Classes 21 and 22

PRESENTATIONS: Students showed presentations about their Academic Research topics.

LAST BLOG POST Week 11: Class Highlights - Due Sunday March 21 at midnight:
Describe three of the "Aha!" moments you had this quarter (Workbook p. 2). These are interesting or useful things you learned about the mass media or mass communication. They can be from the textbook, from class discussions, from writing your blog, or from outside sources. Write 1-2 sentences about each.

BLOG Comments: Post five or more different comments on other students' blogs. Cut and paste your comments in an e-mail to be by Friday March 26 1:15 p.m.

Classes 19 and 20

DVD: We viewed the last third of This Film Is Not Yet Rated, a critique of the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings board.

DISCUSSION: We discussed some of the issues raised in the DVD, including government censorship vs. voluntary self-censorship, limitations on sex in movies vs. violence and the structure of the MPAA.

MEDIA LAW: We discussed media law as it affects privacy rights, intellectual property rights and the news media's right to collect news.

MEDIA ETHICS: We played Ethics Jeopardy focusing on history, ethical approaches and philosophies, ethical lapses in the media and controversies. Group 1 won.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH PROJECT:  Students who agreed to present their PowerPoints on Tuesday: Raquel, Robert, Joel/Meagan, Angela, Matt, Adam, Sean, Adell, Nicole, Adelle, Zalette, Ricardo, Kelsey/Kat, Enrique, J.T., Clayton, Karla, Dustin, Rachel and Simi.

QUIZ MAKEUPS: Students can make up quizzes 9-15 by answering "Self-quiz" questions in blue boxes in the textbook, also found here. Answer 10 questions to make up one chapter quiz, or answer as many questions as you are missing points. Make-ups are due the last day of class, March 18.

FINAL -- Career Research Paper is due Friday, March 26 at TurnItIn.com.

BLOG 10: Media Ethics/Law Due Sunday March 14 midnight:
Describe a media law or media ethics case from 2009/10 involving one or more of the following:
· First Amendment/censorship
· Libel
· Privacy/intrusion
· Copyright
· Federal Communications Commission
· Misappropriation
Include a link to a Web news story about the case. Add your brief comments

Class 17 and 18

DVD: We viewed the first two-thirds of This Film Is Not Yet Rated, a critique of the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings board.

PUBLIC RELATIONS: We discussed aspect of public relations as students played Jeopardy!

ADVERTISING: We viewed older TV ads, TV ads aimed at particular demographics and an analysis of consumerism. We discussed the VALS framework, which is an example of how advertisers target and respond to the demographics the clients want to reach.

QUIZZES: Students took the Chapter 12 - Public Relations - Quiz in class. The quiz for Chapter 13 - Advertising is online here here.

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 14 - Media Law.

DUE on Tuesday 3/9: Bibliographic entries for Academic Research project. Use MLA style (free) at easybib.com to format your sources. Note: Sometimes the "Citation" that you can click on from your sources in databases are not formatted correctly. MLA style uses italics for titles, but does not include any bold, underlining or ALL CAPS.

BLOG for Week 9: Propaganda in Advertising/PR

Look up “Propaganda techniques” on wikipedia.org, then find an advertisement online that uses at least two propaganda techniques. Explain what the techniques are and how they are used Add a link to the ad.

OR

Propose a PR campaign for a positive value that uses propaganda techniques (e.g. Wear seatbelts, Graduate high school, Use condoms, etc.)

Class 16 - Academic Research Topic Reviews

INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS: We discussed topics and articles students had found for the Academic Research project. Scroll to the bottom of this blog to see the assignment.

NEW BLOG ASSIGNMENT: I am replacing the original blog topic (Electronic News) with the following, due Sunday 2/28 at midnight:

 

Write 2-3 sentences about your Academic Research project and post a related media clip or image that you might want to use in your PowerPoint presentation. You don't have to commit now to using the clip. If you find your clip on YouTube or another site that includes an embedding code, you should embed it so that viewers do not have to go to another Website to view it. If you use an image, post it in the blog rather than using a link. If you are having trouble embedding or posting an image, click "help" in blogger or ask a classmate for help.

 

COMMENTS:  Please comment on classmates' blogs, and check their comments on your blog. When you comment, save the URL (Web address) of the blog post. At the end of the quarter, you will e-mail me the URLs of your comments. You can comment on any week's blog posts, not only the ones I suggested.

 

QUIZ REMINDER: The quiz or essay question from today is due Tuesday 3/2. For the essay question, the length is 1-2 handwritten, double spaced pages. Typing is not required.

 

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 12 - Public Relations - and complete the workbook page.

 

 

Class 15 - Bowling for Columbine

DVD: We viewed the second half of Bowling for Columbine which examines gun violence in the U.S. and possible media links.

Class 14 - Electronic News

ASSIGNMENT: We discussed the "Academic Research/Annotated Bibliography" assignment. Topics and two printed articles are due in class for review on Thursday, Feb. 25.  You can view the assignment and all deadlines at the bottom of this page (scroll down).

DVD: We viewed the first half of Bowling for Columbine which examines gun violence in the U.S. and possible media links.

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 12 "Public Relations" and complete workbook assignments.

BLOG 7 - INTERNET (due Sunday 2/21 at midnight): On Wikipedia.org, look up “social networking websites.” How many sites are listed? Which sites have you heard of? Do you know of any that aren't listed? Research and describe a site you’ve never heard of. How do you use social networking? Which sites do you use? Describe in 2-3 sentences one incident in which social networking got you in trouble or really helped you out. (If you have never used a social networking site, then interview someone who has.) Comment on one or two classmates' posts. 


NOTE: Blog 8 (Electronic News) will be replaced by a different blog assignment next week.

Class 13 - Internet

DISCUSSION - We discussed the pros and cons of online classes, Internet addiction and how students view professors "friending" them on FaceBook.

YOUTUBE: Several students showed their YouTube blog entries.

JEOPARDY: We played Internet Jeopardy. Group 3 won. They have not yet collected their chocolate prizes.

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 11 - Electronic News. Complete workbook for Ch. 11.

Class 12 - TV

DISCUSSION: We discussed viewing habits and  favorite shows. We talked about characters who reinforces stereotypes and those who defy them.

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 10, complete workbook.

DUE TUESDAY: Quiz make-ups.

BLOG Week 6: Television

Find and describe an online video (from YouTube or another video site) that explains or explores topics that are mentioned in the textbook. Videos should be under 10 minutes in length and should not be one that a classmate has already posted. For each video, give a link to the video and include:

· The length of the video
· A description of the video in your own words
· The name of the corresponding chapter in our textbook
· A course related quiz question to go along with the video
· An answer to the quiz question

An example: Social Media Revolution



Length: 4:22

Description: Stats and facts concerning Social Media's accelerated assimilation into mainstream culture.
Chapter 2: Media Impact, Chapter 10: Internet, other chapters.
Quiz Question: In comparison to Facebook, which reached 100 Million users in a matter of months, how many years did it take for Radio to reach 50 million users?
Answer: 38 years.

Class 11 - Radio

DISCUSSION: Students wrote on the board the radio stations they listen to, including satellite and Internet radio. We discussed the formats, including rap, hip-hop, rap, public and campus stations and latin. No one seemed to listen to country, the most popular format in the U.S.

SHOW & TELL: We looked at a telegraph and Morse Code. I forgot to show the other stuff -- radio scripts, old radios, and a transistor radio (see picture)  like the one I listened to as a youth. These were approx. 3x5 inches and ran on a 9-volt battery. They were kind of like the iPods of the day, but the only content was AM radio.

HISTORY: We listened to a brief clip from "War of the Worlds" and watched a clip about CKLW , a 1960s-1970s AM station in the Detroit area.

VIDEO: We watched a video about racial stereotypes in the media. On Thursday, we will discuss current examples of shows, movies, ads etc. that break away from old stereotypes, and those that perpetuate them.

QUIZ: Due to mechanical failure, we didn't have a quiz today. Instead, students will complete the Chapter 8 page in the workbook, and hand that in Thursday.

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 9 - Television, complete workbook page. We will have a Ch. 9 quiz on Thursday.

Class 10 - Recordings

DISCUSSION: Students wrote as many music genres as they could think of, and we discussed which genres developed from sources that the musicians could have heard only through recordings (most of them). We discussed the wide influence of African roots on many American styles of music, including rock'n'roll. We looked at Wikipedia's list of music styles.

POWERPOINT: The history of formats, the growth of the recorded music industry. We watched the trailer for "Recording: The History of Recorded Music", Internet music collaborations, Elvis Presley's "outrageously sexual" performance of "Hound Dog" on the Milton Berle Show, backmasking of Beatles songs and Internet music collaborations.

SHOW AND TELL: Edison's cylinder, shellack records, vinyl 45s and LPs, 8-track tape, and album of recordings of "Louis Louis" and a page from a book about the song and the FBI's investigation into its lyrics.

HOMEWORK:  Read Chapter 8 - Radio and complete the workbook assignments.

BLOG FOR Week 5: Movies or Recordings - comment on two fellow students' blogs

Write 1-2 sentences about your favorite movie of 2009 and why you liked it. Write 1-2 more sentences about your all-time favorite movie and why you like it. In which format(s) did you first see these movies? Add links to both in rottentomatoes.com or IMDB.com, or the movie's Website. Bonus: find and embed a trailer for one or both of the movies.
OR
Write 1-2 sentences about your favorite sound recording of 2009 and why you liked it. Write 1-2 more sentences about your favorite oldie and why you like it. In which format(s) did you first hear these recordings? Add links to Amazon, YouTube or other sites where others can listen to your recordings (or samples). Bonus: find and embed a performance of one of your recordings.
ANOTHER BONUS:
If you have been involved in creating music by collaborating with others over the Internet, post a link (or embed) to your collaboration. Write 1-2 sentences about what was involved.

NOTE: If you have questions about how to add user-friendly links, how to embed, or how to make your blog more beautiful, watch this 15-minute video, or click on the Web address below to find it broken up into 2-3 minute segments.

A Beginner's Guide to Blogging with Blogger

Class 9 - Movies

DISCUSSION: Students indicated which Oscar-nominated movies they had seen and voted on the most likely to win Best Picture:  Avatar.  We discussed the Top 5 movies of the past weekend and which we had seen. Most people had seen Avatar.

SHOW AND TELL: We discussed the concept of "persistence of vision" by passing around a deck of cards and viewing Eadweard Muybridge's horse photos. We also looked at 8mm and 16mm film.

POWER POINT: We looked at clips from silent movies, the Jazz Singer, the "pre-Code" movies that showed liberated women, the three movies worst ever made (from the DVD 50 Worst Movies ever made), movie cliches and product placement.

JEOPARDY: Group 4 won.

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 7 (Recordings), complete workbook Chapter 7. List all of the musical genres you can think of.

INTERNET SEARCH PROJECT: It's late, but I will still accept it!

Class 8 - Magazines

ANNOUNCEMENT: The iPad is here! It's like a gigantic iTouch. We couldn't view the online video because it's in QuickTime, which our PC doesn't read.

QUIZ: Students completed the quiz for Chapter 4 (Newspapers). The Chapter 5 (Magazine) quiz is online here. Click on the "Multiple Choice" quiz on the left navigation bar. At the end of the quiz, enter your e-mail address and mine to send the score. If you don't get an acknowledgement that the score was sent, copy your score and paste it into an e-mail to me. The Internet Search Project and Blog 4 (see below) are both due Sunday 1-31 at midnight.

DISCUSSION: We discussed the three stages of media development, which apply to magazines and to other media we are studying:

• Elite stage -- Only the most wealthy, most educated have access
• Popular stage -- Most people have access, but choices are limited
• Specialized stage -- Everyone has access, but choices are fragmented

SHOW AND TELL: We looked at older copies of Life, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, etc. and examples of different types of magazines: Trade, public relations, consumer; and academic and professional journals.

MAGAZINE COVERS: We viewed online the best magazine covers of 2009, Top 40 covers of 1965-2005 and Time magazine covers . We also looked some at magazines that failed and new magazine start-ups from 2009.

BLOG 4 - Magazine Proposal
Write a proposal for a new magazine (either a print magazine or an online magazine), as if you were going to submit it to a publisher. Your proposal should include:

· Name of magazine
· Concept – how is your magazine different from existing magazines?
· Readers – demographics and psychographics (may include age group, gender, ethnicity, income level, interests, self-image, self-identification, etc.)
· Other magazines serving this demographic (your competition) – your investors will want to know how your magazine is different or better?
· Five advertisers who you think would like to reach your readers
· Five articles you might include in your premier (first) issue
· Describe the cover of your premier issue (photo, graphics, color, words, etc.)
· Bonus: Draw (or create electronically) your proposed cover and bring it to class

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 6 (Movies) and complete workbook assignments.

Class 7 - Newspapers

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  We will have the Chapter 4 (Newspapers) quiz in class on Thursday. The Chapter 5 (Magazine) quiz is online here. Click on the "Multiple Choice" quiz on the left navigation bar. At the end of the quiz, enter your e-mail address and mine to send the score. If you don't get an acknowledgement that the score was sent, copy your score and paste it into an e-mail to me. The Internet Search Project and Blog 4 (Magazines) are both due Sunday 1-31 at midnight.

DISCUSSION: Students discussed what newspapers could do to better appeal to 18- to 29-year-olds. Suggestions included: More magazine-style design and writing, younger reporters to report on youth trends, more color, smaller format, stories that don't jump to inside pages.

POWERPOINT: We looked at the history of newspapers, highlighting the development of
- The inverted pyramid style during the U.S. Civil War
- Yellow journalism during and before the Spanish-American war (resulting from a newspaper war between newspaper barons Pulitzer and Hearst)
- Public journalism (also known as civic or advocacy journalism)
- Tabloid newspapers such as the New York Post

FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS AND NEWSPAPER-QUALITY JOURNALISM: We looked at four alternatives to advertiser-funded journalism.

• Pay for content
  
• Non-profit
  
• Crowd funding
  
• Government funding

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 5 and complete workbook exercises. NOTE: Exercise No. 2 should say Chapters 3, 4 and 5.

Class 6 -- Books

ANNOUNCEMENT: Internet Search Project is due Jan. 31. The assignment consists of 20 questions based on mass media Web sites, and it will take several hours to complete.

DISCUSSION: Groups came up with lists of the six most influential books of all time. The lists included: The Bible, the Koran, Greek myths, Shakespeare and the Kama Sutra. More recent books included: Goosebumps, Harry Potter and Rant. We compared the lists to Boston Public Library's list of most influential books of the last 100 years and Wikipedia's list of the 100 most influential books ever. We discussed banned and challenged books.

POWERPOINT: We examined the history of printing, the printing press and moveable type. We discussed electronic book readers such as the Sony Reader and Amazon's Kindle.

SHOW AND TELL: We looked at lead type letters and a printer's drawer and some books including Where's Waldo -- banned because of a topless woman in Waldo's beach scene.


HOMEWORK: Read Chapters 4 (Newspapers) and 5 (Magazine) and complete Workbook exercises.

BLOG 3 - BOOKS
Name three books you have read that had the most influence on you. In 1-2 sentences, describe why each one was influential. (Write in more detail than saying, «It was good» or «it made me laugh.» Say why it was good or made you laugh and how it stayed with you after you read it.) Add links to the books on Amazon.com or another online bookseller, or authors’ Websites.
This week, comment on at least one other student's blog (see list on the right).

Class 5

Class canceled.

Class 4 - Media Impact

ANNOUNCEMENTS: We have 93 percent compliance on the blog assignment -- just two more to go. Thanks to all those who have posted!

 

POWERPOINT: We reviewed key concepts from the textbook;

• Research methodology to measure media impacts (some borrowed from scientific research)
• Social science perspectives
• Flow theories
• How new innovations move through society.

DVD: We watched a DVD about the history of comic books, and the work of Dr. Fredric Wertham leading to the self-censoring "Comic Book Code." See textbook p. 36-37. We discussed whether Wertham's research menthods were valid.

 

DVD: We watched a DVD about Canadian media critic Marshall McLuhan's theories of "Technological Determinism." McLuhan died before many of the media we studied had been developed, but we tried to apply his theories to some of today's media. (See below for new alternative blog assignment.)

 

QUIZ: Ch. 2 Media Impact

 

HOMEWORK: Read and complete workbook activities for Chapter 3 (Books). Note: We will discuss workbook responses for Chapter 3 in class.

 

BLOG: After reading Chapter 2 on Media Impact, propose a media research project, based on what you learned in the chapter. You can research any aspect of how media impact people. E.g. Advertising, reality TV, movies, cartoons, magazine images, etc. Describe your project in 4-5 sentences, using some of the terminology from the textbooks’ margin notes. What are you researching? What methodology would you use? How would you test your hypothesis? What results do you predict?

OR

Theorize about a technological development using McLuhan's theory of "Technological Determinism" and its  the four effects (don't use one we examined in class). Technological Determinism in clearer language means we shape our tools and they, in turn, shape us. You can chose older developments (printing press, photography, movies, radio etc. or newer (iPod, iPhone, electronic book reader, GPS, etc.) Here are the four effects:

 

Class 3 - Chapter 1

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Returned practice quizzes, explained class numbering system.

DISCUSSION: "The audience is the arbiter of meaning." The senders may think they are sending one message, but ultimately it is the audience that determines what the message was.

VIDEO: "Sammy's Visit" from All in the Family , 1972, an example of the audience as final arbiter of meaning and technological and societal change.

VIDEO REVIEW: Discussion on the societal, cultural and technological differences between the early 70s and now, as seen in the video (media as a reflection of society).

HOMEWORK: Read textbook Ch 2, complete workbook Ch 2.

Class 2 - Mass Communication

DISCUSSION: Definitions of communication, mass communication, mediated communication.

 

LECTURETTE: Ways to categorize communication:

• Intrapersonal, interpersonal, small group, organizational, public, mass
• Verbal and visual
• Mediated and non-mediated

POWERPOINT:  Basic model of communication (sender, message, channel, receiver, feedback, gatekeeper, noise) with discussion on feedback loop and types of environmental and psychological noise. Traditional mass media, converged mass media.

 

VIDEO: The Simpsons "Itchy Scratchy & Marge"  


DISCUSSION: Relevance of this video to our study of mass communication:

 - Does violence in the media affect or cause violence in society?

 - Marge catalogs violent actions in cartoon AKA "content analysis" done by media researchers

 - Parents don't always have control over children's TV habits (can go to neighbors' houses and watch)

 - TV writers use storyboard format on walls

 - Talk show host does not provide equal time to both sides of the issue, despite having representation from both sides; TV news skims over important topics and doesn't go into depth

 - The mass communication feedback process does not function as smoothly as the interpersonal communications feedback process, but there are options for it: boycotting products, picketing, going on talk shows, writing letters to management

- Opinion leaders hold influence over media messages

- Press conference: public relations and journalism come together

- Cartoon writers: fun media job

 - First Amendment - freedom on speech - can you be for censorship of one type of freedom of speech, but not another?

- The model of communication

  

RESEARCH METHOD: Content analysis

  

QUIZ: Practice quiz.

 

HOMEWORK: Read and complete worbook assignment for Chapter 1

BLOG ASSIGNMENT: Set up a blog in blogger.com and e-mail me the blog address. Post your first blog post.

BLOG 1: Media Autobiography

 

Write your short media autobiography. This should be a short essay (about 200-400 words) about you and your relationship with the eight types of mass media we are studying in this class: Books, Newspapers, Magazines, Movies, Recordings, Radio, Television and the Internet.

  

Talk about your background with each of these media, your experiences (use/habits) with them, your likes and dislikes of them, and which ones are important to you now and when you were growing up. Tell if you have, had or would like a job or career in the media. If you have lived in another country, talk about the media there. Mention your major, if it is related to the media, and the name of the university you want to transfer to, if appropriate.

 

Do not write about other aspects of your life, unless they relate to the media. E-mail me your blog address.

 

Class 1 - Introduction

LECTURETTE: We discussed the eight mass media we will be studying in this class. For each, we will study  history, industry and controversies.

• Books
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Movies
• Recording
• Radio
• Television
• Internet

CLASS EXERCISE: Students did a scavenger hunt based on the eight media and introduced themselves. 
TEXTBOOK:  The textbook for the class is Mass Media and its Impact on Society 3e by George Rodman. You can guy an online version from CourseSmart.
BLOGS: We discussed the blog assignments for the class. Students will set up blogs at Blogger.com and e-mail me the blog address.