Readings for Journalism Principles and Practices

Wrapping Up

This all worked out much better than I had ever anticipated.

All the finals came in, and I did a quick scan and on the whole they look excellent. (A few night-owl versions came in right before deadline, but in is in.)

As you can imagine, it’s going to take a while to get through all these. Expect the graded versions to be available online early next week. Final grades will be posted a couple days after that.

Congratulations on being flexible and adaptable. The work that came out of this class was, collectively, better than in any semester since I developed this class 15 years ago. Sometimes, difficult circumstances help people rise to the occasion.

Regards,

Carl Hausman

April 20, 2020

Announcement for Journalism Principles and Practices Week of April 20-24, 2020 Week 4 of the Revised Schedule

Announcement for Journalism Principles and Practices Week of April 20-24, 2020

Week 4 of the Revised Schedule

We are beginning our descent. Landing is in two weeks. (More on that to come.)

I will have the papers finished before the final. About half are completed; I’m grading them more or less in the order in which they were handed in. Sometimes a paper takes upwards of a half an hour for me to grade so you can understand why they will take some time to get them back.

Do not be traumatized if, when you see them on Blackboard, you observe them festooned with extensive comments. Often the comments are acknowledgement of good approaches, or suggestions for follow-up reading that could be interesting.

As to the papers, so far, so good. Really good. I’ve seen some of the best papers in the history of this class. In general, the people who I know started right from the get-go had the best handle on it, particularly a few who had drafts completed before the midterm.

I hate to parrot clichés, but as my mother used to tell me, “by the inch, it’s a cinch; by the yard it’s hard.” A 1,600-word paper on which you had 80 days to work means you could have completed it by writing 22 words a day, fewer than the number of words contained in this sentence.

Incidentally, be sure to keep in touch if you are hitting some unavoidable roadblock. At this stage of the game, do not disappear! Now is the time when things can be worked out. Later things become more complex.

So, in that spirit, let me discuss the final. Please put in on your radar right now.

The final is scheduled to be available May 5 and 6. The officially scheduled final date (scheduled by the university) is May 5. The way I am going to handle the final is to make it available during a 48-hour window. You will find the link to open the test on the Blackboard page. (It is not there now.)

You can take it at any time during the two day window. But you MUST be prepared to finish it all in one sitting. I can’t stress that enough. Set aside 90 minutes where you can work on it without interruption. It will look somewhat like the midterm but there will be more emphasis on short essays. As there is no practical way to restrict access to the internet during an online exam, it will be more or less open book…but remember that most questions will come from the lectures so it is crucial that you view the lectures and take careful notes. The exam will be timed and you won’t be able to view the lectures for the first time and find what you need. You cannot collaborate or trade answers. That’s cheating, and I can usually detect if it’s been done.

While I obviously can’t been too specific about the test, here is a review sheet that gives you some general guidance.

Review Sheet for Final

The exam will look like the midterm except that there will be more emphasis on short essays. The key is to be able to integrate the information you have learned. There will be a question on current events assigned since the midterm.

The final will not be cumulative except for First Amendment/freedom of speech issues, broadcast regulation (the radio and communication acts), and perhaps some reiteration of Boorstin’s pseudo-event, and of course anything specifically mentioned on this review sheet. Be sure you review the freedom of speech material and are conversant with trends in allowing free speech and press.

Here are some areas to review. Some we have not covered yet but will be in the remaining online lectures.

Libel and privacy law, as discussed in the lecture on law and regulation you viewed last week and listed in the text and the text and the PowerPoints. (Remember, all PowerPoints are available on the class website, https://jppcurrentevents.wordpress.com/copies-of-books-and-materials-for-download/ )Pay particular attention to Times v. Sullivan and the contrasts between libel and privacy law. Again, be sure to view and take notes on the lecture. Note that with this and all links, if you have trouble clicking through copy and paste the link into a browser window.
What happened in the coverage of the McCarthy era, as reflected in the assigned reading the video you viewed. Pay particular attention to how the acts of McCarthy sometimes conformed with Boorstin’s definition of a pseudo-event. Also be prepared to discuss how the events related to the social climate of the times.
Ethics…know the schools of thought and the major names associated with them, as discussed in class and in the lecture and the relevant PowerPoints and readings. Be able to apply them to a hypothetical example.
Media effects – be prepared to answer a question based on the “How Powerful are Media?” lecture and the documentary you viewed last week. You must be prepared to discuss the studies in some detail.
Economics of new media. This will tie into the lectures for this week and the TED talk assigned for this week. I think you’ll find it fascinating.
Be very familiar with these sections of the Principles and Practices text; while the test may not be limited to these chapters, they will be helpful: Chapter 1, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, and Chapter 15.

I may make some minor changes to this review sheet but the exam will adhere to the general outline regardless.

ACTIVITY FOR THIS WEEK

As listed in the revised schedule when we switched to online, which I have pasted into this message at the end) here is what to do for this week:

Current Events

There is NO current-events reading for this week. There will be no current-events reading for the rest of the semester.

Be sure to revue what was posted since the midterm:

https://jppcurrentevents.wordpress.com/

Again, note that if you click on the link above and it doesn’t work, copy and paste it into your browser. Sometimes the Rowan email system, for security reasons, gets fussy about having embedded links in the text of the message.

Specific Tasks for this Week

Keep following the revised schedule I sent you in three previous emails. For your convenience, I have pasted it in at the end of this message.

Here is this week’s work:

For Week April 20 -24

View Lecture on The Internet and Converging Media: https://rowan.mediaspace.kaltura.com/channel/JRN%2002205%20-%20Journalism%20Principles%20and%20Practices/155864441

Go to Lecture 8-1

Note: We will not be viewing The Social Network. Instead, view this documentary on how data are used to construct news and entertainment programming: TED Talk: How to Use Data to Make a Hit TV Show: https://www.ted.com/talks/sebastian_wernicke_how_to_use_data_to_make_a_hit_tv_show/up-next

ANOTHER REFERENCE COPY OF THE REVISED SCHEDULE

For Week March 30 – April 3

View Lecture on Television: https://rowan.mediaspace.kaltura.com/channel/JRN%2002205%20-%20Journalism%20Principles%20and%20Practices/155864441

Go to Lecture 5-2

View Documentary on Edward R. Murrow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Rqp0dCz4c

For Week April 6 – April 10

View Lecture on Law and Regulation: https://rowan.mediaspace.kaltura.com/channel/JRN%2002205%20-%20Journalism%20Principles%20and%20Practices/155864441

Go to Lecture 7-1

Read this chapter from the main text: Chapter 12

View Lecture on Ethics and Privacy: https://rowan.mediaspace.kaltura.com/channel/JRN%2002205%20-%20Journalism%20Principles%20and%20Practices/155864441

Go to Lecture 7-2

Read this chapter from the main text: Chapter 13

For Week April 13 – April 17

***RESEARCH PAPER DUE APRIL 15

View documentary on “War of the Worlds”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptfsRfiOiWo

View Lecture on “How Powerful are Media” – Research: https://rowan.mediaspace.kaltura.com/channel/JRN%2002205%20-%20Journalism%20Principles%20and%20Practices/155864441

Go to Lecture 6-3

Read this chapter from the main text: Chapter 14

For Week April 20 -24

View Lecture on The Internet and Converging Media: https://rowan.mediaspace.kaltura.com/channel/JRN%2002205%20-%20Journalism%20Principles%20and%20Practices/155864441

Go to Lecture 8-1

For Week April 27 – April 30

View Lecture on the New Economics of News: https://rowan.mediaspace.kaltura.com/channel/JRN%2002205%20-%20Journalism%20Principles%20and%20Practices/155864441

Go to Lecture 8-2

Finals Week: The final exam will be available during a two-day window on a Canvas link that will be provided to you at a later date. Aside from the difference in technical format, it will look a lot like the midterm. It will be based mostly on the video lectures, including libel and privacy law, studies into media effects, and journalism ethics. There will be one or two current-events questions.

April 13, 2020

Please Read These Stories by Monday, April 13, 2020

Interview with the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-dr-anthony-fauci-discusses-coronavirus-on-face-the-nation-april-5-2020/

Nieman Lab report on journalism’s credibility problems:

https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/03/the-news-media-sounded-the-alarm-on-coronavirus-for-months-but-few-listened-why/

Oil war:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8212663/Kremlin-says-leaders-Russia-U-S-Saudi-Arabia-support-OPEC-oil-deal.html

April 4, 2020

Please Read These Stories by Monday, April 6, 2020

Rowan and Coronavirus masks: https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/news/20200404/rowan-university-releases-blueprint-for-3d-printed-ppe-mask-for-covid-19-protection

USA Today story on origin of the virus: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/03/16/coronavirus-fact-check-where-did-covid-19-start-experts-say-china/5053783002/

March 4, 2020

Midterm Review – No Current Events Reading

Midterm Review: Distributed March 2, 2020

As stated in the syllabus, the midterm will be held in class on March 11, 2020.

It will consist of several short answers and two essays. You’ll write the answers in a blue book.

Several of the short answers will be drawn from the current-events readings; this may include readings from before the quiz and readings assigned for March 2.

There will certainly be a questions on the assigned Asia reading and the map that I reviewed on Monday, March 2.

One of the essays will definitely cover one of the films. The test is cumulative from the start of the semester though it’s safe to assume that most (bot not all!) material will come from work assigned and discussed after the quiz.

In any event, be sure have done the assigned reading since Day One of the semester.

While I obviously can’t be too specific about the contents of the midterm, here are some other general areas to review:

The role of pseudo-events in news; remember Boorstin’s four-part definition this time. There may or may not be a related questions.
Cycles of media history, and in particular the eras of newspaper history. (All this is laid out in the assigned reading as well as the PowerPoints for our lecture last week; the PowerPoints are on the website.)
Economics of media industries and how specialization relates to profit. (Pay particular attention to EPS and CPM. EPS was reviewed on Wednesday, Feb. 26; CPM will be covered this Wednesday and aside from the conclusion of the film will be the last new material given before the midterm.
First Amendment and free-speech protections. Remember the Brandenburg Test and the trend of regulation of speech since WWI. Check your notes from Monday the 24^th, the reading, and the PowerPoints.
The way the “medium becomes the message” – a good example being the telegraph, as discussed in Chapter 1 and in the lecture on newspapers. See same sources as above.
The methods and techniques of reporting, as well as the ethical issues, from “All the President’s Men,” which we started viewing last week. Pay attention to names during the film; you’ll need to know the major players. Check the Newpaper PowerPoint for the viewing guide to the movie.

Below is a study guide to the quiz.

Journalism Principles and Practices Study Guide

Quiz Feb. 19, 2020

Distributed Feb. 14, 2020

The Quiz will be held during normal class time on Feb. 19.

It will have short answer questions and a brief essay. You’ll write it in a blue book I provide.

You’ll have all class period to finish it, though it should take no longer than an hour, tops.

While I obviously can’t be too specific about what’s on it, here are the main areas:

All current events reading up to Monday’s class. Just the main points, as stressed in discussion. Be sure you know that map and the main points presented during the lecture when we reviewed the map. Be sure you review all the stories from current-events reading.
Anything from lecture that is on the PowerPoints up until the Monday class. They are all on the website, keyed to the lecture title.
Anything from the lectures on critical thinking. I will likely give an example or two and ask you to point out why it is illogical or misleading. They will come directly from HOW TO THINK. No tricks. Just be sure you read the book.
There will be an essay question focusing on TOO BIG TO FAIL, plus, possibly, a short-answer question. In addition to the basic facts of the matter, be prepared to relate Boorstin’s pseudo-event, point-by-point, to an event of your choosing in the film.