Your blog is no longer required for class and you can do what you want with it. It is up to you to manage/delete it from here on. In addition, if you are subscribed to my blog, you will likely need to unsubscribe from it (just click the link at the bottom of the email that it sends to you).
Best of luck.
Response 10: Video Log
Due: 12/2
You will be responsible for creating a 5 minute Video Essay presentation of the material from your discoveries for Response 8. Like the essay, this should have a thesis, support for that thesis in the form of text and images, and a clear beginning, middle, and end.
The Video Essay should (a) illustrate the main argument you are making about gender or race in the medium you are exploring; (b) point to and comment on two to three important examples of how gender/sexual behavior or ethnicity/race is portrayed in your chosen media; and (c) the consequences of this portrayal by relating this to Media Effects.
You must use IMovie, FinalCutPro, Windows MovieMaker or WeVideo or the equivalent to create the Video Essay. I will post tutorials on D2L and my blog for iMovie. Your video essay should include:
1) Images that represent your topic
2) Your script–Read by one of the group members or incorporated as text into the video
3) A soundtrack, but one that doesn’t distract from the essay
4) A title slide; a credits section to reference your images and music; transitions between images, animation features applied to images—like zoom in—when appropriate.
I will provide further resources and I come across them.
Please bring a rough draft of your script (ie the text you will read and/or incorporate into your video) on Monday, 11/18.
(50 points each: Due to the scope of this project, I am adding points to this)
Response 9: Co-Authored Blog Report: “Gender, Sex, Race, Ethnicity and the Media?”
Co-authored report posted to BOTH of your blogs due: 11/13 (If you would rather include a link from one blog to the other, that will suffice as well, just as long as I can find the report you worked on when I click on your blog.)
As a collaborative effort, we will end this class with an investigation. You have moved from consumers of media, to analysts of it, and by the end of this you will create your own media in the form of a video essay. First, we are going to write a report that you will later develop into a script for that essay.
Each collaborative team will be pursuing a response to the same question: “How is sexual behavior/gender/race/ethnicity portrayed in a specific type of media?” You and your partner will select a single medium to explore, either one of those media covered in the textbook (e.g., recorded lyrics, children’s films, magazine ads) or other media not directly addressed in our readings (e.g., poster art, comic books, video games).
For example, in the past teams have investigated how men’s sexuality is portrayed in magazine ads for hygiene products. Others have looked at how female characters hold up to the Bechdel test in Sci-Fi movies.
To get started, I suggest you first read the “Media Effects” ppt in D2L. Then, do some research in the Auraria Library. Go to Academic Search Premier in the Database List, and use keywords like Gender and _(your medium)____ to find scholarly research on this topic.
In addition, the two of you should consume a number of messages within your given medium and meet to work through your analysis of them.
In a jointly authored report (600-1000 words), you should d (a) illustrate the main argument you are making about gender or race in the medium you are exploring; (b) point to and comment on two-to-three important examples of how sexual behavior or race is portrayed in your chosen media; and (c) the consequences of this portrayal (think Cultivation Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and Social Identity Theory. Note: We will discuss these, but you need to look them up, too).
For examples, look at the “Old Blogs” blogroll.
Due 11/6
Central Question: If the media is the fourth estate, meant to check and balance the powers of government and industry, is it okay for journalists to present their own biases? Do they have to remain “objective” at all times?
Investigate:
Read these stories. Be sure to read some of the comments, too.
A) http://boingboing.net/2011/10/28/how-occupy-wall-street-cost-me-my-job.html
B) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130712737
And this http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/10/25/one-year-since-npr-fired-me-what-are-lesson-learned/
C) Then go HERE: http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp and read the Journalist’s Code of Ethics.
Ponder:
Often, one’s position as a journalist has forced him/her to be candid about advertising his/her beliefs; what do you think about this?
What ethics come into play in these particular situations?
Some argue that the problem is that people think that they can be both straight news journalists and essay/opinion/bloggers. What happens when that line is crossed? Is that line important?
In 600 words, answer this question: Should Williams and Curran and other journalists who spout their opinions face termination for doing so? Put yourself in this journalist’s shoes, and also the shoes of her editor. What would you do? How does a journalist cover a story ethically and professionally that he/she may feel strongly about? What ethical considerations must journalists make in situations like this?
Note: Due to the changes in our schedule because of my jury duty, our schedule is now off. This blog will be due next week, in the place of blog 7.
Main question: Is social media making us lonely?
In 600 words explain how New Media has (or is) changing our culture. Use your experience and offer examples from the readings and our viewing of Digital Nation to support your analysis.
First, I want you to do some reading.
Read this : “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” also from The Atlantic
Then, I want you to try to abstain from Facebook, Twitter and other (non-educational) social media for ONE day. Consider how this changed your perspective on the world? If you don’t use social media, consider abstaining from email or Internet news or some other Internet-based media.
Consider the following questions:
Why do so many people post directly or indirectly negative things on Internet and web-based social networking sites, either about themselves or about others, when the reality is that everything put up in cyberspace lives on forever?
If we all now have parallel digital identities that can be “created” not only by us but also by others, what can we do to manage our cyber identities (or reputations) and protect our privacy?
Are we now all compelled to maintain a cyber presence to advance our careers or businesses whether or not we wish to? In other words, is all this social networking and blogging becoming an unavoidable aspect of life in the 21st century?
Due: 10/22. Posted before class.
I have been summoned for jury duty on Monday morning. Therefore, I can’t come to class to administer the midterm.
Fear not. I am making the midterm a take-home exam. The test is in two parts: a multiple choice quiz and a series of four essay questions.
At 9:30 on Monday morning, the multiple chioce portion of the test will open. It will close at 11 am. In that timeframe, please locate a computer at your house or in the computer lab in Tech. 104 and take this portion of the exam.
The essay portion is not due until midnight on Tuesday. I have posted it in Content>Midterm/Final. You need to type your answers to all four of these questions and then upload it to the D2L Dropbox folder–Midterm Essay Questions. Again, the deadline is Tuesday at midnight. You can start on it now.
Since I cannot pick up your Professional Standards Assessment sheet, please drop them in my mailbox in Cherry Creek room 307. Please fold them in half or staple them shut to protect your privacy.
We will still meet during the time you slgned up for on Weds. If you did not sign up or if you forgot, please send me an email. Note: Check D2L Course News for further updates (like if I get picked for a jury and have to figure out what to do next!).
Here’s to civic duty, eh.
Due Wednesday
Your task: Answer this question–Has Hollywood Killed Movies? I want you to write a commentary on this topic. As journalists, however, we can’t get by on just our opinions or feelings, we have do some research.
First, read this article by David Denby titled “Has Hollywood Murdered the Movies”
Second, Define “Independent Film.” Go here and here for help. Then watch one. Go here to find some titles: http://www.filmsite.org/independentfilms.html
Has Hollywood killed with movies?
Lastly, answer this question. Write 600 words in response to the question above. Include 2-3 references to Denby’s article and 2-3 references/analysis of your indie-blockbuster comparison experience to support your claim.
Directions and Requirements:
The Assignment
Investigate a small, independent recording company (of which there are tens of thousands throughout the United States and the world). Pick one from the list below, or get your own approved by me—It can’t be one of the big five labels.
Find:
In your investigation, try to decipher the following:
1. The Music: What kind of music does this label specialize in? Is the label limited to only one genre? What are some of the groups that the label produces? Where and how does the label identify its musical artists? How does the label describe itself? How does the label distribute its recordings to consumers?
2. The Business : Look at the variety of groups that the label produces. What kind of consumer is the label trying to target? How does this label promote its artists and get a recording to the consumer? What obstacles does the label face in popularizing its artists? Is the label fiercely independent, or is its goal to sell to a major label? Is the label struggling, or is it financially viable?
3. The industry: From what you’ve gathered so far from your research, what major problems do independent recording labels face? Do you see independent labels overcoming these problems? How? What role does convergence with the web play in the music business?
4. The Medium as a Whole: What is the value of small independent recording companies to the entire recording industry? What would be different about the recording industry as a whole if small independent labels didn’t exist?
Engagement.
Once you have familiarized yourself with the label and its artists, THEN request that a local radio station play your quality, independent artist so that other people can hear them. Call/email one of the stations that broadcasts in our city, and ask if they will play a song for you.
Write:
THIS SHOULD BE A PROFILE OF THE LABEL that discusses your findings in the steps above. It will require internet research, so get started early. For samples of profiles, check here and here. Ultimately, as you profile this label, you should also comment on the state of the music industry.
In your conclusion, discuss if you were successful in getting your song on the airwaves. Did anyone play your music? Were you stymied? From this experience, what do you think about the state of music today?
“Indie” Labels (feel free to propose one of your own.):
Pew Research center
http://www.people-press.org/2013/08/08/amid-criticism-support-for-medias-watchdog-role-stands-out/
This American Life
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/468/switcheroo?act=2
Good Riddance to the Mainstream Media, I2
http://intelligencesquaredus.org/iq2-tv/item/682-good-riddance-to-mainstream-media
Response: Read a paper for a week. Media critic Jon Katz says: “There’s almost no media experience sweeter . . . than poring over a good newspaper. In the quiet morning, with a cup of coffee—so long as you haven’t turned on the TV, listened to the radio, or checked in online—it’s as comfortable and personal as information gets.” How do you feel about the newspaper reading experience? How do you feel about the experience of reading a newspaper online?
Jeffreybecker's Journalism 105 Blog 