Drop me a line if you are having difficulty finding the readings (erkan.saka@bilgi.edu.tr) This is my signature course in which we work on new readings but also new book projects here at İstanbul Bilgi University.

COMM 720-2026 Syllabus

Course Name

Theories of New Media

Lecturer

Prof. Erkan Saka (erkan.saka@bilgi.edu.tr)

Description

On Mondays, 19:00-22:00 E4 Publica Room E4-219

This advanced course for PhD students in Communication examines contemporary theoretical frameworks and critical debates in new media studies. The course explores how emerging technologies, platforms, and practices reshape media theory, digital culture, and society.

Course Structure

This course is organized around pressing contemporary debates in new media studies, examined through recent scholarship (primarily 2024–2025). Each week focuses on a specific theoretical problem — from platform governance and algorithmic inequality to synthetic media and data geopolitics — drawing on peer-reviewed articles alongside curated supplementary reading collections. Rather than tracing the history of the field, the course positions students at the current frontiers of digital media theory.

Topics and Reading List

Readings can be downloaded here.

Week 1 — Rethinking the Digital Public Sphere

Theme: From Networked Publics to Illiberal Public Spheres

Readings:

Bennett, W. L., & Kneuer, M. (2024). Communication and democratic erosion: The rise of illiberal public spheres. European Journal of Communication, 39(2), 177-196.

Ojala, M., & Ripatti-Torniainen, L. (2024). Where is the public of ‘networked publics’? A critical analysis of the theoretical limitations of online publics research. European Journal of Communication, 39(2), 145-160.

Neff, T., & Jemielniak, D. (2024). How do transnational public spheres emerge? Comparing news and social media networks during the Madrid climate talks. new media & society, 26(4), 2066-2091.

Supplementary folders:

• The Public Sphere, the Post-University and the Scholarly Apparatus

Focus:
Reassessing Habermasian and networked-public frameworks in an age of fragmentation and democratic backsliding.

Week 2 — Epistemic Crisis & Platformed Conspiracy

Theme: Conspiracy, Participation, and Polarized Knowledge

Readings:

Marwick, A. E., & Partin, W. C. (2024). Constructing alternative facts: Populist expertise and the QAnon conspiracy. New Media & Society, 26(5), 2535-2555.

Supplementary folders:

• Disinformation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

• True costs of disinformation

Focus:
Epistemology, authority, and distributed conspiracy cultures.

Week 3 — Deepfakes, Synthetic Media & Truth Regimes

Theme: Visual Politics and AI Manipulation

Readings:

Dan, V. (2025). Deepfakes as a democratic threat: Experimental evidence shows noxious effects that are reducible through journalistic fact checks. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 19401612251317766.

McCosker, A. (2024). Making sense of deepfakes: Socializing AI and building data literacy on GitHub and YouTube. New Media & Society, 26(5), 2786-2803.

Scott, A., & Peña, V. (2024). Who is worthy of a name? Identity, naming, and social difference in news images’ captions. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 101(1), 206-229.

Supplementary folders:

• Generative AI and Disinformation
• Science Communication in the Age of AI

Focus:
Synthetic media, credibility, and visual epistemology.

Week 4 — Platform Constitutionalism & Governance

Theme: Who Governs the Platform?

Readings:

Cowls, J., Darius, P., Santistevan, D., & Schramm, M. (2024). Constitutional metaphors: Facebook’s “supreme court” and the legitimation of platform governance. New Media & Society, 26(5), 2448-2472.

Kelly, D., & Rubin, V. L. (2024). Identifying dark patterns in user account disabling interfaces: Content analysis results. Social Media+ Society, 10(1), 20563051231224269.

Kopf, S. (2024). Corporate censorship online: Vagueness and discursive imprecision in YouTube’s advertiser-friendly content guidelines. new media & society, 26(4), 1756-1774.

Supplementary folders:

• Information as Public Good and Public Service Media in Europe
• Media transformation and the challenge of property
• Agency in a datafied society

Focus:
Private constitutionalism, legitimacy, interface governance.

Week 5 — Algorithmic Visibility & Platform Power

Theme: Visibility, Incentives, and Algorithmic Cultivation

Readings:

Huang, Y., & Ye, W. (2024). ‘Traffic rewards’,‘algorithmic visibility’, and ‘advertiser satisfaction’: How Chinese short-video platforms cultivate creators in stages. Convergence, 30(1), 659-682.

Vicari, S., & Ditchfield, H. (2025). Platform visibility and the making of an issue: Vernaculars of hereditary cancer on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. new media & society, 27(6), 3658-3679.

Cotter, K. (2024). Practical knowledge of algorithms: The case of BreadTube. New Media & Society, 26(4), 2131-2150.

Supplementary folders:

• Communicating with AI & Algorithms
• Decoding Artificial Sociality

Focus:
Algorithmic literacy, strategic adaptation, visibility regimes.

Week 6 — AI Governance & Algorithmic Inequality

Theme: Automation, Care, and Structural Discrimination

Readings:

Tracey, P., & Garcia, P. (2024). After automation: Homelessness prioritization algorithms and the future of care labor. Big Data & Society, 11(1), 20539517241239043.

Wang, C., Boerman, S. C., Kroon, A. C., Möller, J., & H de Vreese, C. (2025). The artificial intelligence divide: Who is the most vulnerable?. New Media & Society, 27(7), 3867-3889.

Seppälä, P., & Małecka, M. (2024). AI and discriminative decisions in recruitment: Challenging the core assumptions. Big Data & Society, 11(1), 20539517241235872.

Supplementary folders:

• AI and Global Challenges
• Automating Communication in the Digital Society
• Digital Inequalities in MENA

Focus:
Algorithmic bias, distributive justice, AI inequality.

Week 7 — Platform Labor & Precarity

Theme: Gig Work, Solidarity & Resistance

Readings:

Christiaens, T. (2025). Platform cooperativism and freedom as non-domination in the gig economy. European Journal of Political Theory, 24(2), 176-199.

Supplementary folders:

• Digital Solidarity Economies 

Focus:
Platform labor theory beyond precarity: resistance, coordination, solidarity.

Week 8 — Influencer Economies & Creator Cultures

Theme: Authenticity, Monetization, and Cultural Labor

Readings:

Richterich, A. (2025). Data solidarity in feminist technology activism and innovation. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 28(3), 545-561.

Bidav, T., & Mehta, S. (2024). Peripheral creator cultures in India, Ireland, and Turkey. Social Media+ Society, 10(1), 20563051241234693.

Supplementary folders:

• Streaming diversity 

Focus:
Influence economies, precarity, and global asymmetries.

Week 9 — Digital Affect & Polarization

Theme: Emotion, Genre, and Political Intensity

Readings:

Boler, M., Kweon, Y. J., & Threasaigh, M. N. (2024). Digital affect culture and the logics of melodrama: Online polarization and the January 6 capitol riots through the lens of genre and affective discourse analysis. Social Media+ Society, 10(1), 20563051241228584.

Overgaard, C. S. B. (2024). Perceiving affective polarization in the United States: How social media shape meta-perceptions and affective polarization. Social Media+ Society, 10(1), 20563051241232662.

Haslop, C., Ringrose, J., Cambazoglu, I., & Milne, B. (2024). Mainstreaming the manosphere’s misogyny through affective homosocial currencies: Exploring how teen boys navigate the Andrew Tate effect. Social Media+ Society, 10(1), 20563051241228811.

Supplementary folders:

• Political Networks, Polarization, & Participation
• Nationalism in an Overheating World

Focus:
Affective publics, masculinity politics, and algorithmic amplification.

Week 10 — Misinformation & Counter-Epistemic Practices

Theme: Fact-Checking, Verification & Resistance

Readings:

Ognyanova, K. (2024). Fact-checking: Journalistic strategies and audience outcomes in diverse national contexts. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 101(2), 313-319.

Chan, M. (2024). Verification behaviors and countermeasures in the age of misinformation. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 101(1), 13-19.

Lee, A. Y., Moore, R. C., & Hancock, J. T. (2025). Building resilience to misinformation in communities of color: Results from two studies of tailored digital media literacy interventions. new media & society, 27(6), 3545-3576.

Supplementary folders:

• Public engagement and AI in constructing reality

• Situated Epistemologies

Focus:
Audience agency, digital literacy, epistemic repair.

Week 11 — Data Infrastructures & Geopolitics

Theme: Cables, Borders & Sovereignty

Readings:

Bojczuk, I., Starosielski, N., & Pasek, A. (2024). Flying the skies to wire the seas: Subsea cables, remote work, and the social fabric of a media industry. Media, Culture & Society, 46(2), 358-375.

Zhang, Z. (2024). Technology and geopolitics: The social construction of Huawei’s 5G controversy in Europe. Global media and communication, 20(2), 217-235.

Horst, H. A., Sargent, A., & Gaspard, L. (2024). Beyond extraction: Data strategies from the Global South. New Media & Society, 26(3), 1366-1383.

Supplementary folders:

• Big Data Audiences
• Big Data Discourses
• Data Reflectivity

Focus:
Infrastructure theory, geopolitical digital sovereignty.

Week 12 — Immersive Media & Experiential Politics

Theme: VR, Storytelling & Sensory Governance

Readings:

Supplementary folders:

• Public engagement and AI in constructing reality

Focus:
Embodied media, immersion, and sensory power.

Week 13 — Journalism in the Platform Age

Theme: Datafication, Emotional Labor & Trust

Readings:

Porlezza, C. (2024). The datafication of digital journalism: A history of everlasting challenges between ethical issues and regulation. Journalism, 25(5), 1167-1185.

Tenor, C. (2024). Metrics as the new normal–exploring the evolution of audience metrics as a decision-making tool in Swedish newsrooms 1995-2022. Journalism, 25(5), 1111-1129.

Kalogeropoulos, A., Toff, B., & Fletcher, R. (2024). The watchdog press in the doghouse: A comparative study of attitudes about accountability journalism, trust in news, and news avoidance. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 29(2), 485-506.

Supplementary folders:

• Public Service

Focus:
Newsroom metrics, accountability journalism, trust crisis.

Week 14 — Futures, Anthropocene & Technocratic Myopia

Theme: Governing the Future

Readings:

White, J. (2024). Technocratic myopia: On the pitfalls of depoliticising the future. European Journal of Social Theory, 27(2), 260-278.

Mascareño, A. (2024). Contemporary visions of the next apocalypse: Climate change and artificial intelligence. European Journal of Social Theory, 27(2), 352-371.

Supplementary folders:

• Climate Change and Environmental Communication
• Contesting Transitions: New Directions in the Anthropology of Energy, Climate Justice, and Resource Imaginaries
• AI and Global Challenges

Focus:
Future imaginaries, AI-climate entanglement, technopolitics.