I took this class during the covid-19 pandemic. Prof Groeling was a really helpful professor, though. He has a lot of readings for his class, about 50-100 pages for each lecture, and he gives out a quiz on the readings during every lecture. The quizzes were really easy, though. You just have to skim through the readings and you'll get 100% each time. They also really help for the essays he assigns you. The group project wasn't hard either, just had to make 2 commercials for a political candidate that he assigned, and he was very very helpful. Make sure to visit his office hours to get feedback on how you're doing, and you'll be fine. I definitely recommend taking this class.

Please keep in mind that I took this course during the COVID-19 pandemic, and everything was online. Lectures were live, but recorded and posted onto CCLE and cameras were required to be on— which was actually kind of nice because it felt more like a normal classroom setting compared to just staring at black screens. Professor is pretty chill and made class time quite enjoyable and encouraged lots of conversation during it. There is a lot of reading that you are required to do, and there is a quiz question for each reading during class, so I highly recommend you do your reading the day before class because there is a lot. There are also 3 short, two paged double-spaced essays you have to do that are really simple. The bulk of your grade will come from the commercial project, which is creating two, 30 second video ads for two separate political candidates with a group. Choose your group wisely and prepare yourself if you are the editor, as you are going to be doing a lot of work (probably like 70% of the work). I personally thought the project was pretty fun. Professor is willing to help, and I highly recommend you go to his office hours to get help on the project earlier in the quarter because it gets really busy later in the quarter. I would recommend the course!

Do not underestimate the reading in this class! Class is out of 100 points and reading quizzes are 28 of those points. Expect anywhere from 50-100 pages per lecture. That being said, he is a funny professor, quick to reply to emails, and some of the reading quizzes are a bit easy. 36 of your points come from a group project so pick your team well, it can literally make or break your grade. Interesting class and topics covered are interesting.

Pretty easy to do well without going to lecture or doing the readings (~100 pages/lecture) but the lecture quiz questions can be answered with common sense and there are ample makeup opportunities. Class material is pretty interesting and the commercial projects are fun to do and watch. Make sure you get a good group for the project (and don't volunteer to be the one to edit it)

160 gave a huge insight into the world of media and politics. As someone who hated politics, Professor Groeling and his fun personality made it interesting.

I love Professor Groeling! He is super sweet and funny, and I really enjoyed his class. He always answered my questions and responded immediately to my emails. There is a lot of reading but it is totally doable. Would definitely recommend this class!

Groeling is a good guy who is willing to help a bunch on the video projects. The quizzes can be very annoying sometimes. The midterms and final make sure you get the whole class involved in creating a google doc w question and answer because he selects questions based off of questions you suggest on CCLE.

Fun and useful class. Vet your group members as well as possible.

I have the reader and When Politicians Attack for sale. Bought new in fall 2020. Some annotation in reader, willing to erase if desired.
310-601-6222

Cool dude. Do the readings. Memorize the readings. Easy A.

The material of this course is super interesting and a treat to learn about. However, Prof. Groeling can be unfair and go off on personal tangents during lectures. There would be days where I would think this guy isn’t that bad, but a lot of days where I thought why are you torturing us. I really worked for my grade, and I’m surprised it showed at the end of this quarter. If you plan on taking this class, you need to do the readings, be on time for iclicker quizzes, and the exams are easy because the students create the questions. Overall, a lot of unecessary work and lots of hard times, but the material is super engaging and the exams won’t kill you.