This course focuses generally on the structure and function of mass media texts in contemporary society. It is a required course that joins theory and methods in the study of mass media texts, their producers, and their audiences. Specifically, this semester we will be focusing on news across print, broadcast, and Internet media. We begin by asking what news is and its components in terms of its narrative structures, visual symbols, and design. We then take a critical look at where these structures come from, comparing political-economic and sociological approaches to the news and the journalistic profession. From there, we postulate the effects of news through an ideological framework. Finally, we compare this definition of news, its structures, organizations, professional practices, and effects to three case studies of alternative news: civic journalism, Latino journalism, and tabloid journalism. These comparisons will illustrate not only their differences from mainstream news, but also their striking similarities.
News must become part of your daily diet in order to excel in this class. It does not matter what the source medium (print, broadcast, Internet) is, so long as the content fits into what we will define as “mainstream news.” By talking about news as it is being covered, students will be expected to apply the knowledge and methods in their readings to the real world of news events, reporters, and journalism. Participation grades will be based on each student’s ability to make connections between course readings, as well as attendance, active contribution to class discussions, and good teamwork skills in class projects. Extra credit points are reserved for the ability to connection course readings with current news events. Failure to attend class will result in a lower participation grade and possible notification of the Dean’s office. Unexcused absences after notification by the Dean will result in the final grade recommendation of a “WF” to the Dean.
Readings in this course will introduce you to new approaches to analyzing news. Each approach will encompass new vocabulary and frameworks for theorizing news. Exams are to ensure that you have grasped both the vocabulary and theories. There are NO make-ups or alternative days for these exams except in cases of extreme emergency (a documented illness or death in the family). Please note the day/time of the final exam as this is a firm date.
In addition, you will be working in groups on projects that apply methods in the course. It is imperative for these projects that you learn to work with your peers and do not burden the group unduly. Group membership will change for each project. Projects will be used in class to discuss important themes and theories in the course. As such, all late projects will be deducted a full letter grade for each day past the official due date, including weekends.
Finally, this course values and adheres strictly to the Tulane Honor Code. All forms of academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism, turning in previous work, unauthorized collaboration, etc.) will be reported and punished to the full extent of the Code. Those not familiar with the Code can find it located at http://www.tulane.edu/~uc/honorcode.htm. I can also answer questions on the policies.
Grades will be assigned according to the following criteria:
Any questions about these standards or other course issues are welcomed before or after class as well as during my office hours, Wed. 1-3 p.m. I am happy to meet with students other hours by appointment. I am located in 219 Newcomb Hall. The phone number there is 865-3035 and my e-mail address is vmayer@tulane.edu. E-mail is the best way to contact me for the quickest response, generally within 48 hours.
Blackboard will be used for this course for posting some lecture materials, assignments, grades, and announcements. I am happy to integrate and utilize this site in favor of more student interactions and the sharing of work and resources.
All are available through the Tulane Bookstore, on reserve at the library, and/or on E- Res.
Lowes, Mark Douglas. Inside the Sports Pages. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999.
Mindich, David T. Z. Just the Facts: How Objectivity came to Define American Journalism. New York: NYU Press, 1998.
Tumber, Howard (Ed.). News: A Reader. London: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Readings on E- Res are marked with *** (complete listing at back of syllabus).
( subject to minor modification)
8/25 W Introduction
8/27 F Some Definitions
Read:
Lippmann, Walter, “Public Opinion,” News, 5-10.
Park, Robert, “News as a Form of Knowledge,” 11-15.
Rohsco, Bernard, “ Newsmaking (Excerpt),” News, 32-36.
Project 1 Handed Out
8/30 M Objectivity
Read:
Mindich, David T.Z. JF , Introduction, 1-14.
Schudson, Michael, “Discovering the News,” News, 291-296.
9/1 W Historical Roots
Read:
Mindich, David T.Z. JF , Chapters 1-2, 15-63.
9/3 F Class Activity Day
Project 1 Part I Due
9/8 W Another History
Read:
Sloan, Jim, Prologue and “Spicing Up the News, ” I Watched a Wild Hog Eat My Baby!: A Colorful History of Tabloids and their Impact, New York: Prometheus Books, 2001, 11-29.***
Sampson, Anthony, “The Crisis at the Heart of Our Media,” News, 201-208.
9/10 F Journalism’s Evolving Role
Read:
Barkin, Steve, “The Era of Network Dominance,” American Television News: The Media Marketplace and the Public Interest, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2003, 35-48 .***
Bardoel, Jo, “Beyond Journalism,” News, 379-392.
9/13 M The Story
Read:
Mindich, David T.Z. JF, Chapter 3, 64-94.
Project 1 Part II Due
Project 2 Handed Out
9/15 W The Story
Read:
Mindich, David T.Z. JF, Chapter 5 and Conclusion, 113-144.
9/17 F The Image
Read:
Sturken, Marita, “Practices of Looking: Images , Power, and Politics,” Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, 10-41. ***
9/20 M The Narrative
Read:
Dayan, Daniel and Elihu Katz, “Media Events,” News, 49-60.
9/22 W Class Activity Day
Project 2 Part I Due
9/24 F Composition
Read:
Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen, “The Meaning of Composition,” Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, New York: Routledge, 1996, 181-229 .***
9/27 M Tabloids: Alternative Forms and Contents
Read:
Bird, Elizabeth, “Writers, Text, and Audience: Tabloids as Folklore,” For Enquiring Minds: A Cultural Study of Supermarket Tabloids, Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1992, 162-200 .***
9/29 W Project 2 Presentations
Project 2 Part II Due
Project 3 Handed Out
10/1 F Political Economy
Read:
Golding, Peter and Graham Murdock, “Culture, Communications, and Political Economy,” News, 155-165.
10/4 M Ownership
Read:
Bagdikian, Ben, “The Media Monopoly,” News, 145-147.
Kimball, Penn, “Downsizing the News,” News, 209-212.
10/6 W Structural Roles
Read:
McManus, John, “Market Driven Journalism,’ News, 180-190.
10/8 F Class Activity Day
Project 3 Part I Due
10/11 M Regulation
Read:
Barsamian , David, “Watchdogs or Lapdogs?” The Decline and Fall of Public Broadcasting: Creating Alternative Media, Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1-14 .***
Choose One of the Following:
Puritz Cook, Judi, “Advertising on Public Television: A Look At PBS,” Public Broadcasting and the Public Interest, Michael P. McCauley, et. al. (Eds.), Armonk, NY, 2003, 85-94 .***
Poon, Gary, “Making Money and Serving the Public Interest: Public Television Can and Should Do Both,” Public Broadcasting and the Public Interest, Michael P. McCauley, et. al. (Eds.), Armonk, NY, 2003, 127-140 .***
10/13 W Globalization
Read:
Tunstall, Jeremy, “World News Duopoly,” News, 191-200.
Picard, Robert, “Global Communications Controversies,” News, 355-364.
Project 3 Part II Due
10/15 F Midterm
10/18 M Sports as News
Read:
Lowes, Introduction – Chapt. 3, 1-47.
Project 4 Handed Out
10/20 W Routines
Read:
Lowes, Chapt. 4, 48-73.
Fishman, Mark, “Manufacturing the News,” News, 102-110.
10/25 F Sources
Read:
Lowes, Chapt. 5, 74-96.
Ericson, Richard, et. al., “Negotiating Control: A Study of New Sources,” News, 280-284.
10/27 W Gatekeeping
Read:
Manning White, David, “The ‘Gatekeeper’,” News, 66-72.
Breed, Warren, “Social Control in the Newsroom,” News, 79-84.
10/29 F Gatekeeping as Self-Censorship and Socialization
Read:
Lowes, Chapt. 6, 97-106.
Gans, Herbert, “Deciding What’s News,” News, 235-248.
11/1 M Class Activity Day
Project 4 Due
11/3 W Defining Ideology
Read:
Herman, Edward and Noam Chomsky, “Manufacturing Consent,” News, 166-179.
Project 5 Handed Out
11/5 F Commodity Politics
Read:
Gitlin, Todd, “The Whole World Is Watching,” News, 267-279.
11/8 M Commodity Politics Cont’
Read:
Hall, Stuart et. al., “Policing the Crisis,” News, 249-256.
11/10 W Identity Politics
Read:
Domke, David, Kelley McCoy, and Marcos Torres, “New Media, Immigration, and the Priming of Racial Perceptions,” Brown and Black Communication: Latino and African American Conflict and Convergence in Mass Media, Diana Rios and A. N. Mohammed (Eds.), Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003, 123-142.***
Choose One of the Following:
Heider, Don, “Black, Brown and Poor: Who You Don’t See on Local TV News and Why,” Brown and Black Communication: Latino and African American Conflict and Convergence in Mass Media, Diana Rios and A. N. Mohammed (Eds.), Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003, 81-92.***
Kraeplin, Camile and Federico Subervi-Velez, “Latinos in the Mainstream Media: A Case Study of Coverage in a Major Southwestern Daily.” Brown and Black Communication: Latino and African American Conflict and Convergence in Mass Media, Diana Rios and A. N. Mohammed (Eds.), Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003, 105-122.***
11/12 F Identity Politics Cont’
Read:
Campbell, Christopher, “A Myth of Assimilation: Enlightened Racism and the News,” Race, Myth and the News, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995, 85-112 .***
11/15 M Class Activity Day
Project 5 Part I Due
11/17 W Case Study: Latino News
Read:
Rodriguez, America, “Local Latino News: Los Angeles and Miami,” Making Latino News: Race, Language and Class, Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1999, 107-130 .***
11/19 F Imperial Politics
Read:
Said, Edward. “The Iran Story.” Covering Islam. New York, Pantheon, 1981, 74-125.
Project 5 Part II Due
Project 6 Handed Out
11/22 M Imperial Politics Cont’
Read:
Hallin, Daniel, “The ‘Uncensored War’,” News, 329-339.
11/29 M Class Activity Day
Project 6 Part I Due
12/1 W Ideology and War
Read:
Zelizer, Barbie, “CNN, the Gulf War, and Journalistic Practice,” News, 340-354.
12/3 F Project 5-6 Presentations
Project 6 Part II Due
Final Exam: 9 a.m. to noon, Tuesday, December 14
Barkin, Steve, “The Era of Network Dominance,” American Television News: The Media Marketplace and the Public Interest, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2003, 35-48
Barsamian , David, “Watchdogs or Lapdogs?”The Decline and Fall of Public Broadcasting: Creating Alternative Media, Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1-14.
Bird, Elizabeth, “Writers, Text, and Audience: Tabloids as Folklore,” For Enquiring Minds: A Cultural Study of Supermarket Tabloids, Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1992, 162-200.
Campbell, Christopher, “A Myth of Assimilation: Enlightened Racism and the News,” Race, Myth and the News, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995, 85-112.
Domke, David, Kelley McCoy, and Marcos Torres, “New Media, Immigration, and the Priming of Racial Perceptions,” Brown and Black Communication: Latino and African American Conflict and Convergence in Mass Media, Diana Rios and A. N. Mohammed (Eds.), Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003, 123-142.
Heider, Don, “Black, Brown and Poor: Who You Don’t See on Local TV News and Why,” Brown and Black Communication: Latino and African American Conflict and Convergence in Mass Media, Diana Rios and A. N. Mohammed (Eds.), Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003, 81-92.
Kraeplin, Camile and Federico Subervi-Velez, “Latinos in the Mainstream Media: A Case Study of Coverage in a Major Southwestern Daily.” Brown and Black Communication: Latino and African American Conflict and Convergence in Mass Media, Diana Rios and A. N. Mohammed (Eds.), Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003, 105-122.
Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen, “The Meaning of Composition,” Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, New York: Routledge, 1996, 181-229.
Poon, Gary, “Making Money and Serving the Public Interest: Public Television Can and Should Do Both,” Public Broadcasting and the Public Interest, Michael P. McCauley, et. al. (Eds.), Armonk, NY, 2003, 127-140
Puritz Cook, Judi, “Advertising on Public Television: A Look At PBS,” Public Broadcasting and the Public Interest, Michael P. McCauley, et. al. (Eds.), Armonk, NY, 2003, 85-94
Rodriguez, America, “Local Latino News: Los Angeles and Miami,” Making Latino News: Race, Language and Class, Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1999, 107-130.
Said, Edward. “The Iran Story.” Covering Islam. New York, Pantheon, 1981, 74-125.
Sloan, Jim, Prologue and “Spicing Up the News, ” I Watched a Wild Hog Eat My Baby!: A Colorful History of Tabloids and their Impact, New York: Prometheus Books, 2001, 11-29.
Sturken, Marita, “Practices of Looking: Images , Power, and Politics,” Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, 10-41.