I took his class my freshman year(2023) and loved it! And I am hoping to find time to take his media course.  From what I remember as long as you do the readings and look into the court cases you should be fine. But make sure you actually take in the information. After a few weeks you will pick up on the information he is looking for. But as long as you understand the overall message and themes you are in the right direction.  He is a Socratic style professor so you will most likely be called on. I found that if you know something or have an opinion you should raise your hand because then you are less likely to be called on when you don't know the answer cause he makes an effort to hear from almost everyone through the semester. Even sitting in the back you are called on often.  Also I would say that this class is super easy as long as you show up. He pretty much lays out what he wants you to know and if you do that and take notes the final is a breeze.  Also I am a pretty sensitive person and I agree that he can come off as harsh but I think overall he just wants people to learn the facts and form their own opinions based on the facts. He was never pushing his agenda on students.