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PLAP 3140 Mass Media and American Politics
Last taught: Fall 2026 Add to Schedule
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Review Summary Updated April 07, 2026

You will get highly engaging, humorous lectures that connect directly to current events, but be prepared for a heavy weekly reading load that most students handle by strategically skimming for main arguments. Because slide decks and recordings are never posted, strict attendance and meticulous note-taking are mandatory to survive notoriously hyper-specific quizzes and finals that prioritize trivial lecture details and obscure authors over broad concepts. While vague paper rubrics and inconsistent TA grading mean you should not expect an automatic easy A, consistent preparation and consulting your discussion leader early on keeps the course highly manageable and genuinely rewarding for anyone interested in political media.

72 Reviews

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Fall 2012
4.7
Average

Great class and really interesting! Freedman is a great lecturer. Papers and midterm/final aren't too bad but the quizzes can be a little tricky, so pay attention to details in class.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 5.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 3.0
Fall 2012
4.7
Average

EXCELLENT class. Especially good during an election year. Freedman is a very engaging professor and it's hard to not pay attention. Good if you notice news bias already. I haven't been doing the readings very much but it's okay because you go over them in depth in discussions. Adam is a good TA and can definitely explain things. 2 papers, 2 mini-quizzes (Freedman calls them quizlets), and a final. Would definitely recommend.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 5.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 5.0
Fall 2011
3.7
Average

This class was very interesting and pretty easy. I recommend it. Freedman made it easy to listen to his lectures and was very engaging with the class. Emily was an awesome T.A.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 3.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 0.0
Fall 2011
4.0
Average

Freedman is a very entertaining lecturer. He is very energetic and knows how to capture the attention of an audience. That being said, the readings are completely boring. However, you can get away with just skipping to the conclusion of the articles (the main points are emphasized on the quizzes). Having to memorize the names of authors for the ids is pretty pointless if you ask me. Emily is a good TA, and very fair.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 0.0
Fall 2011
4.3
Average

Freedman is a charismatic lecturer and makes the classes enjoyable to attend. He attempts to make some of the material relevant which is appreciated but really needs to rethink his exams. The majority of the questions on the quizzes and the final required inane knowledge of which author covered which theory, instead of whether we actually knew what the theories meant. Stupid stupid stupid. Besides that, two reasonable manageable papers of 7 and 10 pages.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 5.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 4.0
Hours/Week 7.0
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Fall 2011
2.7
Average

This class was so boring. I was really excited to take it, and there's so much emphasis on experimental research and content analysis, and there's so many readings that are incredibly boring I could barely keep up. You also have to know the authors and id them on the final and the quizzes, and they were all so boring I couldn't keep them straight.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 2.0
Recommend 2.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 0.0
Fall 2011
4.7
Average

This class is very interesting. Freddman gives really interesting lectures that the quizzes are almost completely based on. The quizzes are not too hard if you attend lecture. There are two papers that require some work but if you have a good TA are manageable. Discussion sections are mandatory, but is just the class debating on things covered in class so they are entertaining. A good 3000 level plap!

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 5.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 3.0
Fall 2011
3.0
Average

A fair amount of reading in the class, write 2 papers and have 2 online quizzes and a final. you need to do most of the reading to understand what he's talking about because the quizzes are very specific to the readers and ideas but freedman is an entertaining teacher to say the least

Instructor 2.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 3.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 3.0
Fall 2011
4.3
Average

loved it, quizzes can be a bit tricky but Freedman is really entertaining. Great course!!

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 0.0
Fall 2011
3.7
Average

he was great, but the midterms were hard

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 3.0
Difficulty 1.0
Hours/Week 0.0
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