Media and American Pol. 2007

Media and American Politics 2007—Schedule

Date

In class

Due

Wed. 8/29

Introduction

Fri. 8/31

Cutting through the noise I:

Areopagitica

*Broder, “No Way to Pick a President.” 2003;

*Broder, “No Way to Pick a President.” 2007;

*Mindich, “Agran”

Also, make sure you keep up with the news throughout the semester by reading the New York Times, especially the articles about national politics; make sure you read the editorials and op-ed pieces, too, particularly Krugman’s, and Peggy Noonan’s pieces in the Wall Street Journal. Pop quizzes will include questions about the news, including news about the U.S. presidential election and the editorials and op-eds.

Finally, you’ll need to check the online syllabus regularly to get updates and last-minute additional reading.

Wed. 9/5

Cutting through the noise II: Bird-dogging and setting the agenda

*Mundy “A Series of Fortunate Events,” Washington Post; *MacFarquhar, “The Conciliator,” New Yorker

*Boyer, “Mayberry Man” New Yorker

*Hertzberg, “Sparring Partners,” New Yorker

Fri. 9/7

Cutting through the noise III

Didion, “Insider Baseball” (handout)

Wed. 9/12

Cutting through the Noise IV

Letter to the editor is due

Fri. 9/14

David is traveling: no class

Wed. 9/19

The campaign I

*Hertzberg, “Votescam,” New Yorker

Fri. 9/21

The campaign II

Film: Unprecedented

In case you'd like a counter argument to Unprecedented, I searched (and searched) for a critical article on the Web (and on LexisNexis). The only one I could find is here.

Wed. 9/26

The campaign III

Stephen Elliot, "Looking Forward To It"

Fri. 9/28

The campaign III

Fear and Loathing (Hunter Thompson)

Wed. 10/3

Who’s watching? I

Mindich, Tuned Out: Why Young People Don't Follow the News, Introduction, Conclusion; *”Young People and News,” Harvard study

Fri. 10/5

Who’s watching? II

Due: Four-page paper on young people and news

Using the handout from Tuned Out and the article, ”Young People and News,” write a four- page paper about young people and news. Requirements:

one outside printed source (no Wikipedia)
one reference to class readings or lectures
footnotes
your own words and ideas
let your great argument dazzle

Wed. 10/10

Journalism’s political coverage I

Adversarial journalism

Seymour Hersh, "Shifting Targets"

Fri. 10/12

Journalism’s political coverage II: Bias

*Broder, "Bush's Minimalist Mantra," and *Breslin, "A Fate Sealed Under Secrecy."

Wed. 10/17

Journalism’s political coverage III: Bias

Coulter, Goldberg, and Franken

Research on candidates:

From left: Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo
From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/10/wgiuliani110.xml

Debate

Democratic presidential candidates Mike Gravel, Barack Obama, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Joseph Biden, Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton gathered on stage prior to the first presidential debate. (Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times) From: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/live-from-south-carolina-the-democratic-debate/

New Hampshire Trip contact information

New Hampshire Democratic Party

http://nhdp.org/index.asp

Manchester Democratic Party

http://manchesterdems.com/contact.html

New Hampshire Republican Party

http://www.nhgop.org/calendar/

Contact information for all the Republican campaign offices in NH:
http://www.nhgop.org/presidential-campaign-contact-/

New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office

(the filing dates are 10/15-11/2)

http://www.sos.nh.gov/prespimdate.htm

Four other scheduling sites:

http://www.bluehampshire.com/frontPage.do

http://www.prioritiesnh.org/birddog_calendar.php

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/nh/calendar/

http://nh2008.blogspot.com/

Fri. 10/19

Bias IV

Plus:

What type are you?

This Web site will tell you which candidate to support:

http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460

These Web sites will categorize your politics:

http://www.politicalcompass.org/

http://people-press.org/fit/

Wed. 10/24

Group projects

Due: Group projects

Fri. 10/26

Group projects

Due: Group projects

Wed. 10/31

Op-eds: How to write them

Read Peggy Noonan's Op-Ed (10/26). Also read the following New York Times columnists:
Paul Krugman (Friday, 10/26)

Thomas Friedman (Sunday 10/28)
Maureen Dowd Sunday 10/28)

Frank Rich (Sunday 10/28; his op-eds are longer)
Me (Sept. 2001 op-ed)

Me (July 2000 op-ed)

Fri. 11/2

Op-ed workshop

Wed. 11/7

Op-ed is due; discuss minor candidates

Fri. 11/9

David is traveling: no class

Wed. 11/14

Minor candidate progress reports

The minor candidate report is as follows:

Choose a candidate from the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Web site
Research the candidate online, on Lexis/Nexis, and on Google News.
Interview your candidate. Feel free to provide a sound clip. Make sure you include a picture and any necessary Web links.
At some point in the interview, make sure to get names of other people to interview: spouses, friends, campaign managers, etc. This is a profile and requires more than one person.
Interview another person who can assess this person's candidacy. This person should be a non-partisan expert. In some cases, a political science professor would do. In other cases, a scientist, a political figure, or someone else might work better.
It may be that a candidate's controversial claims may need to balanced by someone else, but remember, too, that you're giving the candidate a forum for expressing an opinion; give your candidate his or her fair share of space.
The project should be 1000-1500 words and linked to here.
The Echo is a good model for the kind of balanced reporting we're looking for.
A Microsoft FrontPage tutorial, care of Cynthia Kelley, is here.

Fri. 11/16

Homework:

Call (don't rely on the Internet) the Manchester office of your candidate (or the national scheduling office).

Is your candidate (or other representatives, including a spouse) in state 11/3-4?
If not, what state will he/she be in?
If so, get a contact number for the event and detailed directions. Get a name and weekend contact number for the campaign and the event(s), just in case we're lost on the bus.
If the candidate and/or surrogate is not available to the public, might they meet with 40 students, some of whom are New Hampshire residents?
Where is your candidate's Manchester office? Can we visit the office (in groups of five or six)? What are the hours of the Manchester office for Saturday and Sunday?
Print all this out, including contact name and number and Manchester office number, in a readable, accessible one-page report. Brevity is key.

11/17-11/18

ROAD TRIP TO NEW HAMPSHIRE

11/21, 11/23

Thanksgiving: No class

Wed. 11/28

Due: Minor candidate report

Go live tonight!

Fri. 11/30

3-sentence paper proposal to dmindich@smcvt.edu

Wed. 12/5

Paper workshop

Term paper draft is due

Fri. 12/7

Conclusion

Term paper is due (include worksheet, drafts)