Mass Communication and Society: Spring 2008—Schedule
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Date |
In class |
Due |
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Introduction: media across time |
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Fri., 1/18 |
Language |
Stephens, 1-39; *Wade, “The Leap to Language.” Also, make sure you keep up with the news throughout the semester. You are responsible for scanning the full screen worth of headlines on the New York Times online every day and reading the top stories and any relevant news articles that pertain to our class. Alternatively, you may read the articles on the front page of the printed edition. Quizzes will include questions about the news. |
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Oral versus written |
Stephens, 43-68 |
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Fri., 1/25 |
Printed news |
Stephens, 71-128 |
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The construction of news; Newspapers, incl. Publick Occurrences |
Stephens, 131-201 |
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Fri., 2/1 |
Reporting |
Stephens, 205-262 |
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Wed., 2/6 |
The explosion of the mass newspapers; reporting |
*New York Times Online, Defender (either the one from this week or next), *Daily Show, and one other source of news. In these four sources, read the top stories and be prepared to discuss any apparent biases that you find. Also: What works? What doesn’t? |
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Fri., 2/8 |
Not following the news |
Mindich, Tuned Out 1-76 |
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Milgram and the persuasive message |
Bring in advertisements |
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Ads |
Kilbourne, from Deadly Persuasion, 17-75; NPR story about cybercrime: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17937934 |
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Wed., 2/20 |
Ads: Dreamworlds |
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Phonographs, movies |
Denby, "Big Pictures," a New Yorker article from Jan. 8, 2007 |
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Wed., 2/27 |
95 Triple-X, 95.5 FM 5:30-6p.m., Tues. (2/26); National Public Radio 107.9 FM from 6-6:30 p.m., Tues. (2/26); NBC Evening News (channel 5) 6:30-7 p.m. Tues. (2/26). If you miss any of this, all will be on reserve at the library Wed. (2/27). Please create a detailed log of what happens on air, including commercials. Write two or three sentences about each show’s demographics. |
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Midterm |
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In class: Discussion of Watergate 7 p.m. in Cheray 101: All the President’s Men(we supply the pizza) |
Bernstein and Woodward, All the President’s Men, Chapters 1 and 2; quiz on chapters and names and dates |
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Television |
Mindich, Tuned Out, 77-136 |
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Wed., 3/12 |
Television |
*Stephens, “The New TV” (find in Stephens's article file) Malcolm Gladwell, "Brain Candy." |
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Television and politics |
*Mindich, “Agran” |
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SPRING BREAK! |
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Wed., 3/26 |
The Internet, Photoshop (and much more) |
*Stephens, “Expanding the Language of Photographs |
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In class: Law and ethics |
*Please research three important First Amendment cases: Pentagon Papers. New York Times v. United States (decided by the Supreme Court, 6/30/71) Jerry Falwell sues Hustler Magazine for pain and suffering. Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (Supreme Court, 2/24/88) Supreme court limits nude dancing. City of Erie v. Pap's A.M. (Kandyland) (Supreme Court, 3/29/2000) A good way to research these is to go to Lexis-Nexis and look at the news section, getting background on these cases. Make sure you get enough information to understand these cases thoroughly. Then look at the actual cases themselves. They're long, so give yourself time to get through them. |
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Wed., 4/2 |
Tonight: Movie (TBA) |
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Group projects are due |
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Wed., 4/9 |
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Group projects are due |
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Imagining the future I |
Stephens, 265-299 |
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Wed., 4/16 |
Imagining the future II |
*Adversarial journalism: *Seymour M. Hersh, "Torture at Abu Ghraib," New Yorker *James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts, New York Times *Dana Priest and Anne Hull, "Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility," Washington Post *Leverett and Mann "What We Wanted to Tell You About Iran," New York Times *Rachel Smolkin, Judgment Calls |
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Paper expectations |
3-sentence paper proposal to dmindich@smcvt.edu |
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No class |
Feel free to e-mail… or call my cell: 238-7244. |
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Paper workshop |
Paper draft is due |
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Mon., 4/28 |
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Paper is due (include worksheet, drafts) |
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Wed., 4/30 |
Class |
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Conclusion |
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Final Examination |
*Readings with an asterisk (*) can be found at http://academics.smcvt.edu/dmindich