Critical
Analysis of Journalism
COMM 455 :: Spring 2007
Instructor: Dr. Jeffrey P. Jones
Phone: 683-6267
Class: T & TH 8:00-9:15 a.m., Constant 1042
Office Hours: M 11-12, T & TH 1:00-2:30, and by appointment
Course Description:
On
any given day, trillions of events happen.
What makes some events “news” that the public should be interested in,
and what makes others simply banal occurrences they should ignore? Who determines what is newsworthy? Do these events speak for themselves (the
mythological “raw facts”), or must they be interpreted in the process of
telling? How are these events “retold”
(i.e., words, images), and how do these different sign systems affect the
retelling and subsequent interpretation?
Who controls this discussion and for what purposes? Does the retelling favor the powerful or the
powerless? And how do such stories
construct our place in the world—our relation to other nations and
peoples? These are just some of the many
questions this class seeks to address in developing a critical understanding of
journalism and the news industry.
Students
will learn the types of questions that are important to ask in investigating
news, one of the most important social discourses in shaping our understanding
of “reality” in the world. We will
examine news as a profit-driven industry, as a profession (with certain practices,
standards and ethics), as a storytelling medium, as a watchdog on power, as a
tool for affecting public policy, and as a means of reality construction. We will also investigate both print and electronic
news at the local and national levels.
Evaluation:
First Exam 20%
Second
Exam 20%
Third Exam 20%
Critical Paper 20%
Attendance/Participation 20%
Class Policies
Attendance:
I take attendance for use in
your participation grade. Excused
absences include only the following:
·
Illness that
requires medical treatment (must provided written documentation from a doctor)
·
Death in
immediate family (must provide obituary)
·
Official
college sponsored activity (must provide note from college personnel)
Documentation of the absence
must be provided on the first class meeting after your return. In other words, I need some piece of paper to prove the
legitimacy of your absence. It is best
to contact me prior to the
absence.
E-mail account activation
As a participant in this
class, you are required to have an active ODU e-mail account. This is important for class communication, as
well as required for you to access Blackboard and to fill out the teaching
evaluations at the end of the semester.
Student Evaluations of Teaching
As
a participant in this class, you are required to fill out a student evaluation
of teaching performance on-line at the end of the semester.
Paper Submission and Late Papers:
Papers are due at the
beginning of class (as they are designed to help you formulate your ideas prior
to class discussion). Papers will be
deducted one letter grade per calendar
day (note: calendar day, not class
day). Papers over 5 calendar days late will
not be accepted under any circumstances.
I do not accept papers via E-mail.
You are responsible for printing your work yourself.
Blackboard
Some
readings are posted in .pdf files (readable with Adobe Acrobat) in Blackboard. If your computer does not have Adobe (most
do), it can be downloaded for free at http://www.adobe.com.
Student Progress
and Withdrawing from the Class
The
last day to drop this class is Tuesday, March 13. Grades for your first exam will be returned
prior to that date, so please make an informed decision about your continuance
in the class.
Students with
Disabilities
Reasonable accommodations
are provided for students with disabilities.
Students should present me with the appropriate documentation from the
Office of Disability Services and contact me as soon as possible to discuss the
appropriate accommodations.
The Office of Student
Judicial Affairs has published a guide on College Classroom Conduct. In short, you should refrain from: arriving late, conversing during a lecture,
answering a cell phone (or allowing it to ring by not turning it off), packing
to leave before class is finished, eating in class, sleeping or studying
unrelated materials in class, surfing the net, instant messaging, or text
messaging on your cell phone.
Grades:
The following grade scale
applies to all written work:
A
= 95, A- = 92, A-/B+ = 90, B+ = 88, etc.
If you would like to
discuss how to improve your grades, please come see me during office hours
(I don’t discuss graded work in the hallway or after class). I also require a 24-hour pause or moratorium
between the time you receive a grade and when I am willing to discuss it with
you.
Remember to include or
address the following items. Failure to
address these will result in grade deductions.
It is highly recommended
that you ask someone to edit your
writing prior to submission. Every
article, book, news story, etc., that you see in print is the product of
several sets of eyes. Students should
develop the habit of having someone mark their papers for grammatical errors or
awkward syntax and phrasing. Learn to
give and take criticism productively.
Plagiarism is one example
of violating copyright law. Furthermore,
there are no acceptable instances in written language of using someone else’s
words without quotation marks. If you
plagiarize, you will receive a hearing through the judicial affairs division of
the Office of Student Services. More
likely than not, you will be suspended or expelled in addition to receiving the
grade of F. It is my belief that at least
half of student plagiarism cases occur because students do not know what it is
or how to avoid it. Please see the
handout, and take it upon yourself to learn the proper means of citing someone
else’s words and ideas.
The books are available for purchase in the ODU
bookstore as well as through on-line retailers.
Schedule: (subject to change)
T 1/9:
Class Introduction
TH 1/11: Defining
Journalism
Blackboard
T 1/16 & TH 1/18: The Role of the Press in a Democracy
News as Industrial Commodity
T 1/23: The Economics of Ownership Today
Blackboard
TH 1/25: Chains and Clusters
Blackboard
Listen in class: Fresh Air interview with Gene Roberts and Tom
Kunkle
T 1/30 & TH 2/1: The Political Economy of News
T 2/6: Critical Political Economy
Blackboard
TH 2/8:
Exam #1
News Content
T 2/13 & TH 2/15: Four Information Biases
The Production of News and
Reality
T 2/20 & TH 2/22: Political Actors
T 2/27 & TH 3/1: Reportorial Routines
T 3/6 & TH 3/8: ***Spring Break***
T 3/13 & TH 3/15: Objectivity and Professional
Practices
T 3/20: Exam
#2
TH 3/22: Case Study: The Bush Administration and Information
Management
T 3/27: Case Study, pt. 2
TH 3/29: Cast Study, pt. 3
***Critical Paper Due***
Examining Television News
T 4/3: Cable
News
Blackboard
TH 4/5: Cable News
In-class Viewing: Outfoxed
No
T 4/10: Local Television News
Blackboard
The Future of News
TH 4/12: Reform
Through Public Journalism?
Blackboard
T 4/17: Blogging, YouTube and New Media
Blackboard
TH 4/19 & T 4/24: Reform, Capitalism, and
Democracy
TH 4/26: Exam#3, 8:30 a.m. in Constant 1042