Understanding Mass Media

Understanding Mass Media: University College, Fall semester 2005

Understanding Mass Media

COMM 100G.080C

University College

AmericanUniversity

School of Communication

Fall semester 2005

McDowell Hall 125

Wednesday, 9 am.–12:15 p.m.

Thursday, 6–10 p.m.

W. Joseph Campbell, Ph.D.

Office:125 McDowell Hall

Office phone: (202) 885-2071

E-mail:

Office hours: Tuesday, 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.

Wednesday, 2:30–5:30 p.m.

Friday, by appointment

Understanding Mass Media: Our course in brief

Welcome to our section of “Understanding Mass Media”—one of eight, four-credit seminars in the new University College program. The University College has been designed to promote an exceptional living-learning experience for high-achieving, first-year undergraduate students. Among other objectives, the University College seeks to offer experiential-learning opportunities that tap the exceptional resources of Washington, D.C. These include the Library of Congress and the Shakespeare Theatre in the Nation’s Capital.

I am delighted to be teaching in the University College and look forward to what promises to be an outstanding class.

“Understanding Mass Media” is an important course at American University. It is foundation-level offering in the University’s General Education as well as a cornerstone in the curriculum of the School of Communication. As the course title suggests, we will range widely, even eclectically, in our inquiry this semester, examining the functions, influence, history, myths, and rich diversity of mass media in the United States and, to a lesser extent, abroad. Our inquiry will include old media and new, and will feature several opportunities to speak with media professionals based in Washington, D.C.

“Understanding Mass Media” will be taught seminar style, meaning that discussions of readings and other assignments will be a centerpiece of the course. We will convene in McDowell 125—my office. I am a “faculty member in office residence,” which means I keep my faculty office in McDowell and take a role in the life of the residence hall. In conjunction with McDowell’s resident director and his staff of resident assistants, I help organize in-hall programs that encourage informal contacts between AU faculty and students. Among our most successful programs during the 2004–05 academic year was the “Dialog with the Dean” series, in which the respective deans of AU’s six schools and colleges met informally with students and discussed their academic programs.

Assisting me, and working closely with you, this semester is Catherine Capozzi, an AU sophomore. She is the program associate for “Understanding Mass Media” and in that capacity, Catherine will attend our class sessions, lead out-of-class experiential outings, and be available to offer guidance and insights. She will not, however, evaluate you or your work in our seminar. That responsibility is mine, alone.

I’m looking forward to a rewarding, intellectually challenging class, and I trust that we will engage course material in a collegial spirit of open inquiry. In my classes, there is always room for logically-derived, well-reasoned contrarian points of view. I welcome them.

Readings for the course

These texts are required for “Understanding Mass Media.” They all may be purchased at the Campus Store:

• The Media in America: A History, 6th edition(ISBN: 1-885-21927-X; Vision Press, 2005). The chapters of this text were written by scholars who are expert in the respective fields of mass media.Although we will not read every chapter, The Media in America will be our principal text.

• Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies (paperback edition, ISBN: 0-275-98113-4; Praeger, 2003). I’m the author of Yellow Journalism, which will serve as a centerpiece of our consideration of media-related myths.

• Othello (paperback edition, ISBN: 0-743-47755-3). We’ll read Shakespeare’s Othello in advance of the University College outing to the Shakespeare Theatre in the Nation’s Capital in late October.

Numerous supplemental readings—typically recent articles from newspapers, journals, and trade publications—will be made posted at the class “Blackboard” site or distributed in class. These, too, will represent important assignments.

In addition, you’re asked—indeed, expected—to read a newspaper regularly, by taking advantage of the resources of the Newspaper Readership Program. This program makes available, free of charge to students in AU residence halls, three daily newspapers: the New York Times, USA Today, and the Washington Post. We’ll incorporate these newspapers into our discussions.

Course procedures

Our seminar will pursue a variety of interactive and experiential approaches in examining the mass media and their roles in society. These approaches will include a blend of some lecture, frequent in-class discussion, student presentations, and extensive out-of-class reading and research.

We’ll convene promptly at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays and, from time to time, on Thursdays at 6 p.m. Although we will not meet every Thursday, this class has a priority claim on the hours of 6–10 p.m. on Thursdays. Please keep those hours open.

At our sessions on Wednesday, I will routinely take attendance and will reserve the option to consider absences, late arrivals, and early departures in determining final grades. During the first few sessions of class, I will call the roll. Please bear with me as I do so, as this is an important way for me to learn your names. And I will know all of you, by name, within a few weeks.

A couple of requests: Please make sure that cell phones and pagers are switched off while we’re in session. Do not submit papers to me in the form of email attachments; printouts are preferred. Do let me know if illness or other reasons keep you from attending class. And plan to check the course “Blackboard” site frequently, as supplemental readings will be posted there. And, please: no pajamas in class. Casual dress is fine. I’d rather you not use laptop computers during class.

Assignments are to be completed and submitted by the deadlines specified. I do not accept latepapers in my classes, unless truly exceptional circumstances intervene. Please know that such circumstances tend to be exceedingly rare.

We can expect our seminar to attract a fair amount of outside interest and attention, given that it is an offering in the new University College program. My expectations are high and you are asked to do more than attend class, take notes, and give it all back on exams. Developing and sharpening your skills of conducting insightful research, and thinking hard and imaginatively about important issues, are vital. Regularly joining in class discussions is expected, and to participate meaningfully you will have to keep up with the assigned readings and bring to class your ideas, questions, and observations.

We can confer individually during my office hours, which are listed on the first page of the syllabus, or at other mutually convenient times. And I can be reached routinely via email—I check my AU email account, , quite often—and by campus phone. My campus extension is 2071.

Context of the course in General Education

“Understanding Mass Media” is a foundation course in the University’s General Education program—the centerpiece of the undergraduate academic experience at AU. Our course resides in the “Institutions” cluster of Curricular Area 4, which is titled “Social Institutions and Behavior.” Courses in the “Institutions” cluster link to several second-level offerings, which are identified at the General Education online site, the URL for which is:

Courses in Curricular Area 4 are intended to encourage you to “understand and critically analyze concepts, patterns, and issues that affect the organization of societies and the relationship between the individual and society,” according to the General Education program objectives. The courses in Curricular Area 4 also seek to help you to:

• understand institutions, systems, and patterns of governance that undergird contemporary societies.

• analyze the various methods of inquiry employed in the study of institutions.

• examine the formulation of policies.

• consider the values and ethical issues that underlie and define social, political, and economic organizations.

Please know that I am an enthusiastic supporter of General Education at AU, and have served six years on the University’s standing committee on General Education. In 2005–06, I am the faculty coordinator for the General Education program.

The critical importance of academic integrity

Please do not treat matters of academic integrity blithely or casually; they are vitally important. You are urged to become familiar with your rights and responsibilities as defined in the University’s Academic Integrity Code. The Code may be accessed online at:

Violations of the Code will not be treated lightly, not in this class. There is simply no place here for plagiarism, cheating, tampering with quotations, or other forms of academic dishonesty. And make no mistake: I have taken—and I will take—disciplinary action if violations are discovered.

Please see me if you have any questions about academic integrity as described in the Code or as they relate to this class. It has been my experience that Code violations sometimes are related to unwise choices made in the face of acute time pressures—choices that can, and do, have serious and lasting repercussions.

If you find yourself in a tight spot as deadlines approach, please let me know.

Grades and assignments

Grades in “Understanding Mass Media” will be determined this way:

• Exams

□ Final exam, given Thursday, Dec. 15:20 percent

□ Mid-termexam, given Thursday, Oct. 20:15 percent

•Papers

□ Journalists Memorial paper, due Wednesday, Sept. 21:15 percent

□ Othello paper, due Wednesday, Nov. 2: 10 percent

□ Cusp-of-War paper draft, due Wednesday, Nov. 9:5 percent

□ Cusp-of-War research paper, due Wednesday, Nov. 30: 25 percent

□ “Morning report” paper, due once during the semester:10 percent

Final grades

in“Understanding Mass Media” will reflect the following:

• “A” -- represents superior work (written and oral) in fulfilling requirements for the course; improvement during the course will be considered.

• “B” -- represents good to very good work (written and oral) in fulfilling course requirements; improvement during the course will be considered.

• “C” -- represents satisfactory work (written and oral) in fulfilling requirements.

• “D” -- represents unsatisfactory performance.

• “F” -- represents failure to meet minimum course objectives.

Here are descriptions of each of the assignments:

Exams

The finalexam will be given Thursday, Dec. 15, and will include a mix of short-answer and essay questions. We’ll devote a portion of our class session on Dec. 7 to preparing for the final exam.

The mid-term will be given Thursday, Oct. 20. It, too, will contain short-answer and an essay question. An in-class review for the mid-term will be conducted Oct. 19.

Questions for exams will be drawn from lectures, in-class discussions, and assigned readings. The final exam will cover course material presented or assigned after Oct. 19.

Papers

Journalists Memorial paper

As you know, the Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial—a unique tribute to reporters, editors, and photographers who have died while on duty—stands in Freedom Park in Rosslyn, Va. Please plan to visit or revisit the Journalists Memorial and prepare a paper of 5–6 pages that will be due at the start of class Sept. 21.

In your paper, first describe and critically discuss the Memorial and its setting. Then present your thoughts and comments about the Memorial and its spiraling design: Does it properly honor fallen journalists? Why or why not? How could it have been improved (in terms of design, location, content)? What else about the Memorial did you find impressive or disappointing? And what went through your mind as you approached the Memorial?

Do not hesitate to include your voice in this portion of the paper. (Please do not confuse the Journalists Memorial with the nearby News Pioneers commemorative fountain. You’re welcome to mention the News Pioneers fountain in your paper and briefly compare it with the Journalists Memorial.)

The second half of your paper should focus on one of the journalists named on the memorial. In class on Sept. 7, I’ll present a list of names from which you are to select a journalist to research. In your paper, discuss this journalist’s work, character, reputation, and circumstances of his or her death. Also briefly discuss the present state of the news media in the fallen journalist’s home country.

Be sure to tap traditional (i.e., off-line) sources in preparing this portion of your paper. And identify the sources you consult; appending a page of “references consulted” would be appropriate.

In getting going on this assignment, you may find it useful to visit this online site:

Othello paper

The students, faculty, and program associates from all eight University College seminars will attend the performance of Othello on Thursday evening, Oct. 27, at the Shakespeare Theatre in the Nation’s Capital. The outing will be followed a week later by a cross-discipline, faculty and student discussion of the performance and of Othello’s enduring significance.

You are asked to read Othello before the performance on Oct. 27 and to write a paper of 3-to-5 pages that will be due at the start of class Nov. 2. The paper should offer a critique of the performance at the Shakespeare Theatre and explore and discuss aspects of Othello that are relevant and pertinent to mass media and their practitioners.

Cusp-of-War paper

The Library of Congress is an exceptional, invaluable resource in Washington and I want my students to gain a familiarity with at least one important part of this extraordinary institution.

In this assignment, you are to visit—or, revisit—the library’s Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room (see and examine the front pages of a U.S. newspaper published in the late 1890s, as the United States neared war with Spain over Cuba. The Spanish-American War, which was declared in April 1898, represented the first time the United States projected its military power overseas in a sustained way. As we shall see during this class, the Spanish-American War gave rise to some of American journalism’s most enduring myths and legends.

Your review of the newspaper front pages is to focus on one of the following four months, the events in which brought the United States nearer to war:

October 1897: One of the most dramatic cases of participatory journalism occurred this month. In early October 1897, William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal organized the rescue from a Havana jail of Evangelina Cosío y Cisneros, a young Cuban woman associated with the rebellion against Spanish rule. She was smuggled aboard a passenger vessel and brought to New York, where she was enthusiastically received. Some historians say that this episode of “jail-breaking journalism” sensitized Americans to the plight of Cubans—especially Cuban women—under Spain’s harsh colonial rule. The Cisneros escape may have been reported on the front page of the newspaper you choose.
January 1898: Spain sought to ease the deepening crisis over Cuba by offering Cubans a measure of political autonomy. The move failed, however, as elements of the Spanish military in Cuba, and others, rioted in protest. Rioting in Havana in mid-January 1898 signaled to the United States that Spain had little prospect of restoring control over Cuba. The riots also encouraged the White House to send the battleship Maine to Havana, on an ill-fated (yet ostensibly friendly) visit.
February1898: One of the most stunning moments in American military history occurred this month, when the Maine blew up in Havana harbor, killing more than 260 American sailors. The cause of the Maine’s destruction has never been established, but the most recent—and, frankly, most compelling—evidence points to an underwater mine. Who placed the mine is not known. Americans were appalled by the disaster, and war with Spain grew more likely. Hearst’s Journal devoted page after page of overheated coverage to the disaster.
March1898: An official U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry in late March reported its findings on the Maine’s destruction, saying that an underwater mine was the most probable cause of the deadly explosion. But the Court of Inquiry identified no suspects. Sentiment in Congress—and in many American newspapers—swung decisively toward a declaration of war, but President McKinley held off, seeking an 11th hour diplomatic resolution. His efforts were unavailing, however, and the country went to war with Spain in April 1898.

The Cusp-of-War assignment will allow you to gain insight into one of those important months as America found itself at or near the threshold of a conflict that thrust the country into international affairs as never before. The assignment will allow you to judge for yourself how well, or poorly, newspapers covered events that culminated in the conflict. It also will allow you to consult primary source material while gaining familiarity with the library’s Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room, which is in the Madison Building. And the assignment will perhaps introduce you to an essential if low-tech kind of historical research—that of cranking microfilm.

It’s likely you’ll have to pay more than one visit to the Library of Congress in completing this assignment. Helpful background for the assignment can be found in chapters 3 and 4 in Yellow Journalism. You’re encouraged to revisit those chapters in preparing your paper.