ZUR373 History of and Trends in U.S. Media Culture

Fakulta sociálních studií
podzim 2009
Rozsah
2/0. 4 kr. Ukončení: z.
Vyučující
Susan Opt, Ph.D. (přednášející), doc. Mgr. Lenka Waschková Císařová, Ph.D. (zástupce)
Garance
prof. PhDr. Jiří Pavelka, CSc.
Katedra mediálních studií a žurnalistiky – Fakulta sociálních studií
Kontaktní osoba: Ing. Bc. Pavlína Brabcová
Rozvrh
Čt 10:00–11:40 Studio 527
Předpoklady
SOUHLAS
Omezení zápisu do předmětu
Předmět je určen pouze studentům mateřských oborů.

Předmět si smí zapsat nejvýše 20 stud.
Momentální stav registrace a zápisu: zapsáno: 0/20, pouze zareg.: 0/20
Mateřské obory/plány
předmět má 24 mateřských oborů, zobrazit
Cíle předmětu
This course provides an historical overview of cultural trends that have shaped the development of U.S. mass media and mass media trends that have shaped U.S. culture. The course goal is to develop students’ understanding of the media and culture of the United States, increase their ability to analyze and critique the mass media, and enhance their role as informed consumers and shapers of the mass media. Course is limited to 20 students.
Osnova
  • 24 Sept.: Introduction to Course and Expectations, Introduction to Assignments (Preface)
  • 1 Oct.: Media and Government: Freedom of the Press (Introduction, Chapter 1)
  • 8 Oct.: Press Limitations (Chapters 2 and 3)
  • 15 Oct.: First Amendment Challenges and Debates (Response Paper 1 due)
  • 22 Oct.: Media and Commerce: The Rise of the Media as a Business Institution (Chapters 4 and 5)
  • 29 Oct.: Media as an Entertainment Industry (Chapter 6)
  • 5 Nov.: Media as Business Challenges and Debates (Response Paper 2 due)
  • 12 Nov.: Media and Community: Social Responsibility (Chapter 7)
  • 19 Nov.: Alternative Media and Cultural Identity (Chapters 8 and 9)
  • 26 Nov.: Social Responsibility Challenges and Debates (Response Paper 3 due)
  • 3 Dec.: Media Literacy (Chapter 10)
  • 10 Dec.: Team Presentations
  • 17 Dec.: Team Presentations
Literatura
  • Media/history/society : a cultural history of U.S. media. Edited by Janet M. Cramer. 1st pub. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, xv, 280. ISBN 9781405161206. info
Výukové metody
theoretical preparation practical assignments
Metody hodnocení
Students complete readings related to the history of U.S. media culture.
Students write three short 2 to 3 page (double-spaced) response papers that relate to concepts being discussed in class.
Students work in a group to present an in-depth presentation and a written outline about a social media.
Students complete in-class exercises that demonstrate mass media communication concepts.

Response papers: 20 points each
Social Media group project: 100 points
In-class exercises: 10 points each
Vyučovací jazyk
Angličtina
Informace učitele
Attendance/Late Work Policy

Attendance will be taken at each class period, and out-of-class assignments collected at the beginning of class.
The following attendance/late work policy will be enforced:
Students are required to attend lectures and actively participate in discussions of course subjects. Missing more than 3 lectures will result in failure of the course and no credit. Missing on a presentation day will result in no credit for that assignment.
Tardiness is unprofessional. Arriving more than 5 minutes late or leaving class early will count as a tardy. Three tardies count as one absence.
Course assignments will not be accepted more than one day late and will lose points.

Response papers
Write a two 2 to 3 page typewritten (double-spaced) paper in response to these questions. Support your responses with specific examples. You will be asked to share your responses in class. Each paper is worth 20 points.

Response paper 1
Pick a day and keep track of your media use from the time you get up in the morning until the time you go to bed. Record the following information in a chart:
what mass media, social media, and personal media you used (include books, magazines, newspapers, television, radio, films, telephone, Internet, advertising such as billboards posters)
how long you used each medium.
why you used it.
what information you learned from the media that you otherwise would not have known (include information that you did not intend to learn).
1. Do you think this was a typical day? Or did your habits change because you were recording them?
2. Assuming this was a typical day, calculate the number of hours you use media for one week and for one year. How do your numbers compared to figures for U.S. media use?
3. How does your media use influence the way you use your time each day?

Response paper 2
Many U.S. Americans claim that too much news stresses the negative side of their lives: violence, murder, racial unrest, disasters and so forth. Examine the web site of one of these U.S. newspapers:
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/index.html
http://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/
http://www.denverpost.com/news
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/
http://www.boston.com/news/?p1=GN_News
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/
Look specifically at the local and state news. Then do the following content analysis. Design a chart to record your results for questions 1 and 2.
1. Count the number of articles appearing in the local, state, and national news sections of the newspaper.
2. Classify each report/article as positive, negative, or neutral. Make sure you define in your assignment what you mean by positive, negative, and neutral stories or reports. In other words, what characteristics make a particular report positive, negative, or neutral? What percentage of the news have you classified as positive, negative, or neutral?
3. Overall, how does the world portrayed in the news section of this newspaper look, given your analysis?
4. How do you feel about this portrayal? Would you change the makeup of the newspaper? Why or why not? Does the portrayal reflect the world you know?
5. In what ways does the newspaper’s web site merge entertainment with news? What kinds of media convergence does it demonstrate?

Response Paper 3
Interview someone who remembers life before television (probably someone who was born before 1945, such as a grandparent) or life before the Internet (probably a parent) but now currently uses the medium. Ask this person the following questions:
1. How did you get news before television/internet?
2. What did you do for entertainment before television/internet?
3. What do you remember about your first encounter with television/internet?
4. How has your life changed since television/internet?
5. How do you think society has changed since television/internet?
Feel free to ask the person additional questions about television/internet or other mass media and their effects that they have experienced during their lifetime.

Team Project and Presentation
For this assignment, you will team up with other classmates to research issues related to new social media, such as blogging, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Second Life, YouTube, Wikipedia, and so forth. Your presentation will answer these kinds of questions:
1.What is the background/history of my medium?
2.What have been the major concerns or issues in the United States related to my topic? (First Amendment/Business/Social Responsibility) 3.What are the various points of view?
4.What is currently happening with my medium?
5.What may be happening with my medium in the future? (predictions?)
Some web sites to get ideas for research include:
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/Speech/internet/Index.aspx (Internet issues)
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/Press/topic.aspx?topic=blogging (Blogging issues)
Each team will prepare a PowerPoint presentation to educate the class about this social medium. It will also hand in a written outline of its presentation and a bibliography of research sources used for the presentation.
Další komentáře
Předmět je určen 10 studentům mediálních studií a žurnalistiky z FSS a 10 studentům anglického jazyka z FF. Pro zápis do kurzu musí každý zájemce požádat o souhlas. Bude udělen vždy prvním deseti zaregistrovaným z každé fakulty.
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