (with Fay Anderson) of Shooting the Picture: Press Photography in Australia (MUP, 2016), and the author of How Australia Decides: Election Reporting and the Media (Cambridge University Press, 2011); The Persuaders: Inside the Hidden Machine of Political Advertising (Pluto Press, 2004), and the editor of Government Communication in Australia (Cambridge University Press, 2007). Sally has also published over forty journal articles and conference papers. Sally was a columnist at The Age for over two years, and is a regular media commentator on politics, elections and the media. Email:
[email protected] Consultation hours: Available for zoom appointments during the intensive days and especially 22 July for virtual consultations. Also available at other times by appointment. Seminar Coordinator: Dr Chiara De Lazzari Dr Chiara De Lazzari holds a PhD in Politics on transnational politics and dual citizenship rights from Swinburne University of Technology. She works as a Teaching Associate in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne and Monash University. Chiara has published in the area of migration studies, politics and citizenship rights. Her new book titled ‘Transnational Politics, Citizenship and Elections -The Political Engagement of Transnational Communities in National Elections’ was published by Routledge (Taylor and Francis) in 2019. Chiara also works as a political analyst and commentator for SBS Radio. She has written for, and been interviewed by, a range of media outlets, including The Conversation, Il Globo and Sky News. Email:
[email protected] Consultation hour:. Available for zoom appointments during the intensive days and especially 22 July for virtual consultations. Contact via email. Teaching Staff Availability Teaching staff are available during their notified consultation times, and emails will be responded to in a timely manner (usually within 48 hours) during normal business hours. Teaching staff cannot be expected to respond to student queries during weekends. Note also that although teaching staff will make every effort to assist students prepare for their assessment tasks, this is limited to general advice and assistance with students developing their own responses to the tasks as set. Assessment assistance doesn't generally include technical advice (e.g. formatting and structure, referencing style, layout and presentation) which is advised in the Subject Guide and/or is available from other university departments such as the University's library service or the Academic Skills Unit. mailto:
[email protected] 3 Subject Overview / Subject Description This subject examines the strategies used by political actors to communicate with a focus on political, public and government communication in the mature liberal democracies of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Topics covered include theories of political communication and how news media cover politics, ‘spin’ and PR methods used by politicians to manage the media, political advertising, political oratory, government communication and broadcast political interviews. Learning Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject, students are expected to: be able to demonstrate understanding of key studies and major theoretical frameworks deployed in the analysis of strategic political communication. be able to critically analyse the relationship between media and political processes. be able to demonstrate an advanced understanding of how communication operates within and across various political, public and government contexts. Subject Structure This subject is an online intensive subject running over four days. Please note that there are no classes on Wednesday 22nd July. Completion of the reading and viewing plus three online short surveys, four online quizzes and attendance at all of the four online live seminars throughout the subject’s intensive period is required. If you do happen to miss an online class for some reason that is beyond your control (such as illness) please send an apology to your seminar leader and make sure that you post your online quiz for that session so that your participation can be ascertained and recorded via that submission. If more than one seminar is missed, the subject coordinator will determine if you need to apply for special consideration or if the nature and extent of absence preclude successful completion of the subject. Readings All required readings for this subject are listed in this guide and will be available on the LMS. There are no hardcopy readings required to purchase for this subject. Required readings represent the minimum expected for you to participate effectively in class. Further recommended readings are listed in this guide and on the LMS. You are encouraged to augment your understanding of the topics discussed by drawing on this list. It is expected that you will develop your own learning and knowledge through wider reading and research, particularly with regard to completion of assessment items. 4 Welcome to Strategic Political Communication! In 2020, this subject is a fully online Winter intensive run in July. Instructions This subject guide shows you an overview of the content and structure of the four days, On Canvas, the subject modules contain everything you need for each of these days - except for the required readings (these are available from 'Readings Online' in the left navigation bar). It is strongly recommended that you work your way through the modules in the order suggested in this subject guide as below. Throughout the intensive, there are three online short surveys, four online quizzes and four online live seminars – one on each of the four subject days. In Canvas, you will need to complete the required tasks for one module before you can open up the next one. You may wish to start doing the reading and other tasks before the subject begins and that is fine – especially if you are unsure if you will have uninterrupted quiet time on the intensive days to do the reading – for example due to caring responsibilities. But if you do go ahead with some of the reading and quizzes before the subject starts, just make sure you review your quiz answers or have those open in front of you as a prompt when you attend the online seminars. The online seminars are the only parts of the subject that are 'live'. You will be notified about your seminar group and time. Otherwise we will keep in contact throughout the intensive period via the online surveys and activities, 'exit cards' , feedback on your assessment and via email (staff contact details are available in the subject guide and staff information page on Canvas). You can also get in touch for online consultations. Please note that the time estimates for reading time in the schedule outlined below are very broad estimates. Individual reading speeds vary a great deal. So don’t be surprised – and don’t worry - if the reading takes you longer - or shorter - to do than estimated. Remember to take breaks in between units. 5 THINGS TO DO BEFORE THE SUBJECT BEGINS Please watch the welcome video and answer a few key questions on Canvas to create a short autobiography so that we can get to know each other in seminar groups. The other key task before we get started is to complete a short survey that will test what you know about political communication and what you would like to find out during this subject. This is not graded and please don’t feel that you need to look up any answers. This is just a quick gauge of knowledge and interest so that we can tailor seminars and content more effectively. You’ll need to complete these welcome activities before you can move on to the next module in Canvas. Action Topic/activity Estimated time this will take you Watch ‘Welcome to SPC’ 3m Do (required) Please answer a few key questions on Canvas to provide a short autobiography so that we can learn a bit about one another and start to build a virtual classroom community. 6m Do (required) Start of subject survey - 15m 15m 6 DAY 1 – Introduction What is ‘political communication’? Today, we will begin to define political communication and consider some of the key theories and concepts associated with its practice. We will start to think about the role of three principal actors – politicians, the public and the media – and how those actors contribute to political communication in a democracy. Sally will also introduce the subject and how it will work as a fully online intensive. Throughout this subject, we are thinking about theory but we also need to examine how theory works in practice. In order to do this, we will consider the different political communication techniques and styles of four current politicians. All are national leaders of mature, western liberal democracies - Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern. Today, we begin with Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Ardern has been receiving an unusual amount of international attention in the past year. In prominent publications, she has been dubbed the world’s best political communicator and most effective political leader. That’s a lot to live up to! We’ll focus on how communication techniques have been central to Ardern’s rise and reputation, and watch speeches that she made after the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019.