JOURNALISM 375/COMMUNICATION 372 THE IMAGE OF THE JOURNALIST IN POPULAR CULTURE Journalism 375/Communication 372 Four Units – Tuesday-Thursday – 3:30 to 6 p.m. THH 301 – 47080R – Fall, 2000 JOUR 375/COMM 372 SYLLABUS – 2-2-2 © Joe Saltzman, 2000 JOURNALISM 375/COMMUNICATION 372 SYLLABUS THE IMAGE OF THE JOURNALIST IN POPULAR CULTURE Fall, 2000 – Tuesday-Thursday – 3:30 to 6 p.m. – THH 301 When did the men and women working for this nation’s media turn from good guys to bad guys in the eyes of the American public? When did the rascals of “The Front Page” turn into the scoundrels of “Absence of Malice”? Why did reporters stop being heroes played by Clark Gable, Bette Davis and Cary Grant and become bit actors playing rogues dogging at the heels of Bruce Willis and Goldie Hawn? It all happened in the dark as people watched movies and sat at home listening to radio and watching television. “The Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture” explores the continuing, evolving relationship between the American people and their media. It investigates the conflicting images of reporters in movies and television and demonstrates, decade by decade, their impact on the American public’s perception of newsgatherers in the 20th century. The class shows how it happened first on the big screen, then on the small screens in homes across the country. The class investigates the image of the cinematic newsgatherer from silent films to the 1990s, from Hildy Johnson of “The Front Page” and Charles Foster Kane of “Citizen Kane” to Jane Craig in “Broadcast News.” The reporter as the perfect movie hero. The newsroom as the perfect movie set. The news as instant movie scripts. The public’s perception of the role of the media has been created, in large part, by a barrage of images flowing from movie and television screens. For some, the reporter will conjure warm memories of a favorite actor phoning in a story that will save the world. For others, the reporter is part of a pack of harassing newsmen and women relentlessly hounding a favorite actor. But for most, the reporter will be perceived as a strange mixture eliciting adoration and hatred, affection and scorn. These images have built a love-hate relationship in the American consciousness that is at the center of its confusion about the media in American society today. Surveys continually show that most Americans desire, above all, a free and unfettered press, one that is always there to protect them from authority and to give them a free flow of diverse information. But these surveys also show that most Americans harbor a deep suspicion about the media, worrying about their perceived power, their meanness and negativism, their attacks on institutions and people, their intrusiveness and callousness, their arrogance and bias. The reason most Americans have contradictory feelings about their free press is all at once simple and complex: It happened in the movies. JOUR 375/COMM 372 SYLLABUS – 3-3-3 Joe Saltzman, Professor of Journalism Office: 213-740-3918 Home: 310-377-8883 E-Mail: [email protected] Office Hours: Monday 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. (By Appointment) Wednesday 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. (By Appointment) You will be graded on: Class Participation 100 points Take-Home Test 100 points Mid-Term Examination 350 points Take-Home Test 100 points Final Examination 350 points All take-home tests must be typed, double-spaced and turned in on time. No exceptions. The material covered in the examinations will be based on the lectures and video tapes. You are expected to pay attention to themes and concepts. In the syllabus are class notes and summaries to help you keep track of all the films involved. It also helps to keep a careful record of film titles, main characters and their positions, and key plot points. The class will begin promptly at 3:30 p.m. Since each section of the class will include at least two hours of video, it is important that we start on time if you want to get out on time. The introduction to each video and especially the concluding summaries in your class notes contain important information that will be included in the examinations. All the material in the syllabus is required reading. Additional suggested reading materials are available at the Annenberg Resource Center in the West Wing of the Annenberg Building (across from Heritage Hall). Video tapes used in the class also will be available in the Annenberg Resource Center. JOUR 375/COMM 372 SYLLABUS – 4-4-4 THE 28 CLASS VIDEOS The 28 class videos were especially edited for this class and represent more than 60 hours of video including multiple excerpts from nearly 650 film and television titles, More than 1,000 items were viewed and analyzed. The voice-over material on the 28 videotapes is read by television news anchor Terry Anzur, assistant professor of journalism. But any errors in fact or pronunciation, any opinions, innuendoes or conclusions are the responsibility of Joe Saltzman, professor of journalism, and writer-producer of the class videos. JOUR 375/COMM 372 SYLLABUS – 5-5-5 CLASS SCHEDULE CLASS ONE (August 29): Introduction – Pre-Film Background and the Image of the Journalist. Required Reading: Syllabus – Glossary, Classes One and Two Suggested Readings: Good, pp. 7-25. Film Excerpts include: “Five-Star Final,” “Deadline U.S.A.,” “A Dispatch From Reuters.” CLASS TWO (August 31): THE FRONT PAGE. Required Reading: Syllabus – Class Three Suggested Readings: Taylor, Chapter 4 (pp. 66-127). Robards, pp. 131-145. Film Excerpts include: “The Front Page” (1932, 1974 versions), “There Goes My Girl,” “His Girl Friday,” “Switching Channels.” CLASS THREE (September 5): THE BEGINNINGS – 1890 to 1930s. The Golden Age of the Newspaper Film. Part One – The Reporter as Hero: The Crime-Buster and the Crusader. The Reporter and Alcohol. Required Reading: Syllabus – Class Four Suggested Readings: Taylor, Chapter 3, pp. 33-65. Barris, Chapters 2 (pp. 22-54), 4 (pp. 78-95), and 7 (pp. 139-156). Pre-1930 Film Excerpts include: “Making a Living,” “The Lost World,” “Man, Woman and Sin,” “It,” “The Cameraman.” 1930 Film Excerpts include: The Crime-Buster: “Twelve Crowded Hours,” “I Cover the Waterfront,” “The Crime Ring,” “Dance, Fools, Dance,” “The Roadhouse Murder,” “The Picture Snatcher.” The Crusader: “The Secret Six,” “Special Agent,” “Blackwell’s Island,” “Each Dawn I Die,” “Bullets or Ballots,” “Grand Jury,” “Tell No Tales.” The Reporter and Alcohol: “Friends of Mr. Sweeney,” Montage of The Reporter and Alcohol, “The Sisters.” CLASS FOUR (September 7): The Golden Age of the Newspaper Film. Part Two – The 1930s – The Sob Sister. Required Reading: Syllabus – Class Five Film Excerpts include: “SOS Coast Guard,” “The Undersea Kingdom,” “Front Page Woman,” “We’re Only Human,” “The Adventures of Jane Arden,” “The Mystery of the Wax Museum,” “Smart Blonde,” “Fly Away Baby,” “Blondes at Work,” “Torchy Runs for Mayor,” “Torchy Blane: Playing With Dynamite,” “Nancy Drew Reporter,” “Conspiracy.” JOUR 375/COMM 372 SYLLABUS – 6-6-6 CLASS FIVE (September 12): The Golden Age of the Newspaper Film. Part Three – The 1930s – The Reporter as Villain: Power-Hungry Gossip Columnists. Required Reading: Syllabus – Class Six Suggested Readings: Barris, Chapter 3, pp. 55-77. Bergman, pp. 18-29. Film Excerpts include: “Doctor X,” “Behind the Headlines,” “Clear All Wires,” “Blessed Event,” “Love Is a Racket,” “Broadway Melody of 1936,” “Love Is a Headache,” “Star of Midnight,” “Is My Face Red?” CLASS SIX (September 14): The Golden Age of the Newspaper Film. Part Four – The 1930s – The Reporter as Villain: Scandalmongers. Required Reading: Syllabus – Class Seven Film Excerpts include: “Libeled Lady,” “Back in Circulation,” “Nothing Sacred,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “Women Men Marry,” “Murder Man,” “The Finger Points.” Charlie Chan Montage including “Charlie Chan on Broadway,” “Charlie Chan at the Olympics,” “Charlie Chan at the Opera,” “Charlie Chan at Treasure Island,” “Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum.” CLASS SEVEN (September 19): The Golden Age of the Newspaper Film. Part Five – The 1930s – The Battle of the Sexes. Required Reading: Syllabus – Class Eight Suggested Readings: Sikov, Chapter 7, pp. 156-173. Rosen, pp. 133-140. Film Excerpts include: “It Happened One Night,” “After Office Hours,” “The Mad Miss Manton,” “Golden Arrow,” “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” “The Gilded Lily,” “Four’s a Crowd.” “My Dear Miss Aldrich,” “Platinum Blonde,” “Gold Diggers of 1933,” “Gold Diggers of 1935,” “Betty Boop’s Rise to Fame.” CLASS EIGHT (September 21): The Golden Age of the Newspaper Film. Part Six – The 1930s – Advice-to-the-Lovelorn and other Columnists, Real and Imaginary. Foreign Correspondents. Newsreel Cameramen. Western Editors. Required Reading: Syllabus – Class Nine Film Excerpts include: Columnists: “Hollywood Hotel,” “Roberta,” “Off the Record,” “Hi Nellie!” “Love Is on the Air,” “Forbidden.” Foreign Correspondents: “Stanley and Livingstone,” “Viva Villa!,” “Next Time We Love,” “Paris Interlude.” “Strangers May Kiss,” “Espionage,” “Everything Happens at Night,” “Love on the Run.” Newsreel Cameramen: “Too Hot to Handle,” “Headline Shooters.” Western Editors: “Cimarron” (The 1930 Version). END OF THE 1930s. TAKE-HOME TEST DISTRIBUTED. JOUR 375/COMM 372 SYLLABUS – 7-7-7 CLASS NINE (September 26): The 1940s – Part I: The War Correspondent. Required Reading: Syllabus – Class Ten Film Excerpts include: “Foreign Correspondent,” “Blood on the Sun,” “Somewhere I’ll Find You,” “Arise My Love,” “Confirm or Deny,” “Guadalcanal Diary,” “Berlin Correspondent,” “Once Upon a Honeymoon,” “Action in Arabia,” “Journey for Margaret,” “Comrade X,” “Guest Wife,” “Affectionately Yours,” “Three Hearts for Julia,” “Sing Your Way Home,” “They Got Me Covered,” “Jack London.” TAKE-HOME TEST DUE: Beginnings to The 1930s CLASS TEN (September 28): The 1940s – Part Two: Cartoons and Media.