News Links

Links to discuss:

• Morning Joe
• Fox and Friends
• New Day
• Al Jazeera 

Six categories:
Inform
Investigate
Analyze
Social Empathy
Public Forum
Mobilize

Fox and Friends, etc

Fox and Friends, Impeachment

Fox and Friends Latte Salute

Fox and Friends, ISIS Word Games

Morning Joe, Rich Getting Richer

Morning Joe, Gun Background Checks

Fox and Friends, Gun Registration

Ferguson Videos

Take a look at some of these videos covering various aspects of the protests in Ferguson after the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, by a police officer. As you will remember, the shooting set off a massive wave of protests responding to a much longer history of racial profiling (and other related issues) in the St. Louis suburb.

For your response post, you should pick any two of these videos (as long as they are from different channels) and compare how they frame their stories. Do the videos display any sort of bias? How do they contextualize the behaviors of the protestors or the police? Are the stories objective or neutral or do they present only one side? Should they be more balanced? Do they inform, investigate, mobilize or fulfill any of Schudson's other criteria? Who is interviewed? Who isn't? Please note that most (or many) of these stories may have been shot live, which might make it more difficult to fulfill the investigative function of journalism.

MSNBC, Rachel Maddow Show, August 20, "Mixed Reaction to Media Presence in Ferguson."

MSNBC, Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd, "Reporters Arrested Overnight in Ferguson."

MSNBC, The Lawrence O'Donnell Show, "Live Footage of Tear Gas Containers."

CNN, "Ferguson and Race Relations in America."

CNN, "Fiery Debate over CNN's Ferguson Coverage."

CNN, "General: Police Should Adjust Tactics."

Al Jazeera, "Protestors Demand Arrest."

Al Jazeera, "Dozens Arrested Amidst Protests."

FoxNews: "State Trooper Slams 'Criminals' in Ferguson."

CBS News: "Protestors Arrested Planning Highway Shutdown."

News Links

Larry Gatlin on Fox News

Chuck Todd on Starbucks vs. Chick-fil-A

Frank Luntz Focus Group

Karl Rove Meltdown

False Balance on climate change

Revised News Links

Week Five:

September 16: Reading: SMH 177-210, “Constructing Arguments.”

Reading: SMH 270-87: “Integrating Sources” and “Avoiding Plagiarism.”

Paper I (Representations) Due.

September 18: Michael Schudson, “News and Democratic Society,” OL.

Response due.

Week Six:

September 23: Daniel Hallin, “Whatever Happened to the News?”

Robin Andersen, “Hypercommercialism,” OL.

Response due.

September 25: Reading: SMH 222-48, “Conducting Research.”

Week Seven:

September 30: Ferguson unit: Read selected articles on Ferguson, MO, news coverage.

Paul Hitlin and Nancy Vogt, "Cable News and Twitter," Pew, OL.

Jamilah King, "Protestors Gather at CNN Headquarters," OL.

October 2: Reading: SMH 249-69: “Evaluating Sources and Taking Notes.”

Week Eight:

October 7: Jeffrey Jones, “Fox & Friends, News Talk,” OL. Reading will be posted to Blackboard.

October 9: Paper II (News) draft due. Meet in computer lab.

Week Nine:

October 14: Reading: SMH 288-99, “Writing a Research Project.”

Paper II (News) Due.

Video links

SNL Democratic Debate 2:

Obamacare Cold Open:

Michelle Obama at the White House:

TV Lecture Links

Sources:

Purdue OWL 
Television without Pity
Metacritic
FSU

test

Audience and Election Ads

Five election ads that illustrate issues of audience:

• Barack Obama "The Same."
• Mitt Romney, "100 Days in NC."
• Mitt Romney, "100 Days in Iowa."
• Mitt Romney, "A Better Day." 
• Barack Obama, "Facts."

Take note of how each ad addresses a specific audience and seeks to offer some form of "evidence" about why an Obama or Romney administration will be better for the country. How do the ads appeal to the values, emotions, and beliefs of a specific audience? What specific characteristics would you identify with that audience? How effectively do these ads address all three major components of argument (ethos, pathos, logos) defined by Aristotle?

Google Glasses

Videos and articles:

• Kashmir Hill article
• Google's Project Glass
• Parody: A New Way to Hurt Yourself
• Parody: Admented Reality
  

Class Discussion: TV Censorship

Videos on TV indecency rulings and TV ownership models:

• FCC's Indecency Rules: Outdated?
• What Role Should the FCC Play?
• Who Owns TV Programming?

DTRT Scene List

Here are some of the passage to consider for Intro to Film:

• Do the Right Thing Part 1: 4:24 Introducing Senor Love Daddy, Da Mayor, and (7:02) Mookie
  
• Part 2: 0:00: A conversation at the pizzeria.
• Part 3: 0:00 "Boycott Sal's;" (2:58, "Do the Right Thing")
  
• Part 4: Jordans get scuffed and Eyeline match with cops and continue with conversation at wall, more heat, later in the movie
  
• Part 5: Martin Lawrence schools Da Mayor; racist rants
  
• Part 6: Mookie and Radio chat and then Radio gets some pizza and then Pino wants to sell (continues in Part 7)
• Part 10: riot begins
  
• Part 10 also: Radio Raheem is Dead!
  
• Part 11: It's "our" Home and shallow focus and Mookie as dad and Mookie goes to see Sal
• Part 12: Show me the money!

Howard Beach history

Sample Logical Fallacies

Here are some videos that depict logical fallacies. See if you can pick them out:

• Ned Lamont Campaign Advertisement
• Daily Show Immigrant Disease
• Kobe Selling Sprite
• Daily Show Fright Club
• Alan Jackson Crazy about a Ford
• Hilary Clinton 3 AM
• Saturday Night Live Old Glory
  
• Ronald Reagan The Bear
  
• Xtranormal Magic Shirt
• Xtranomral Old People Can't Exercise because they are Old
• Xtranormal All Philosophy Classes are Hard
  
• Lyndon Johnson Daisy
• LBJ Ice Cream
• George H. W. Bush Dukakis on Crime
  

Head injuries in the NFL

Here is an article discussing the high rates of dementia and depression among former NFL players, in this case focusing on the work of Gay Culverhouse, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers executive who is now active in raising awareness about the problem. As we read, consider how the article defines the problem. Does it offer sufficient evidence to show that head injuries among former football players is a major concern? What solutions might we consider?

Originality, Plagiarism, etc.

In the spirit of Meghan O'Rourke's "The Copycat Syndrome," let's take a look at some of the following videos to consider whether they constitute a violation of copyright:

• Scary Mary Poppins (note the video creator's claims of originality in the sidebar)
• Brokeback to the Future
• Star Wars fan video (note that this version may not change the original's meaning as significantly)
• Grey Album mix (does this alter the original songs?)
• Five Second Movies (All Rocky movies in 5 Seconds and All Batman movies)
  

Wilson Video

Here is the controversial video.

Paraphrase Activity

We will be working with the following two op-ed columns today for our paraphrasing activity:

• Maureen Dowd, "Blue is the New Black."
• Thomas Friedman, "Real Men Tax Gas."
  

Looking Inside Wikipedia

For your upcoming Wikipedia project you will be expected to write a short paper on the history of a Wikipedia entry. This will require you to look at the page's history and discussion pages (in particular the latter). To give you an idea of how public figures and major issues are contested, we will look at a few examples in class:

• Barack Obama, front page and discussion.
• Health care, front page and discussion.
• Compare to Health care reform, front page and discussion (also note how often page is updated).

As we consider these entries, we should also keep in mind the "five pillars" that guide the editorial policy of Wikipedia.

See also the example mentioned by Dave Parry, comparing the entry on global warming to the article on the controversies about it.

NOTE: For today's in-class writing assignment, you should have brought a copy of one of the articles by Parry, Cummings, or Cohen with you to class. If you did not, please borrow (and return) a copy from me. In your writing, you should address the following concerns, preferably in paragraph form and using supporting details from the text.

1. First, decide whether the article is making an argument or presenting an objective perspective on Wikipedia. If it's making an argument, identify as precisely as you can the argument you think it's making. Do you agree or disagree? Why? If the article is objective, what is the controversy that is being presented? Which side--banning Wikipedia or teaching it--do you find more convincing?
2. What evidence from the article is most (or least) convincing? Paraphrase or describe the key examples and explain why you think they are effective (or ineffective)?
   
3. What are your preconceptions about Wikipedia? What have past teachers said about it? Do these arguments match what you've heard? Do you think Wikipedia should be used in academic research? Why or why not?
   
4. Several of the authors talk about issues like "information literacy." What do you think is meant by this term? Why might students need to develop it?
   

Other images

Here are a few images that help illustrate questions about color, typeface, and space:

• Obama "Hope" Poster
• Ron Paul campaign images
  
• Past campaign images
• A discussion of the use of "Gotham" typeface for Obama's posters
• McCain campaign poster: "Peace is born of Wisdom."

Consider how these images might appeal to specific groups of voters. Does the McCain image seem to have you in mind as a target audience? Why or why not? Why do you think the Obama campaign images were so widely praised?

More Advocacy Ads and Images

Here are a few more advocacy ads and images:

• PETA Sex Talk (wait for the punchline)
• Veggie Love
• Repower America Clean Energy (Repower channel)
• Brain on drugs
• Anti-weed commercial
  

We will also look at a few of the ads in the textbook. As you watch these images consider a few of the key issues, especially audience, logic, emotion, and speaker credibility. Will the messages in the advertisement reach and/or persuade the intended audience?

As we watch these ads and others, consider what issues you might like to address in your paper and then go out and track down a PSA or advocacy ad that addresses those issues.