‘Trumpaganda’: University of Illinois Students Study Trump’s Tweets in New Journalism Course

Whenever a new course appears in one of US colleges, we take a closer look at it. Previously, the Typical Student team told you about 13 BEST Universities Unexpectedly Having Courses on Beyoncé. Now, we’ve learned that the University of Illinois - Champaign rolled out a new subject on October 22 called “Trumpaganda: The war on facts, press and democracy.” The classes are held twice a week until the end of the year.

What Is the Goal of “Trumpaganda”?

Source: Politico

As told by Belleville News-Democrat news outlet, the course aims to educate students about “the Trump administration’s “war” on the media, “disinformation” campaign, fondness for name-calling.” Basically, the course covers the effects of Trump’s information policy on both American democracy and the press.

The course instructor, professor Mira Sotirovic comments on the course: “Propaganda is effective only if it is concealed and camouflaged as something else, such as news, advertisements or PR releases, and it is critical to learn how to detect propaganda and recognize propagandistic features of any communication, including presidential.”  

Trump’s Relationship With Mass Media

The course also focuses on President Trump’s war with the news media. According to Sotirovic, Trump has called the news outlets the “enemy of the people” and has suggested ripping news broadcasters’  off of licenses after exposes and critical stories.

Unlike Trump’s Administration, previous administrations preferred no to wage war against the news media. However, the notion of information war has changed in the Trump era. Sotirovic, who has a Ph. D. in mass communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has researched Trump’s rhetoric before. So, the course is based mainly on her scientific developments.