Anthropology/Sociology 344—Selling the News (Fall 2014)
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Anthropology/Sociology 344—Selling the news (Fall 2014) Instructor: Bill Grigsby Date(s): Friday, Oct 10 (7:00 – 10:00 pm), Saturday, Oct 11 (9:00 am – 5:00 pm) Location: EOU Portland Metro Center, 7732 SE Harmony Rd, Portland – Room 143 Contact: 204B Ackerman; (541) 962-3591; [email protected] COURSE DESCRIPTION: Examines the commercial and alternative news media, how political bias is expressed and news is filtered, the pervasiveness of propaganda and deceptive techniques employed within and outside the news media, and what alternative, non-commercial sources are available and accessible. The object of this course is to provide students with a framework for understanding commercial news media and its effect on political processes and public opinion. This course fulfills Social Science and Culture (SSC) for gen-ed. The gen-ed curriculum assumes that ‘every educated person should have some acquaintance with certain traditional areas of human knowledge and experience and be able to synthesize and contextualize this knowledge within their own lives.’ This course is an introduction to mass news media. Because so much of what people understand about problems and important issues in our society comes from the news they watch/read/listen to, news ‘media literacy’ is a critical skill for engaged, public citizens. COURSE OBJECTIVES 1. To raise awareness of bias in commercial news media, and how to identify it. 2. To develop/sharpen students’ 'media literacy.' 3. To expose students to some of basic concepts of propaganda and its use in news media. 4. To better understand how news media bias affects politics and democracy. LEARNING OUTCOMES Upon completing course students will demonstrate capacity to: 1. analyze media bias arguments and identify ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ viewpoints; 2. identify deceptive techniques of persuasion used in news stories; 3. explain how commercial news ‘filters’ operate to censor some stories. MEANS OF ASSESSMENT: A written assignment asking students to choose and analyze three different news outlets that represent different points on the political spectrum (50%); small group assignments in class designed to have students engaged in analyzing visual news media (25%); a short summary of readings assigned before class, addressing media bias and propaganda (25%). REQUIREMENTS You must attend the course. You cannot miss the class and make up assignments. No exceptions. The course is taught every term. You’ll have to drop or attend during another term. No exceptions. You’ll need to gain access to the following texts: ▫ Project Censored. 2013. Censored 2014: Fearless Speech in Fateful Times. Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth (eds). NY: Seven Stories Press. ▫ Linda Elder and Richard Paul. 2006. How to detect media bias and propaganda. Foundation for Critical Thinking. Purchase online at www.criticalthinkingforbusiness.org/MediaBias2006- DC.pdf. The book costs 5-$6 and can be ordered online at http://www.criticalthinking.org/store/products/how-to-detect-media-bias-amp- propaganda/167 (the bookstore usually orders copies). Anth/Soc 344 Fall 2014 / 1 CLASS FORMAT The class will be a combination of lecture, small group discussion, video, and presentation. I do encourage you to take notes in class. They will be quite useful as you sit down to complete your post-weekend assignment. GRADING PROCEDURES, ASSIGNMENTS assignment description due points Participation Class attendance, participation in class discussions 50 Summary of Write a 4-5 page analysis of the Censored readings, readings summarizing and analyzing what you got out of them. Oct 22 50 Use the ‘Media bias’ handbook and other resources to identify Spin journal Nov 24 100 techniques of deception and manipulation in news stories totals 200 Grading scale I will grade on a straight percentage: 90-100% 180-200 A Minuses will be given for the bottom third (0-3) of each range; 80-89% 160-179 B pluses for the top third (7-9). I will also use pluses and minuses positively if I feel that one's grade did not reflect his/her effort; I 70-79% 140-159 C will not use them to reduce a grade. 60-69% 120-139 D Unless I’ve made a mathematical error, all grades are final. If you Below 60% < 120 F need the class to graduate, read the syllabus and do the work. Assignment descriptions Analysis of readings from Project Censored I’ll ask you to write a 5-6 page summary and analysis of the readings I’ve assigned you from the Project Censored Book. I do not want a repetition of the stories censored in the book. Here’s what I expect: 1. Pick the three censored stories do you consider most important, summarize them and justify your choices. Use one of the original sources for the stories—not just the write-up in the Censored book (at the end of each story are the sources and links/citations to the original stories). You should read the summaries for all 25 top stories—but only need to write on three. 2. Why do you think these stories have been censored (there are articles in the book that will help you work through this question)? Be specific on this one—what kinds of factors might lead news outlets to not carry a story (is it the quality of the story, the powers that might be affected by it, a lack of interest among readership/viewers, etc.). I’ll look to make sure you’re using some of the other assigned chapters in the book to help you with this analysis. You can be critical of the stories and how they were put together—but make sure you distinguish between the student-authored summaries of the stories, and the actual stories as written by the journalists—go to the original stories linked at the end of the write-ups. 3. What do you think of the book? I would like to see a pretty well thought-out analysis. I’d also like to know where you might agree/disagree with authors, and why. There are two issues here—one is specific stories in the book that you read, the other is the totality of stories that rarely appear in mainstream, commercial news outlets. Make sure you touch on each of these. To do this assignment, you’ll need to read the following chapters from Censored 2014: A) The top 25 censored stories (introduction & chapter 1, pp 25-135; B) Also read additional chapters: Anth/Soc 344 Fall 2014 / 2 ‘Junk food news and news abuse’ (chapter 3) ‘Media democracy in action’ (chapter 4) ‘Censorship backfires’ (chapter 5) Use chapters 3-5 to inform the paper—in non-gratuitous ways. To do well: Make sure you summarize/analyze three stories—each will be worth about a third of the points, so if you only do two, you’ll be missing 1/3 of the possible points. Also, you need to work in the other chapters you’ve read into the write-up. Be critical—that means spend some time analyzing the story, maybe even doing some background research elsewhere if you have questions. Regardless of your views on the stories, I want to see that you understand what this book is trying to do. How did the author(s) use sources? Think about why most of these stories rarely if ever get covered in mainstream news. Are they untrue? Are they unimportant? Would they offend powerful groups? If so, which and how? You will have been exposed to the news ‘filtering pressures’ from class. Consider applying them. A concluding paragraph about the value of this assignment. What did you get out of it? Whatever that turns out to be, I’d like to see some deeper reflection here. If you learned something, flesh it out. If you didn’t, do some informed speculation as to why not. Criteria Description Pts possible Following Choosing three stories, incorporating other chapters 10 guidelines Demonstrate you’ve read not just the write-up, but the original 10 Description of source material stories Discuss the story’s importance, critique the reporting, speculate 20 Analysis as to why it was underreported (informed by class material) Writing Make sure your paper is proofread, your ideas well-organized 10 and presented Total 50 Worth 50 points, due before midnight Oct 22. You can submit your assignment to the Blackboard link. No .wps file extensions please! (.rtf or .doc or .docx works). Spin journal You will analyze two news stories, choosing 3 different news articles covering each story in the news. You'll be looking for evidence of bias, filtering, etc.—differences in coverage explainable in terms of biased reporting. The bias could be political, could be commercial, and the use of techniques designed to deceive, either by the news media outlet or by newsmakers. The book ‘How to detect media bias & propaganda’ will be indispensible—you’ll want to read through it carefully, probably more than once, to help you identify and describe the techniques of manipulation covered by the authors. This assignment will be easier for you if you pick stories where there are some pretty clear differences of political opinion, and the stakes are high. Spin involves the manipulation of language, used to defend one’s views, attack others’, move public opinion, etc. It is but one of many techniques used to persuade. For instance, was the war in Iraq about freedom and democracy? Or empire and oil? Why were their (alleged) weapons called ‘weapons of mass destruction’ while the US weapons had names like ‘daisy cutters’ and ‘bunker busters?’ Do the enemies of the U.S. really hate our freedoms? Or do they have quarrels with U.S. foreign policy? Did the US military ‘torture’ prisoners, or engage in ‘enhanced interrogation?’ Is a Anth/Soc 344 Fall 2014 / 3 person who supports a woman’s reproductive rights pro-choice, pro-abortion, or anti-life? Are those who oppose abortion pro-life, anti-abortion or anti-choice? Is the republican party really the party of ‘family values?’ Are the democrats really the ‘tax and spend’ party? Is Obama really a socialist? Is withholding evidence of state-sponsored spying on US journalists really about national security, or avoiding bad press? There are many tricks of the trade, and part of what I’ll be looking for is to see if you can identify them when they are used by people in the news, and those who report the news.