SP 241, Spring 07, CRN 22731 Jon Bouknight
MW 3:15-4:55, Des 3
Media, Communication, and Society
4 credits
Course Description:
Students will analyze the social and cultural impact of media, including broadcast, print, film, and computer mediated communication. Students will also examine careers in selected areas of media. Recommended Preparation: WR121.
Course Goals:
1) Students will be able to define the term "media," and construct a chronology of the technical innovations of media from handwriting to digital communication forms.
2) Using key points in the history of media, students will be able to explain the impact of media on cultural thinking patterns, forms of thinking from poetics, rhetorical and noetic, which regards the transmission and storage of knowledge.
3) Students will be able to evaluate the impact of advertising on the content of other media products, such as journalism and entertainments.
4) Students will be able to evaluate the impact of media in two or more political contests.
5) Students will be able to review the changing concept of the ownership of ideas and language through the history of media.
6) Students will demonstrate knowledge of current copyright laws and fair use guidelines for their own media productions.
7) Students will be able to list three or more transnational media corporations and be able to present arguments for and against the existence of such large corporations.
8) Students will identify three academic and/or governmental responses to the existence of transnational media corporations.
9) Students will be able to list three examples of reputable "alternative" media sources.
10) Students will be able to discuss the starting jobs in at least three branches of the media (e.g.: newspapers, web design, radio, etc.).
11) Students will be able to document the career path of a known personality in media.
12) Students will analyze and describe the efforts made by a known personality in media to appeal to an audience.
Prerequisites
Students are expected to complete a paper of analysis, using and citing a primary source. Therefore, successful completion of WR 121 is strongly recommended for SP 241.
Office and hours:
Jefferson 116, MWR 7:45-8:40 am; MW 5-5:30 pm; T 1-1:50 pm and by appointment; phone 330-4394; e-mail jbouknight@cocc.edu. See also the course website <http://www.cocc.edu/jbouknight> for additional course information.
Texts:
Cockburn, Leslie. Looking for Trouble. New York: Anchor Books, 1999.
Rodriguez, Robert. Rebel without a Crew. New York: Penguin Books, 1996.
The following Websites can be consulted for research-length articles:
The Columbia Journalism Review. http://www.cjr.org
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. http://www.fair.org
The Center for Public Integrity. http://www.publicintegrity.org
These Websites may also be consulted:
The “Images Online” catalogue for the British Library, the world’s foremost collection of written documents/artifacts: http://ibs001.colo.firstnet.net.uk/britishlibrary/index.jsp
Also note Columbia Journalism Review’s webpages tracking media owners: http://www.cjr.org/owners
Cyberatlas is a journal offering internet trends, from porn to peer growth to monthly stats on internet use. http://www.cyberatlas.internet.com
Journalism Jobs creates a database tracking layoffs; the compilers encourage reader submissions of information: http://www.journalismjobs.com/layoffs.cfm
Radio Locator: “the most comprehensive radio station search engine on the internet. We have links to over 10,000 radio station web pages and over 2500 audio streams from radio stations in the U.S. and around the world.” http://www.radio-locator.com
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting is a public interest website that examines the quality of journalism on issues of current concern. http://www.fair.org
A media focused weblog is: www.mediageek.org ; One of my favorites for you “deep politics” fans is http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~pdscott/index.html, a website from Peter Dale Scott, researcher and diplomat.
Your local community radio station, KPOV-LPFM, which streams syndicated programming such as Counterspin, along with locally produced radio shows. http://www.kpov.org.
Course Work—Below are the assignment options; the class should choose its preference for 1 and 2. Weightings of assignments are recommended to the class.
1) Four Quizzes (40 points/quiz) 160
2) Class Participation: 50
3) Media Final Paper: As a two-hundred level, transfer course, SP241 satisfies some of its outcomes by means of a research assignment. The paper should be 7 pages, including a works cited page. The following additional criteria will be used for evaluation:
1) Clear statement of an engaging thesis about an issue in media.
2) Development of relevant support.
3) Use of proper quoting and citing techniques. (Make sure to cite the texts you’re discussing and include relevant page numbers in parenthetical citations. See the links in our College website for proper citing using MLA, APA or Chicago styles (follow these links: “Library”; “Research Tools”; “Online Reference Sources”; “Citation Style Guides.”)
4) Conformity to Standard Written English 200
3) Media Final Paper Presentation—A five to eight minute presentation of your own interests in media and how you related those to a the term paper you have completed. Be sure to make the thesis of your media paper clear and be prepared for questions. 40
Total 450
Computer Skills:
This class requires students to be competent with basic computer skills. These skills include creating word-processed documents, e-mailing to an individual and posting to a class conference, finding a site on the World Wide Web, and searching a website for particular information.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s ideas or words as though they are your own. Because plagiarism is a breach of academic ethics and a theft of intellectual property, students who plagiarize on any SP241 assignment should expect to receive a zero for the assignment.
Grading:
Students will be assigned points for major assignments. Letter grades may be determined by the percentage (your points divided by points possible). Thus an A = 100-93%, A-=92.9-90% B+ = 89.9 -87%, B=86.9-83%, B-=82.9-80%, C+ =79.9-77%, C = 76.9-70%. D, = 69.9-60% and so on.
Assignments are weighted as follows:
Initial Course Calendar—Spring 2007: When possible do readings or listenings before class on which assignment is listed.
Apr. 2: What is media? What are noetics? Why important? Unmediated communication and noetics…a poetic example.
Apr. 4: The Alphabet to Print (Assignment: pick two different images of writing from the British Museum website. Outline how they are different from each other and from texts today.) Optional listen to Podcast 1, Bioneers Recording on Blackboard.
Apr. 9: Print to Books (Separate senses of books and printing press. What is wrong with the present college textbook industry? What is right?) Listen to Podcast 2, (Schiffrin interview)
Apr. 11: Quiz 1 (tentatively scheduled) Listen to Podcast 3 (Josh Wolf released—Bloggers, Contemporary Journalism, Not included on quiz)
Apr. 16: Newspapers; Read “Milestones in the History of Media and Politics”--in Now with Bill Moyers 2/21/03--http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/mediahistory.html. Listen to Podcast 4 (Layoffs at the LA Times) (Take a section of a newspaper and do one of the following: Take an entire section of a--at least 6 pages--Measure the area of the advertising and compare it to the area of all articles and headlines. or Pick any three stories over ten inches long. As you read them keep track of sources--how many are men, how many are women, how are they identified; also keep track of people who the story is about--ask same questions. Make notes of this activity to turn in.) Begin watching Manufacturing Consent.
Apr. 18: Magazines, (Write up to one-page, single spaced: What are the types of magazines? Which are your favorite magazines and why?) Class activity: Continue watching Manufacturing Consent.
Apr. 23: Class activity: Begin watching Killing Us Softly: Podcast 5—ABC-KSFO Copyright control.
Apr. 25: Cockburn, 1-64. Podcast 6—Helen Thomas interview and question. (IA: Using a “scrapable” magazine, find at least two examples of the sort of advertising ploys Kilbourne was referring to in the chapters we have read. Try to find one example of an ad that does not fit the patterns Kilbourne is criticizing. Bring the ad or a copy of the three ads to class.)
Apr 30: Cockburn, 65-92; Quiz 2 Magazines, Newspapers, Kilbourne
May 2: Cockburn, 93—124; Audio Media: Radio and Recording; Podcast 7—Right/Left Radio
May 7: Cockburn, 125-183; Podcast 8—Klineberg/Clear Channel (What type of news do you get from the radio? How does it compare to other forms of news?)
May 9: Cockburn 184-237 (we won’t read the last chapters together. Homework Assignment: Are you more likely to listen to the radio for music or to recorded music? Why?) Class activity: watch Money for Nothing; Podcast 9—Dixie ChicksDocumentary
May 14: Motion Pictures Rodriguez, 1-55; Intro to Preproduction; Class activity: Excerpts from Hitchcock.
May 16: Rodriguez, 56-101; Post production to The Chase; Class Activity:
May 21: Rodriguez, 102-157; The Chase to Telluride and Toronto (Optional due date—rough draft). Begin feature film (El Mariachi?)
May 23: Quiz 3. Continue feature film
May 28: (Memorial Day)
May 30: Television, Digital Convergence Rodriguez, 158-209; Postproduction, take 3 to Appendix 1. Podcast 10—“24” and Torture. Optional--Turn in rough draft of paper for comments.
June 5: Field trip to Bulletin, KPOV. Meet at the Bulletin headquarters at 3:30; Podcast 10—Benton Study
June 7: Paper due; Oral presentations; Podcast 11 (optional)—LA FCC meeting and FCC commissioner interview
Final: Wednesday, June 13, 11-3; finish presentations; Final Quiz