No Current Events Reading for 11/26 – Instead, Carefully Read this Study Guide for the Social Network

Viewing Guide for The Social Network

 

This is a motion picture, not a documentary.  I can’t vouch for the factuality of everything in it, but the broad parameters accurate.

 

We are now studying the future of news and no film I’ve seen gives more insight into the reasons behind the growth of social media.

 

Some points to note when you watch the film:

 

• No matter how “new” and technological advanced “new” media are, they are typically designed to replicate the gratification of old-fashioned interactions. Facebook was a technological replication of the college social experience, allowing people invited into an inner circle to make connections among those they had invited or had invited them.  LinkedIn was developed after its founder was working on a project and was trying to find Americans who knew something about business practices in Japan.  When he stumbled on a list, and discovered that the people on the list were also helpful in recommending others who would be handy contacts, his idea essentially hatched itself.

 

• Viability of new media takes time. It took centuries for the printing press to realize its full potential as a source of income (aside from its use for printing money). Radio needed many years for advertisers, and customers, to connect over the airwaves.  Part of the delay involved settling legal and licensing issues involving use of recorded music over the radio.  Obviously, the pace has been accelerated exponentially in terms of digital communication, but even Facebook took a couple years to evolve into a profitable incarnation.  And note that AOL took six or seven years to achieve profitability and has endured nearly a decade of slow decline.

 

• There probably won’t be One Big Thing that saves Internet-based media. In recurring cycles we see hopes pinned on iPads, mobile apps, and the like.  While these are certainly viable options and may additively contribute to the resurgence of journalism, tectonic developments in media are hardly ever pegged to the One Big Thing, and in fact the Big Thing may have sat on the shelf for a generation before the times were right for its maturity.  Television was a technical reality in the 1920s, but social and economic circumstances (including the end of World War II) that led to its ascendancy took a while to percolate.  And as we’ve demonstrated in the previous chapter, even the inventors of game-changing media technology often did not realize the direction in which it would move.

 

 

Keep an eye out for how the economics of media were turned on their heads because of the digital environment, and what new models may emerge.

 

No Current Events Reading for 11/19/18 – Instead, Read this Study Guide for the Final

Journalism Principles and Practices, Fall 2018 – Final Exam Review Sheet – Distributed Nov. 15, 2018

 

The Final Exam Will Be Administered During the Last Class Period,

Wednesday, 12/12 at the Normal Class Time

 

As stated in the syllabus, the final exam will be held during the last class period, Dec. 12, during normal class time.  The exam should take no more than an hour to complete, although you will of course have the entire class period to finish it.

 

I will go over the answers to the exam during the final exam period:

 

Dec 19, 2018 10:15 am – 12:15 pm, Wednesday, Bozorth Hall 112

 

You will receive (or probably already have received) an email from the registrar informing you when the final exam period is. AGAIN, REMEMBER, WHEN YOU RECEIVE THAT EMAIL, IT IS NOT A CHANGE OF THE EXAM TIME.  I am not giving the exam Dec 19, 2018 10:15 am – 12:15 pm, Wednesday, Bozorth Hall 112; I am going over the answers.

 

AGAIN: THE EXAM WILL BE GIVEN DEC. 12 during the last day of class. I WILL REVIEW IT DURING THE FINAL EXAM PERIOD. Note that the final exam period has a different starting time than normal class.

 

I REPEAT:  THE EXAM WILL BE GIVEN THE LAST DAY OF CLASS, DEC. 12. I WILL REVIEW IT DURING THE FINAL EXAM PERIOD.  Note that the final exam period has a different starting time than normal class.

 

Note that I reserve two class periods before the exam to go over it and answer any questions.

 

I am required to offer a valid educational experience during the final exam period, and I can’t think of anything more valid or educational than going over the test.  In response to the most commonly asked question, I will not mark you as absent if you do not attend on Dec. 19.  However, if you wish to question the final exam grade or get explanations of what was marked off, you must attend the Dec. 19 session, which is an officially scheduled part of the class.  If you do not pick up the exam on the Dec. 19, it will be available from the Journalism Department secretary at the beginning of the fall semester.  Again, though, in the interest of fairness remember that I cannot go over the same exam 84 times:  If you want to know how you did, attend on Dec. 19.

 

While I obviously can’t be too specific about the contents of the final, here is some general guidance.   The exam will look very much like the midterm: six or seven short answers, some with multiple parts, and two essays. One essay will be short, the other a little longer.  There will be a question or two, maybe three, on current events.   The final will not be cumulative except for First Amendment/freedom of speech issues, broadcast regulation, 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 get to in the final weeks of the class:

 

• Current events – in particular, the European map and the stories about Russia and NATO.
• Libel and privacy law, as discussed in class and listed in the text and the text and the PowerPoints
• The effects on the news business of the events depicted in Good Night and Good Luck and the relationship to Boorston’s pseudo-event.
• Ethics…know the schools of thought and the major names associated with them, as discussed in class and in the text and in the PowerPoints, and be able to apply them to a hypothetical example.
• Media effects – to be covered Monday in the PowerPoints and in readings.
• Economics of new media. This will tie into the screening of The Social Network after Thanksgiving and will be discussed then but is also relevant to Good Night and Good Luck.
• 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.

 

Please Read these Articles Before Class Monday, Nov. 12, 2018

NATO and Turkey: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/us-turkey-relations-are-better-but-still-strained-quicktake/2018/11/09/0de14d9a-e41e-11e8-ba30-a7ded04d8fac_story.html?utm_term=.a53a6ae90893

Russia and Ukraine: http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/2018/11/09/us-announces-new-sanctions-over-russia-action-ukraine/

 

 

No Current-Events Reading for Monday, Nov. 5, 2018

Just go over the viewer’s guide for GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK…read below.

Good Night and Good Luck Study Guide

This is a movie, not a documentary, but while it may not be word-for-word accurate it does convey the essential fact with complete honesty and clarity.  I say that because I have asked several people involved with the original Murrow telecast and they vouch for the essential accuracy of the film. 
 
Enjoy the film, but please pay attention to these areas:

• The economics of the television industry.

 

• The relationship among networks and affiliates, and the delicate positions faced by sponsors – Alcoa, for example.

 

• The divided loyalties of many CBS administrators – to whom did they owe obligations?

 

• The difficult ethical judgments facing Murrow – particularly the fact that he editorialized and was troubled by it because he viewed himself as a straight-news person.  Note that the part in bold will be part of the answer to a question on the final exam.

 

• What relevance Murrow’s speech before the RTDNA might have today.

 

• The way McCarthy orchestrated pseudo-events.