Last Blog of the Quarter!

Week 11: Class Highlights (15)

 Describe three of the “Aha!” moments you had this quarter (see p. 2 in workbook). Write 1-2 sentences about each. – OR –  Describe how what you learned in JOUR 2 affected your level of media literacy. Do you view media in a different way? How? Has your understanding of media impacts, the First Amendment, or media messages changed? How? Include any relevant link or media clip you would like.

Class 17 and 18 - Media Law and Ethics

DISCUSSION - We discussed media law and ethics, including the First Amendment, historical examples of the Payola scandals it the 1950s, the blacklisting of Hollywood actors, screenwriters and production people, the Quiz Show hoax etce. We also talked about the recent Westboro Baptist Church case, coverage of Charlie Sheen and the Mohammed cartoons.


RESEARCH PAPER is due at 11:59 p.m. at TurnItIn.com. 

If you are late, e-mail me the paper and I will turn it in at TurnItIn. In the Research Paper, information from sources should be cited in MLA style. That means that when you're presenting material from your sources, whether it's a direct quotation, a paraphrase (in your own words) or a summary, you need to name the source. Each source should correspond with an item on your Works Cited list. Link to information about how to cite sources in MLA style: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/ PRESENTATIONS: Here's what you should include in your presentation. You can include a discussion question for the class at the end if you think you will not fill the time (5 minutes min.): Brief description of two sides of controversy; something interesting or surprising from your research findings Media clip if relevant (1-3 minutes) Images if relevant Your opinion POWERPOINT:  Here are some tips about PowerPoint presentations. You can find more tips and videos on YouTube.com.  If you don't have PowerPoint, you can use Google Docs Presentation. Go to docs.google.com and sign in with your google ID. ·         No more than seven words across, seven lines down ·         Use bullet points ·         Use photos, graphics, video clips ·         Video should be limited to 1-3 minutes ·         Limit animations GRADES: I will e-mail the grades later this weekend! WORKBOOKS will be due Thursday March 10. BLOG TOPIC:  Week 9: Media Ethics/Media Law (15) Describe a media law or media ethics case from 2010-11involving one or more of the following: ·         First Amendment/censorship ·         Libel ·         Privacy/intrusion ·         Copyright ·         Federal Communications Commission ·         Misappropriation  Include an embed or link to a site about the case. Add your brief comments.

Class 15 - Public Relations

POWERPOINT - We viewed videos about Edward Bernays and about various aspects of public relations. We discussed greenwashing, astroturfing, crisis management and celebrity image make-overs.

DVD - We continued to view Bowling for Columbine (see below).

RESEARCH PAPER - We discussed the Works Cited (annotated) that is due Thursday Feb. 24. easybib.com will format the list for you if you type in all the inputs. When you're entering items you found on EBSCO and other databases, you should first choose Database as the type of item, then enter all of the required information and your annotation. See my website for a sample MLA Works Cited page with annotations.

DUE THURSDAY - Formatted Works Cited list with three items for the Research Paper.

HOMEWORK - Read Chapter 13 - Advertising and complete workbook assignment.

Class 14 - Electronic News

DVD - We began viewing Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine which examines the roots of violence in the United States.

Due on Tuesday Feb. 22 - Take home Chapter 11 quiz.


RESEARCH PAPER - The assignment will be due in two weeks, and will be the basis of presentations during the last week of class. Students must use academic databases to find most of the sources. Here is information about Accessing Library Databases.

Due on Thursday Feb. 24: Three items for the Works Cited List, with annotations. For help with MLA style, use easybib.com, where you can enter all the necessary information and the annotation and it will generate a Works Cited WORD document.

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

 BLOG:  Week 7: Internet (15)

Have you used the Internet for shopping, gaming or dating, or do you know someone who has? Do you know anyone who has developed an addition (or time-consuming habit) of one of these activities? Explain how it affected their lives and how they put a stop to it, if they did. Include friendly links to any specific sites you mention.

Class 13 - Internet

RESEARCH PAPER:  We discussed the Research Paper, which will be due in two weeks and will be the basis for presentations the last week of the quarter. The assignment with links is on my De Anza website here.

DUE THURSDAY: Topic for the Research Paper. You should do some preliminary research before proposing a topic. Your topic needs to be controversial in some way, specific and something you're genuinely interested in.

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 11 (Electronic News) and complete the workbook exercises.

Class 12 - Television

DISCUSSION: We discussed viewing habits and  favorite shows. We talked about characters who reinforce stereotypes and those who defy them. We viewed clips including this one from Family Guy about the Freakin' FCC:

QUIZ 9 (Television) will be an online quiz. You can access it at the textbook website. At the end of the quiz, fill in your name, class student number, e-mail address and my e-mail address, and hit submit. You should immediately see a pop-up that the quiz has been sent. if you don't get the pop-up, copy and paste the quiz and e-mail it to yourself and me. Quiz is due Sunday Feb. 13 at midnight.

QUIZ MAKEUPS (due Tuesday Feb. 15 in class):  Missed quizzes or low quiz scores on Quizzes 1 to 7 can be made up by answering the Self-Quiz questions (in the light blue boxes) within each chapter for each missed quiz. You can find the questions at my De Anza Website. Each quiz question is worth one point. If you got a grade of 0 or missed a quiz, answer 10 questions for that chapter. For quizzes in which you received a grade lower than 10, answer as many questions as you would like to make up. You can make up 50 total quiz points over the quarter.  Your responses should include the questions and should be typed (or very neatly written), with the chapter clearly labeled and handed in. Bullet points are OK.

 

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 10, complete workbook.

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: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8&

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.

HISTORY: We discussed the invention of radio and watched a brief clip about "War of the Worlds" and a clip about CKLW , a 1960s-1970s AM station in the Detroit area that I listed to as a tweener/teenybopper.


DVD: We continued to view This Film is Not Yet Rated, an analysis and commentary on the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system.




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

QUIZ MAKEUPS - See the post below. Clarification: You can make up 50 quiz points during the quarter. That could be 5 quizzes you totally missed or scored 0 on, or a few points from several quizzes where you scored less than 10.  New due date: Tuesday Feb. 15.

GRADES: If your grades are lagging, now is the time to catch up on work, e.g. the Internet Search Project  (e-mail the assignment to me as TurnItIn has expired) and missing Blogs.  

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. We discussed formats and the history of recorded music.

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.

DVD: We viewed the first part of This Film is Not Yet Rated, an analysis and commentary on the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system.  

QUIZ MAKE UPS:  Missed quizzes or low quiz scores on Quizzes 1 to 7 can be made up by answering the Self-Quiz questions (in the light blue boxes) within each chapter for each missed quiz. You can find the questions at my De Anza Website. Each quiz question is worth one point. If you got a grade of 0 or missed a quiz, answer 10 questions for that chapter.  The responses should include the questions and should be typed (or very neatly written), with the chapter clearly labeled and handed in. Bullet points are OK.

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 8 - Radio and complete workbook. Turn in take-home Chapter 7 quiz on Tuesday.

BLOG 5: Movies or Recordings (20 points). Please note that the assignments have several steps. To get full points, complete all steps. To make the experience more pleasant for your readers, use friendly links and embeds. You can find instructions for links and embedding on YouTube.

Write 2-3 sentences about your favorite movie of 2010-11 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  Find and embed a trailer for one or both of the movies.      

OR

Write 2-3 sentences about your favorite sound recording of 2010-11 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 or embed links to Amazon.com, YouTube.com or other sites where others can listen to your recordings (or samples). 

Visit other students' blogs and leave your comments!

Class 9 - Movies

DISCUSSION: We discussed genres of movies, foreign and independent movies, duties of director and producer, and the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and its rating system.

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 "Birth of a Nation" "The Jazz Singer," and "pre-Code" movies, the three movies worst ever made (from the DVD 50 Worst Movies ever made), movie cliches and product placement.

Class 8 - Magazines continued

ACTIVITY: Students completed the Magazine Content Analysis on p. 13 of the workbook. The analysis helped students determine the target audience of the magazines.

REMINDER:  The Internet Search Project is due tonight at midnight at TurnItIn.com .

HOMEWORK:  Read Chapter 6 - Movies. Complete workbook activities for Chapter 6.


BLOG: See previous post.

Class 7- Magazines

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 '09, and Time magazine covers. We also viewed the  Top 40 covers of 1965-2005, which includes some classics you might be familiar with.

The magazine quiz will be on Thursday. Also - Cookies!

Due Thursday at midnight:  The Internet Search Project. Turn it in at TurnItIn.com.

BLOG 4 - Magazine Proposal - 25 points (due Sunday midnight)

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 issue

·         Describe the cover of your premier issue (photo, graphics, color, words, etc.)

·         Draw (or create electronically) your proposed cover, including the name of the magazine and highlighting top articles, and post it on your blog and/or bring it to class. Stick figures are OK. Here's a template to create a cover electronically.

I will give prizes for the best magazine proposal (most original and feasible) and for the most artistic.

Class 6 - Newspapers

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  The Internet Search Project is due Thursday Jan. 27 by midnight at TurnItIn.com.  I have enrolled everyone in TurnItIn. If you already have a TurnItIn account at the e-mail address I have, you should now be enrolled. If not, you will receive an e-mail at that address with instructions.

POWERPOINT: We looked at the history of newspapers, highlighting the development of:
- freedom of the press and the First Amendment in the United States
- 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)
- Tabloid newspapers such as the New York Post

DVD: We viewed a clip from The Paper, a 1994 movie about an ethical issue at a tabloid newspaper. Many journalists say that the newsroom scenes are the most realistic they've seen in movies.

HOMEWORK:  Read Chapter 5 (Magazines), complete workbook activities.

BLOG: 

 Name three books you have read that had the most influence on you. In 2-3 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 friendly links to the books on Amazon.com or another online bookseller, or authors’ Websites. 

  

Adding friendly links:  Type in the words (e.g. title of a book), then select the words and click on the blue "Link" button  at the top of the posting box. Copy and paste the link into the "Edit Link" dialog box. 

Adding images to your blog:  Save the image to your computer. Click on the picture button at the top of the posting box. Browse to find the image you want, then edit the position and size.

You can also find how-to videos about how to add links and embeds in Blogger on YouTube.com. 

Class 5 - Books

DISCUSSION: Groups came up with lists of the six most influential books of all time. The lists included: The Bible, the Koran, the dictionary. More recent books included: Dr. Seuss and 1984. 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.

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

SHOW AND TELL: We looked at books including the Koran, Uncle Tom's Cabin, old textbooks, and Where's Waldo -- banned because of a topless woman in Waldo's beach scene.

HOMEWORK: Read Chapter 4 (Newspapers) and complete Workbook exercises.

Class 4 - Media Impact

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

Also videos about Dr. George Gerbner's research on TV and movie violence, and Dr. Frederic Wertham's flawed research on comic books.

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 on Tuesday.

BLOG: Media Impact (15)
After reading Chapter 2 on Media Impact, can you think of a different example (not in the book or the videos we watched) you have heard about when someone blamed media for real-life problems? Describe the situation and find a website or web video that explains it more fully. Embed or use a friendly link. Include your comments on the validity of the claim.

Class 2 - Mass Comm Introduction

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 using "content analysis" -- a social sciences research method

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

- 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; phony expert

- 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

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

- The model of communication

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 (20)

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. Bullet points are OK.

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.

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