MLA Format - Works Cited; History of Journalism Project: Day 3; The Future of Journalism

This morning please gather to read the article: "The Future of Journalism Suite" & "10 Reasons There's a Bright Future for Journalism" (handout). 

In the comment section below this post, please answer: "What do you think? What other reasons do you think journalism has/or does not have a bright future ahead?" Explain your thinking/position in your comment. (Due today by end of class!)

MLA Format/Works Cited Page:
See handout. 

ANY REFERENCE TO SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE/LANGUAGE THAT IS NOT COMMON KNOWLEDGE MUST BE CITED OR GIVEN CREDIT.

How do I set up a works cited page for:
MLA Format:

• Books/texts
• Video/films
• Internet sources
• Paintings/Photos
• Interviews
• Magazines
• T.V. Programs/Radio
• Musical Sources/Album

When you use someone else's words in an article (for example when interviewing people for an article or news story) you need to attribute your sources. Where did you get your information? This is a critical component of any news article!

LAB:
History of Journalism: Prezi/Powerpoint Project

• Ask the 5 W's: Who,  What, Where, When, Why, (and How)! 
• Key ideas:
• What is it? 
• Where did it happen?
• When did it happen?
• Who was involved?
• How did the person or thing affect our culture/world/journalism, etc.?
• Why is this topic important?

1. You should begin the project with research. Take notes as is appropriate on your topic. See handout, if needed. 
2. Make sure to copy your site or internet address/URL's into your notes. You need to be able to cite the sources you use using MLA format. 
3. As we work on this project, coordinate your notes. Decide how it is to be presented in a Prezi or Powerpoint.
5. Create an outline to make sure you know what you have to cover and what you are covering in the presentation. For help creating an outline, check here.

History of Journalism Project Directions (read carefully):
1. At the end of this project you will need to turn in an outline, a Powerpoint or Prezi presentation (URL or file), a works cited page, and a short reflection.
2. Presentation slides should consist solely of pictures and/or short, short media clips. Keep text to only titles. The details should be delivered by you, the speaker! 
3. You will need to present your Powerpoint or Prezi to the rest of the class. The outline, works cited page, and reflection go to me (and are due when you give your presentation to the class). When presenting your presentation you may use notecards for your topic, but you should know the information you will cover or explain to the rest of the class. 

Please complete your Powerpoint/Prezi projects today in the lab. We will deliver our first presentations next class. You will have a few minutes to fix and/or perfect your work next lab class.

HOMEWORK: None. If you did not finish your Powerpoint/Prezi presentation, please catch up. 

History of Journalism Project: Day 2

History of Journalism: Prezi/Powerpoint Project

• Ask the 5 W's: Who,  What, Where, When, Why, (and How)! 
• Key ideas:
• What is it? 
• Where did it happen?
• When did it happen?
• Who was involved?
• How did the person or thing affect our culture/world/journalism, etc.?
• Why is this topic important?

1. You should begin the project with research. Take notes as is appropriate on your topic. See handout, if needed. 
2. Make sure to copy your site or internet address/URL's into your notes. You need to be able to cite the sources you use using MLA format. 
3. As we work on this project, coordinate your notes. Decide how it is to be presented in a Prezi or Powerpoint.
5. Create an outline to make sure you know what you have to cover and what you are covering in the presentation. For help creating an outline, check here.

History of Journalism Project Directions (read carefully):
1. At the end of this project you will need to turn in an outline, a Powerpoint or Prezi presentation (URL or file), a works cited page, and a short reflection.
2. Presentation slides should consist solely of pictures and/or short, short media clips. Keep text to only titles. The details should be delivered by you, the speaker! 
3. You will need to present your Powerpoint or Prezi to the rest of the class. The outline, works cited page, and reflection go to me (and are due when you give your presentation to the class). When presenting your presentation you may use notecards for your topic, but you should know the information you will cover or explain to the rest of the class. 

HOMEWORK: None.

Miss Representation Review; Investigative Reporting; History of Journalism Project: Day 1

Complete your article review for the documentary: Miss Representation. This is due by the end of class today.

See previous post for details about how to set up and write your review article. 

When you complete your draft, please move on to the following tasks:

• Read Nellie Bly's 10 Days in a Madhouse. We will discuss this work next class.

Investigative journalism involves researching and reporting a story that someone is trying to hide from the public. Writers often investigate and report information to create change in the world. Investigative reporters are behind many of the changes that we see today in our society due to their reporting the "truth".

• Choose a topic for your investigative research journalism article/prezi/powerpoint project

Please begin work on the History of News Journalism project.

Sign up on the subject sheet for a topic involving the history of News Journalism.

• Johannes Gutenberg & the technology of the printing press
• John Peter Zenger & the New York Weekly Journal
• Benjamin Franklin & the Saturday Evening Post
• Penny Presses (Benjamin Day & The Sun; James Gordon Bennett's New York Herald)
• Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hurst & Yellow Journalism
• Nellie Bly & Investigative Reporting
• The Yellow Kid and the rise and role of Comic Strips
• The invention of Radio & Radio News Broadcasting
• Orson Welles & the "War of the Worlds" Broadcast
• History of the Newsreel 
• The Invention of Television & News Broadcasting
• Tom Wolfe & New Journalism
• Hunter S. Thompson & Gonzo Journalism
• Woodward & Bernstein & the Watergate Scandal
• Helen Thomas, Judith Miller, Maureen Dowd: 3 Women print journalists
• Walter Cronkite & CBS
• Jim Lehrer & PBS
• Barbara Walters & Katie Couric
• Wolf Blitzer & Anderson Cooper

1. You should begin the project with research. Take notes as is appropriate on your topic. 
2. Make sure to copy your site or internet address/URL's into your notes. You need to be able to cite the sources you use using MLA format. 
3. As we work on this project, coordinate your notes. Decide how it is to be presented in a Prezi or Powerpoint.
5. Create an outline to make sure you know what you have to cover and what you are covering in the presentation. For help creating an outline, check here.

History of Journalism Project Directions (read carefully):
1. At the end of this project you will need to turn in an outline, a Powerpoint or Prezi presentation (URL or file), a works cited page, and a short reflection.
2. Presentation slides should consist solely of pictures and/or short, short media clips. Keep text to only titles. The details should be delivered by you, the speaker! 
3. You will need to present your Powerpoint or Prezi to the rest of the class. The outline, works cited page, and reflection go to me (and are due when you give your presentation to the class). When presenting your presentation you may use notecards for your topic, but you should know the information you will cover or explain to the rest of the class. 

HOMEWORK: A. Please read the handout "10 Days in a Madhouse". Complete this book by next class.

Miss Representation: Conclusion; Writing a Review

Today we will complete our viewing of the documentary: Miss Representation.

After our class discussion, given time remaining, we will go next door to complete a review article for the film.

In a written review, you want to include the following information:

• What did you watch? Find out details about the film here. Research the details about the film and use this data in your introduction.
• Summarize the film. This should be your 2nd paragraph. Clearly and concisely summarize the key points the film or filmmakers make.
• Critique the film. Your third paragraph should explain what you thought of the film: as art, or as an important (or unimportant) social lesson, as entertainment, or any related issue. Make sure you give reasons for your critique. Draw on facts, statistics, personal experience, etc.
• Conclusion. Write a conclusion for your readers that answers: so what? Why is this film important to see or not important to see?

Your review should be about 300-500 words in length. This is a standard column length for journalism or school newspaper articles. Set up your paper in 2 columns. Give your article a headline or title.

HOMEWORK: Complete Nellie Bly's 10 Days in a Madhouse.

The Last Presidential Debate

HOMEWORK: Please watch the last debate tonight at 9:00 if you can.

Look for these logical fallacies:

• Slippery Slope: the conclusion that if X happens, then Y will eventually also happen. 
• Hasty Generalization: A conclusion based on insufficient data.
• Genetic fallacy: The origins of a person (or who they are) determines their effectiveness/qualifications.
• Circular Argument: Restating an argument without actually proving it.
• Ad Hominem: an attack on the character of a person rather than his/her beliefs or statements/actions/etc.
• Straw Man: Oversimplifying an opponent's viewpoint.
• Moral equivalence: Comparing minor misdeeds with huge atrocities. 

CNN
and FOX for James

Vocabulary; Representation: Miss Representation

Key Vocabulary:

Rhetoric: Rhetorical tools used in a text. See links for a list of commonly used rhetorical tools for writers!

Context: 1. Communication that precedes or follows a specific word, text, passage, speech, etc. that influences its meaning or effect. 2. a set of circumstances or facts that surrounds a particular event, situation, etc.

Deductive v. Inductive Reasoning: Elementary, my dear Watson!

Representation in the Media

The term verisimilitude is the appearance of being real or truthful. Since concepts like "truth" and "reality" are largely subjective, the narratives, images, and stories we tell can either support the status quo (maintaining power structures). [by the way, verisimilitude is created in our writing by copious (lots) of detail and description.]

How we depict or represent characters in novels, television programs, comics, and films, for instance, or how images are used by the media to sell products or persuade us can marginalize or reinforce stereotypes of certain hegemonic groups. This all gets tricky because representation is a political act as much as it is an attempt to create meaning. For the masses, that often means shoveling a perspective in front of you (the audience) and showing you a simplified concept of a complex idea.

Writers often do not mean to be cruel or ignorant, but want to get across their point as easily as possible. Busy writers tend to cut corners by relying too much on archetype, templates, stereotypes, cliche, or simplistic representation (particularly with minor characters). It's easier to depict your antagonists as a commonly hated group that is easily recognizable than it is representing the truth. A man in a black hat represents a bad man in Westerns; a Nazi represents evil in war films, etc.

Why is this important? By showing a representation of reality, the media creates meaning for us. We are basically told what to think (often status quo), based on what the media (or particularly a small group of elite corporate executives) wants us to think.

The Hegemonic Model: the ruling classes rule us through influence and persuasion rather than force. This is done by creating a consensus about an idea, social group/event, or product. This is a Marxist theory. The media makes things they want to "sell us" seem "natural"--which supports the status quo and the current structures of power. Essentially, we are in consensus about who is to rule or lead, and who is to follow. 

The Pluralistic Model: Consensus is created from the views and values of the masses, which allows the media to cater to or "sell" diverse viewpoints or products to the masses through consumer "choice". In this model, the media's job is to please, entertain, or satisfy the presumed needs of the masses. It is the masses job to select media that supports or addresses their need or desire.

Let's examine representation in the media. There are 4 documentaries that we are going to examine during this course dealing with this idea. For each one in the coming classes, we will view, discuss, and write about our findings. Before we do that, however, a little academic vocab. Please take notes.

• Marginalization: the process of treating a person, idea, product, or concept as inferior, insignificant, or peripheral (out of direct sight).
• Hegemony: an identifiable or dominant social/cultural group.
• Stereotyping: representation used to categorize a group of people (usually in a negative light).
• Stereotype: an easily recognizable "character" who is seen not as an individual, but symbolizing a group or type.
• Verisimilitude: Semblance or appearance of truth or reality, usually as details or description in a text.
• Representation: how a text produces verisimilitude or "truth" of reality.
• Audience: the targeted group of a text.
• Consensus: agreement about a concept/idea or way of doing something.
• Status Quo: the existing state of affairs; the current situation. 

To Consider/Discuss: As you watch the films in the next week, please keep track of these questions: 

1. How does the Media represent these groups to its audience?
2. What is the cost or effect to these groups by the Media's use of marginalizing and stereotyping? (What's at stake?)
3. How do these arguments support or challenge the status quo?

Our first selection is Miss Representation (2011) by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. As you watch the film, take Cornell Notes. Look for key/main ideas the writer/director/producer wants to communicate with you as an audience member or target.

Chew on This Discourse; Representation in the Media: Key Vocabulary

Chew on This

Let's continue our discourse today.

Major question: how does communication shape the world we live in?

• How do we use communication?
• What is the message being sent?
• What form does the communication take?
• Who benefits from the delivery of the message?

Questions:

• Why are some kids in school unpopular? How does this "outsider" position shape or change that person into being an "outsider"?
• How are white people and black people depicted as different? What exactly is "whiteness" or "blackness"? How does this answer affect our society, culture, experiences, etc.?
• How are boys and girls depicted as different? Same question as above.
• How are adults and children depicted as different?
• How are liberal and conservatives depicted as different?
• How are rich/poor depicted as different?
• Identify the power structures involved in these categories. What does the power structure have to gain or lose?

Now, let's bring our attention to the book: Chew on This.

• How does this book use communication? Who is the ideal audience for this book? How do you know? Why was this audience chosen by the publisher?
• What is the message(s) being sent? What are important points or main ideas the book covers?
• What form does the communication take? Why?
• Who benefits?

Key Vocabulary:

Rhetoric: Rhetorical tools used in a text. See links for a list of commonly used rhetorical tools for writers!

Context: 1. Communication that precedes or follows a specific word, text, passage, speech, etc. that influences its meaning or effect. 2. a set of circumstances or facts that surrounds a particular event, situation, etc.

Deductive v. Inductive Reasoning: Elementary, my dear Watson!

Representation in the Media

The term verisimilitude is the appearance of being real or truthful. Since concepts like "truth" and "reality" are largely subjective, the narratives, images, and stories we tell can either support the status quo (maintaining power structures). [by the way, verisimilitude is created in our writing by copious (lots) of detail and description.]

How we depict or represent characters in novels, television programs, comics, and films, for instance, or how images are used by the media to sell products or persuade us can marginalize or reinforce stereotypes of certain hegemonic groups. This all gets tricky because representation is a political act as much as it is an attempt to create meaning. For the masses, that often means shoveling a perspective in front of you (the audience) and showing you a simplified concept of a complex idea.

Writers often do not mean to be cruel or ignorant, but want to get across their point as easily as possible. Busy writers tend to cut corners by relying too much on archetype, templates, stereotypes, cliche, or simplistic representation (particularly with minor characters). It's easier to depict your antagonists as a commonly hated group that is easily recognizable than it is representing the truth. A man in a black hat represents a bad man in Westerns; a Nazi represents evil in war films, etc.

Why is this important? By showing a representation of reality, the media creates meaning for us. We are basically told what to think (often status quo), based on what the media (or particularly a small group of elite corporate executives) wants us to think.

The Hegemonic Model: the ruling classes rule us through influence and persuasion rather than force. This is done by creating a consensus about an idea, social group/event, or product. This is a Marxist theory. The media makes things they want to "sell us" seem "natural"--which supports the status quo and the current structures of power. Essentially, we are in consensus about who is to rule or lead, and who is to follow. 

The Pluralistic Model: Consensus is created from the views and values of the masses, which allows the media to cater to or "sell" diverse viewpoints or products to the masses through consumer "choice". In this model, the media's job is to please, entertain, or satisfy the presumed needs of the masses. It is the masses job to select media that supports or addresses their need or desire.

Let's examine representation in the media. There are 4 documentaries that we are going to examine during this course dealing with this idea. For each one in the coming classes, we will view, discuss, and write about our findings. Before we do that, however, a little academic vocab. Please take notes.

• Marginalization: the process of treating a person, idea, product, or concept as inferior, insignificant, or peripheral (out of direct sight).
• Hegemony: an identifiable or dominant social/cultural group.
• Stereotyping: representation used to categorize a group of people (usually in a negative light).
• Stereotype: an easily recognizable "character" who is seen not as an individual, but symbolizing a group or type.
• Verisimilitude: Semblance or appearance of truth or reality, usually as details or description in a text.
• Representation: how a text produces verisimilitude or "truth" of reality.
• Audience: the targeted group of a text.
• Consensus: agreement about a concept/idea or way of doing something.
• Status Quo: the existing state of affairs; the current situation. 

To Consider/Discuss: As you watch the films in the next week, please keep track of these questions: 

1. How does the Media represent these groups to its audience?
2. What is the cost or effect to these groups by the Media's use of marginalizing and stereotyping? (What's at stake?)
3. How do these arguments support or challenge the status quo?

Our first selection is Miss Representation (2011) by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. As you watch the film, take Cornell Notes. Look for key/main ideas the writer/director/producer wants to communicate with you as an audience member or target.

Discourse: Introduction to Representation

To help gain context for our discourse on Chew on This, please research the following items in the next 20 minutes of our 7th period class:

1. Find out how obesity affects American culture
2. What films, books, or news items occurred around 2000-2005 (just before this book was published) that dealt with obesity and/or the fast food industry? For example,

• Obesity suit (NY TIMES, 2002)

• Obesity Crisis in America (Surgeon General report, 2003)

Find at least 3 other internet/media sources (that includes newspapers, films, books, etc.) that dealt with issues found in Chew on This BEFORE this book was published (i.e., 2006)

We will use your research in our discourse today.

Also, consider this question: why did this book become a national bestseller?

In the classroom (238):

Discourse: a discussion using all forms of human communication & mass media.

Major question: how does communication shape the world we live in?

• How do we use communication?
• What is the message being sent?
• What form does the communication take?
• Who benefits from the delivery of the message?

We reinforce or challenge communication by making statements based on our beliefs, experiences, observations, and organize our thoughts in categories, concepts, theories and relations. These reinforcements or challenges often set up and reflect a status quo--a common ground from which to base our beliefs, experiences, observations, etc.

What we believe, our experiences, and observations are largely cultural. They help shape our values, politics, or the values of a society in a particular time and place, as well as create and influence the conventions, norms, and habits of the people we generally involve or converse with (family members, neighbors, friends, but also the media--since we are always connected to some media source!)

Questions:

• how influential do you feel your family, friends, or environment has been on who you are and what you believe?
• how influential do you feel the media has been on who you are and what you believe?

Let's get a little real here:

• Why are some kids in school unpopular? How does this "outsider" position shape or change that person into being an "outsider"?
• How are white people and black people depicted as different? What exactly is "whiteness" or "blackness"? How does this answer affect our society, culture, experiences, etc.?
• How are boys and girls depicted as different? Same question as above.
• How are adults and children depicted as different?
• How are liberal and conservatives depicted as different?
• How are rich/poor depicted as different?
• Identify the power structures involved in these categories. What does the power structure have to gain or lose?

Now, let's bring our attention to the book: Chew on This.

• How does this book use communication? Who is the ideal audience for this book? How do you know? Why was this audience chosen by the publisher?
• What is the message(s) being sent? What are important points or main ideas the book covers?
• What form does the communication take? Why?
• Who benefits?

Key Vocabulary:

Rhetoric: Rhetorical tools used in a text. See links for a list of commonly used rhetorical tools for writers!

Context: 1. Communication that precedes or follows a specific word, text, passage, speech, etc. that influences its meaning or effect. 2. a set of circumstances or facts that surrounds a particular event, situation, etc.

Deductive v. Inductive Reasoning: Elementary, my dear Watson!

HOMEWORK: Nellie Bly's 10 Days in a Madhouse. Please read and take observation notes/annotate the text (for example, you can use Cornell Notes to help organize your thoughts/observations/ analysis). Aim to finish your reading by Thursday, Oct. 13!

Introduction to Discourse; Reaction to a Day Without Media

This afternoon, please write a short 200-400 word article on your experiences this weekend as you tried to unplug. Consider and reflect on how you felt, what you did, how you avoided (or did not avoid) media sources, and what you learned about your media consumption behavior. Your article will be an editorial. That is, an opinion piece (usually written by the senior editor at a magazine or newspaper or blogger/web writer) about a topic that corresponds to the attitude or belief of the organization (newspaper, magazine, media source, etc). Editorials are one way in which the media attempts to create a dialogue--a dialogue, we may argue that can be one sided--as the media source can decide to include or exclude "letters to the editor" (written by public viewers or the reading audience).

Then:

Please read the handout and article online: A Day Without Media. (See handout as well). After reading and working with this article, please add 100 words to your original editorial and explain (probably in an introduction) what you were asked to do by your teacher, and what the authors of these articles were attempting to do. You may use these sources in your own editorial. Your final draft of your editorial will be between 300-500 words (200 - 400 + 100 = 300 or 500!).

For our articles in this class, please write your article in a 2-column spread. Use the column tool in your word processor to do this.

When you complete your editorial please turn it in. You should complete your editorial TODAY--so don't procrastinate or get off track!

In addition:

Contrast this article and website with the article handout "Fighting a Social Media Addiction". In the COMMENT section below, post answers to questions for critical reading:

• Consider the Maryland report alongside Johnson's "Fighting a Social Media Addiction" especially in light of Rutledge's claim that the report's conclusion "had nothing to do with addiction" [para. 7]. To what extent do you think that "Fighting a Social Media Addiction" accurately represents the Maryland study? Why?

This is IN ADDITION to your editorial draft. Please post your comment in the section below by end of day today (or if you need an extension by beginning of next class)!

HOMEWORK: Please complete Chew on This. Our last chapter is "Your Way" and the "Afterward"--In a paragraph or two response, explain what the authors of the book attempt to persuade us to do after reading this book. How do the authors make a persuasive claim in this chapter about the health of our community? Why do you think they wrote this chapter as an ending instead of putting it in the beginning or middle of the book? Is the author's argument convincing to you? Why or why not? 

Our next lesson will include: Intro to Discourse