Media and Society

Benet Davetian

Office: Main 424

Office Hours: M, W: 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Telephone: 566-0607

Welcome.

This course is based on the premise that media, and the industries that produce media products, play significant cultural and political roles in contemporary societies. Drawing upon various media---including television, film, and the internet---we will review the social, economic and political organization of media, the content and effects of media messages, and the important role played by media in preserving, reforming (and dominating) social values at the local and global levels. During this course you will have the opportunity of doing interpretative as well as critical research on a variety of popular cultural forms (e.g., advertising images, feature films, news programs and documentaries, talk shows, sit-coms, dramas, web sites and internet communications).

It is hoped that by the time you finish this course you will have acquired:

1) A familiarity with the interactive connections between media and individual lives-personalities; 2) A working knowledge of the theories and research methods used in the study of the effects of media on individuals and societies; 3) An understanding of the important and paradoxical role played by media in maintaining and changing the status quo; 5) An appreciation of the powerful role played by global media in an increasingly 'connected' and 'media-influenced' world.

PLEASE NOTE THAT MINOR MODIFICATIONS MAY BE MADE TO THIS OUTLINE DEPENDING ON CLASS PROGRESS AND WEATHER.

IMPORTANT:

Attendance: This is an upper-division course and you are expected to be seriously devoted to the course plan and assignments. Please note that the course involves the viewing and discussion of a series of videos. Impeccable attendance is, therefore, required if you wish to keep up with the material and perform satisfactorily.

Readings: The reading load is reasonable. So please do the readings at the time they are due out of respect for your own performance, the working environment you share with your colleagues, and the lecturer's duty to deliver a course that is coherent and interesting. You are required to view and explore the web readings and be prepared to share your impressions and demonstrate your understanding of the material in your written work. So please ensure that you have a reliable connection to the internet (the library has computers attached to high-speed servers) and do not fall behind the course schedule.

Each module has readings listed. Those preceded by the sign *** are required. The other links are there to help you do your research and gain insight into the material. Please do not expect to do well in the course if you ignore the links that are not primary required readings.

Hard Copy of the Main Readings: Available at the printing office. You can order a copy and pay for it. Please note that the price includes copyright fees that must be paid to the authors of the articles.

Viewing and Use of Media: You are required to spend an average of two hours per week for the first 5 weeks viewing television programs and examining other media forms. Please take this into account when planning your schedule.

Assignments: All assignments are due on the specified dates. In fairness to those who do their work on time, a late penalty of 10% per day is imposed for late completion not connected to documented illness or a serious and credible family emergency.

Citations and Academic Integrity: Please note that the university regulations require all teaching staff to penalize any work presented without proper citations, be the material an idea or actual words taken from a text, website or other medium. Please see the citations guide on the web site if you need guidance on how to cite sources, or, see me personally for a quick refresher explanation. A sheet showing the proper citation format to be used for sociology work is distributed to you along with this outline.

Classroom Format: There is a 15-minute break at the halfway mark of each class. This weekly format has been selected in order to allow for a coherent mixture of lectures and media viewing. Please feel free to bring refreshments with you to class since this is a long-format class.

Weeks 1, 2 HUMAN COMMUNICATION AND THE MASS MEDIA

Introduction to the course and review of course outline

Understanding human behavior and the transmission of cultural rules; the media of communication; the mass audience; the mass media as a concept; basic characteristic of the mass media; perspectives on the mass media and the production of culture.

VIDEO: TVTV: The Television Revolution – PART I (60 m.)

Weeks 3, 4 THEORIZING MEDIA AND MEDIA RECEPTION

A survey of the different ways of viewing media technology and social effects.

VIDEO: TVTV: The Television Revolution – PART II (60 m.)

Perhaps also, VIDEO: Representations and the Media (Stuart Hall) (50 m.)

Weeks 5, 6, 7, 8 MEDIA INTERPRETATION AND EFFECTS

The critique of mass culture; searching for the effects of media; evidence for and against media effects; methods for analyzing media content and tone.

Please note: class 8 will involve the viewing and content analysis of a TV program. This will prepare you for doing the required work for the final paper.

VIDEO: Growing Up in a Video World: Media and The Developing Child (24 m.)

Perhaps also, VIDEO: Rich Media, Poor Democracy (35 m.)

Week 9 ADVERTISING AND THE MEDIA

How advertisers shape media and audiences.

VIDEO: Positioning: How Advertisers Shape Perception (21 m.)

Week 10, 11 THE PRODUCTION OF NEWS and GLOBAL MEDIA

VIDEO: Constructing Public Opinion (30 m.)

Week 12 CYBERSPACE COMMUNITIES

VIDEO: Virtual Friends: Living in Cyberspace (25 m.)

ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING:

1) Weekly viewing for first 5 weeks: 1 sit-com, 1 news broadcast or documentary (alternate between American and Canadian if you have cable), 1 drama program, part or whole of 1 movie, viewing of a magazine and a newspaper. Average 2 hours per week. Use this viewing for your media journal.

2) Readings of required texts indicated on course site and surfing of other sites linked from the course site.

3) Attendance and Participation: 10% of course grade.

4) Media Journal: 30% of course grade

5) Mid-Term Paper 30% of course grade.

6) Final Paper 30% of course grade.

PLEASE USE THIS LINK AS A GUIDE IN PREPARING YOUR VIEWING ANALYSIS: VIEWING ANALYSIS

MEDIA JOURNAL 30% of course grade

You are required to view, read, and experience an average of 2 hours per week of media for 5 weeks. These are to include television, radio, film, newspapers, magazines, internet. Please keep a weekly journal of your viewing-experiences (typed or clearly hand-written). You may include pictures if desired. Report your experiences and the thoughts, insights and questions that occur to you. By using specific examples from the media you experience, speculate on how media are affecting your own attitudes, behavior and emotions as well as how you think media is affecting society. You may also cite items found on the various websites provided to you. Write your journal in a manner that will make sense to someone who has not watched or read the same programs or items you have. But do make it a personal experience of value to yourself. Divide your journal in five sections, one section for each week. Keep this journal as an on-going assignment. Do not wait for the last week to do it. The whole purpose is for you to show your experiences and thoughts as they happen over a five-week period. Important: Mention the date of broadcast or appearance of each item you are discussing. Failure to do so will invalidate your assignment and result in a failing grade.

DUE DATE: Last day of the course.

MID-TERM PAPER 30% of course grade

Please produce a 6-8 page paper summarizing and discussing the various theoretical viewpoints on media (Weeks 1-4). Cite from the required readings. For extra points do include material and thoughts from optional sites on the Weeks 3-4 section. Conclude your paper with your own thoughts and critique of the effects of media on society and the effects of social agents on media products. DUE DATE: First week following mid-term break.

FINAL PAPER 30% of course grade

Content Analysis and Discussion Paper

PART A CONTENT ANALYSIS:

Using the issues and methods discussed in class during Weeks 5, 6, 7, and 8, please produce a content analysis paper. This paper is to analyze 3 products, each one presented as a separate section of the paper:

1) A sit-com on TV;

2) A TV commercial or magazine advertisement;

3) A substantial TV coverage of a news event, or, a news documentary.

For each section, begin by

1) Stating the subject or theme or setting of the unit;

2) Analyze what you observe to be the 'ideological' position of the unit and the 'message(s)' being transmitted;

3) Using the content and tone analysis methods discussed in class and in your readings look for specific indications in the unit that support your conclusions (i.e. emotional tone, occurrence of key words or use of value-heavy concepts, use of camera and editing to influence reactions of the viewer, etc.). Pay attention also to how identity is being represented or manipulated or distorted.

PART B DISCUSSION: The Role of Media in the Future.

At the completion of your project please add a brief 2- page essay in which you speculate on the future of media and their role in an increasingly globally connected work, quoting from some of the readings and the material discussed in class during the semester and during the last 3-4 classes. DUE DATE: during the exam period.

CITATIONS RULES:

THESE ARE THE CITATIONS RULES THAT ALL SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO FOLLOW. THEY ARE ISSUED BY THE PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND ARE NOT SUBJECT TO ALTERATION. Practice and memorize them and avoid losing marks. You can also refer to the web site for a more detailed description and examples.

When citing in your text from a textbook or book:

Names or Names of Authors, Date: Page Number

(i.e. Adams & Sydie, 2002:15). There is a space after the authors and after the :

When citing again from same book. If no other citations comes between your first citation of the work and subsequent citation of same book, you only put the page number:

(i.e.) (70)

If another book is cited meanwhile, you go back to treating the subsequent citation of the first book as a new citation:

i.e. James and Baldwin have said "XXXXXXXXX" (2005: 24). Similarly to Adams and Sydie (2002:12). Yet Adams and Sydie have written, "XXXXXXXX (80). They have also written "XXXXXX" (45). In reading James and Baldwin one sees a difference (2005: 25).

Citing an article:

You use the name of the author of the article:

i.e. (Brooks, 2004: 14-16)

In your bibliography you state the article as well as the book or journal in which it appears:

Brooks, James 'The Essay of my Life,' in James Garner (ed.), The Ways of Our Lives. New York: Harper and Row Publishers.

Note the use of the word "in" to denote the book "in" which the article appears. The book should be italicized or underlined. The Article is in quotes. Note the rest of the punctuations.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES:

For a book:

Name of Author (2004) The Title of the Book. The City: The Publisher.

i.e.

Lukacs, John (2004) The Book of Bibliographies. New York: McGraw Hill.

City comes before publisher not after. Date appears in parenthesis before title.

When quoting more than one work from an author appearing in the same year you classify the books as 2002a, 2002b, 2002c……use the same system in your citations as well as your bibliography. Same applies to numerous citations of different pages on the same web site.

WEB CITATIONS:

In TEXT: Name of Author or Site and Year.

In BIBLIOGRAHY:

Author or Organization Article Name. Url Download date.

i.e. Jones, Arthur 'The Internet Guide' (http:xbxbxbxbxbxbxbxbx). Downloaded: Febraury 3, 2004.

Alternatively, you can use the word 'retrieved' instead of 'downloaded.'