China, Japan and South Korea are heavy news and entertainment consumers, well ahead of most countries in the world. Japan has some of the largest newspaper circulations anywhere, while in China the most-watched TV shows surpass 400 million viewers. In such mediated environments, what is the relationship between the media and society?

In Europe and North America, the mass media are often called the ‘Fourth Estate.’ Is this view also applicable to the mass media in East Asian countries? To what extent is the way news is made in the region comparable to journalistic practices in the ‘West’? This course addresses these and other questions about the mass media (newspapers, TV and new media) in East Asia. Lectures are grouped around three themes: the interplay between politics and the mass media; the role of television entertainment in society; and the impact of new technologies on the production and consumption of news and entertainment.