This course examines the theoretical perspectives and practices regarding the performance, role, functions, and effects of journalism and media in modern society, with a specific emphasis on issues in the Greater China region. It aims (1) to introduce students to some of the main scholarly ideas about journalism and the mass media asocial institutions; (2) to assess critically these ideas in relation to their social context; (3) to examine critically the extent to which these illuminate the production and reception of journalism, particularly in the Greater China region.