Journalism; A Day Without Media Reflection; The History of Journalism Project

Our first major unit in this course will cover News Media. Before we return to the lab, please watch the following video and respond in your journals to the ideas presented here.

American News Media: Biased & Oversimplistic

LAB: please select a news article from the news bar (in the link section to the right side of your screen) and read it. In the comment section below, please post an answer to these questions:

A. What was the title and author of the article you read?
B. Summarize the main point of the article. What information did the journalist provide to us?
C. What political, religious, social, or marketing angle made this article "newsworthy"? Perhaps ask: who will benefit from you knowing this information? Is there a "slant" to the reporting? Who is the audience NOT intended for? How might this article appeal to advertisers? What are you being "sold"? Etc.

LAB Task #2: Reflect on a "Day Without Media". From your reading of the article: "Fighting a Social Media Addiction" and your homework this past weekend to avoid mass media, discuss/write about your experience of avoiding the media for 8 hours. Post your commentary in the comment section below.

You should complete both commentaries by the end of class today for credit.

When you are done with LAB TASK #1 & LAB TASK #2, please move on to our first project in Journalism: The History of Journalism project. See below for details.

1. You should begin with research. 
2. Take notes and research one of the topics on the signup sheet coming around class. If you have two people in your group, explore different sites and work in parallel (do not sit next to your partner and talk while one person is doing all the work!) 
3. 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. 
4. As we work on this project, coordinate your notes with your partner (or organize your notes for yourself if working alone). Share what you learned and come to a consensus as to how it is to be presented in a Prezi or Powerpoint.
5. If you are working in a group of 2 divide up the work as to visual and written. Who is writing the outline and who is putting together the Prezi or Power Point. Keep in mind that you will be both receive the same grade. If one person does less than quality work, the outcome will reflect on both group members. 
6. Create an outline to make sure you know what you have to cover and what you are covering in the presentation.
7. The due date for this project will be set by the end of this week. We will be working on our projects next class as well, so bring your materials with you to class. If you know you will be absent, please alert your partner, if you have one. 

History of Journalism Project Directions (read carefully):
1. Pick a partner (or work independently) and select one of the topics on the sign up sheet going around class. Record your topic so you know what you need to investigate. 
2. You will need to turn in an outline, a Powerpoint or Prezi presentation (URL or file), a works cited page, and a short reflection.
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).

HOMEWORK: A. Please read the handout "Looking Back: The History of American Media" and take notes on key ideas or important information in the chapter. Please hand in your notes for participation credit next class.

B. Please aim to complete Chew on This for Friday. You should be able to examine the text using the media studies vocabulary notes you took last class. More info on what exactly to look for in the book will be forthcoming in our next lesson. You will be tested on this book and we will discuss it in class as an example of investigative journalism.

Investigative Journalism Presentations; Media Studies Vocabulary; Activities

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".

This afternoon, please present the journalist(s) you chose and researched last class to our class today. As you watch the presentations, jot down brief notes about the work these journalists are known for. In particular keep track of the topics these journalists wrote about. Do you notice any patterns? What kinds of topics do investigative journalists cover? Why, in your opinion, might it be important for a society to have investigative journalists?

Well, there certainly are a lot of words out there. The discipline of Media Studies--just like all academic subjects--has its own important vocabulary. Getting to know some of these words will certainly help you understand some of the key concepts and ideas in this course. Take a gander...

Semiotics: the study of signs and symbols.
Semiology: the science of symbols, language, linguistics.
Denotation: the dictionary definition of a word (or standard, agreed upon definition of a word).
Connotation: the attached meaning or secondary meaning of a word--not part of the original dictionary definition.
Sign: the combination of a concept, sound, or visual image in a physical form.
Signifier: the physical form of the sign, as perceived or understood by our senses (touch, taste, smell, sound, or sight).
Signified: the mental concept to which the sign refers.
Symbol: a noun that represents an idea or concept.
Code: a system of signs based on culturally agreed upon rules.
Paradigm: a network of signs that are an assembled group of ideas, including attitudes, beliefs, and experiences.
Text: a signifying structure composed of signs and codes.
Open texts: a text that can have many different meanings based on time, culture, environment, gender, politics, and experiences of the reader/viewer.
Closed texts: texts that encourage a single or agreed upon definition, permitting little space for different "readings" or interpretations.
Encode: Giving an idea or concept a specific form (text). The "author" is the "sender"--the person responsible for encoding the text.
Decode: The process an audience or viewer/reader (the receiver) uses to unlock or understand the text.
Context: the social, historical, or political conditions which provide a structure within which certain actions, events, or processes have meaning.
Reading: the process of interaction when a text is analyzed or interpreted.
Intertextuality: the reading of a text in light of or with an understanding of other similar texts.
Metaphor: a fundamental mode of communicating in which the relationship between two things is suggested (also simile, analogy)
Metonomy: another fundamental mode of communicating referring to the associated relationship between two things, implying codes that allow a reader to decode the suggested meaning. Metonomy uses parts of elements of something to stand in for the whole.
Narratology: The study of narrative structures.
Narrative: the process of organizing information into recognizable patterns, such as cause-effect of events, to suggest a "story".
Mediation: the act of channeling or delivering social knowledge or cultural values through an institution to reach an audience. In mass media, the audience is the masses. Us. The 99%.
Genre: categories of media products. Books, music, videos, films, television, computer games or apps, the internet, live performance, etc.
Discourse: structured representation of events or the interpretation/analysis of social and cultural power structures. How we interpret the world, makes the world.
Hegemony: an identifiable or dominant social/cultural group.
Audience: the targeted group of a text.
Representation: how a text produces verisimilitude or "truth" of reality.
Verisimilitude: Semblance or appearance of truth or reality, usually as details or description in a text.
Stereotyping: representation used to categorize a group of people (usually in a negative light).
Marginalization: to regulate or confine a group of people to the lower or outer edge of the masses.
News: new information on a subject of interest to the targeted audience.
Synergy: how one industry expands into another to monopolize or make profit.
Mega-Conglomeration: the elite companies that control products for mass consumption.
Celebrity: a famous or celebrated person, often chosen by the masses (or corporations) to represent an aspect of society.

Our first major unit in this course will cover News Media. Before we return to the lab, please watch the following video and respond in your journals to the ideas presented here.

American News Media: Biased & Oversimplistic

LAB: please select a news article from the news bar (in the link section to the right side of your screen) and read it. In the comment section below, please post an answer to these questions:

A. What was the title and author of the article you read?
B. Summarize the main point of the article. What information did the journalist provide to us?
C. What political, religious, social, or marketing angle made this article "newsworthy"? Perhaps ask: who will benefit from you knowing this information? Is there a "slant" to the reporting? Who is the audience NOT intended for? How might this article appeal to advertisers? What are you being "sold"? Etc.

HOMEWORK: Please continue reading Chew on This. Aim to complete the book by the end of next week. Please read the article "Fighting a Social Media Addiction" and your homework is to avoid mass media this weekend. Your goal is to abstain from the media for 8 hours in a row or sustained block. See the article for more details. Be prepared to discuss/write about your experience of avoiding the media for even 8 short hours. We'll chat and reflect about it next class.  

Is a Career in Media Studies for You?

One side effect of studying the media is that you might find that you love the subject and would like to study it as a major in college. While you are still a few years away from having to make that decision, knowing what this course can do for you and your future career can be helpful.

Even if you decide that media studies is not for you as a career, building your literacy and communication skills will definitely impact your fiction and poetry skills. Learning how to write journalistically can enhance your writing ability, not to mention your personal communication skills. Many publishers prefer the stark and clean journalistic writing style when buying manuscripts.

Today, let's focus on our future a moment. Use your journal/notebook/graphic organizer for this assignment. Check out the bulleted list below to see if a college program in Media might be something you'd like to pursue as a professional career. Click on and read the various college programs in Media Studies. What skills, topics, or subjects do these programs seem to cover? Focus on areas that these programs have in common.

Various College Programs in Journalism/Media Studies:

• University of Rochester
• SUNY Buffalo
• CUNY Queen's College
• MCC
• New York University
• Penn State University
• Vassar College

And, of course, there are many others.

Lab Task: Part II:

Now that you've seen a few examples of college programs in media studies, take the next 15-20 minutes to research college programs you might be interested in. What course content do these programs cover? What do these programs promise to do for a student? What makes the program unique?

Be prepared to share your findings with a partner or peer group.

NOTE: Revisit this project at any time during the year when you are wondering why you are studying this stuff. It may help get you back on track.

When you have completed this portion of our class assignment, please move on to the post below: Chew On This & Investigative Reporting

Chew On This! Investigative Journalism

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".

The Internet, for example, is full of citizen writers or reporters who take it upon themselves to write about the "truth"--usually something that a company or institution is trying to hide. For a few examples please look here. These are investigative reporters who have won or were finalists for Pulitzer Prizes.

To be a good investigative reporter, a writer needs to conduct research, gain knowledge from interviews or articles on-line or in print, investigate an issue, and observe. Sometimes writers also have to risk their lives to get the story. Good investigative and research skills, determination, and a keen sense of skepticism are important qualities to have if you want to be an investigative reporter. It also helps to know the law and have a social conscience. That is, you should care about people and our society.

Lab Task: Research one of the journalists from the link above (either finalists or prize winners). Select a journalist and sign up on the sign up sheet. Indicate who you chose and who the reporter is. If your selection has already been taken, please select another.

In your research (from the site and also from the internet) find out who the writer/journalist is/was, what year they won their Pulitzer and find out why. You may wish to dive into your research by checking other sources or internet sites about the author(s). Take notes that you can share with classmates next class. Please take no more than 15-20 minutes to complete this task.

Chew On This is a type of investigative journalism. It's novel length, but includes a lot of research and fact finding. Its purpose is to report information to the public in an entertaining way--a task many authors try to accomplish.

In small groups please retire next door in small groups of 4-5 and discuss how far the members of your group have read in the book so far (see the handout sheet). Answer the questions together and turn in for participation credit.

HOMEWORK: Continue reading Chew On This. Continue to examine how the author uses facts, historical information, reports, interviews, photographs, etc. to report "the truth" about the fast-food industry. Consider who the audience for this book is exactly, and why it may have been published. Why does the media want us to see this message now?

Introducing: Media Studies; Welcome, class of 2018!

"We spend 1/3 of our lives immersed in the media."--Ziauddin Sardar, "Introducing: Media Studies"

Genres commonly covered by Media Studies:

• Film
• Television
• Music 
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Internet: social media/new media

College programs in Communications or Mass Communication are other names for Media Studies. The fields of Journalism and Film Studies are connected to Media Studies on the artistic side. Media Studies is also connected to Technology, Cultural Studies, and Sociology on the more scientific end. Much of Media Studies is influenced by Political Science, Psychology, Economics, Philosophy, and Education. They're all related.

This course focuses on the content, history, artistry, and philosophical issues the discipline encounters. You will be asked to write creatively, of course, but also to study, learn, and critically think about the role of Media in our lives and culture. How, for example, media influences us.

Our major units will include:

• Journalism
• Creative Non-fiction
• Film
• Graphic Novels/Cartoons
• Photography
• Television
• New Media

Please watch the following PREZI about our course.

Media Studies (Creative Journalism) Course Criteria

Course Description:

Building on various units and skills covered in the 9th grade year, students will continue to develop their writing skills while examining the discipline of journalism and media studies. This course focuses on the content, history, artistry, and philosophical issues the discipline encounters. Students will be asked to write creatively in a variety of genres (including journalism, creative non-fiction, film, graphic novels/cartoons, photography, television, new media, etc.). Students will study, learn, and critically think, discuss, and write about the role of Media in our lives and culture, and continue to develop their writer's voice in a variety of original writing projects to build a creative writing portfolio. 

Course Objectives:
• To understand and explore the characteristics of effective writing
• To learn successful writing techniques for non-fiction and script writing
• To explore and develop each writer’s own authentic voice
• To practice the writing process (from brainstorming through publication) in a variety of writing projects
• To communicate effectively in class and small-group discussions
• To read and research a variety of different texts as models, inspiration, and for a better understanding of the topics central to the academic fields of Communications, Media Studies, and Journalism.

Course Requirements:
• Participate in class assignments and projects
• Read, read, read; write, write, write!
• Engage in the complete writing process
• Keep a folder for handouts/work in progress/writing exercises
• Keep a writer’s portfolio of all work in progress and completed/revised work
• Keep a journal or writing notebook for writing assignments and practices
• Adhere to standard written English language conventions and grammar
• Communicate regularly with the teacher and peers through conference and discussions
• Attend school events and author’s nights (extra credit available*)
• Respect and follow the rules and procedures of the school and classroom

Course Evaluation:
25% Attendance, behavior, participation, homework, discussions
25% Portfolio (graded each term), classwork
25% Writing practices, writing projects
25% Tests/quizzes

Curricular material for this course meets the New York State Standards in English/Language Arts and the Common Core Literacy/Reading, Writing, Language, and Listening/Speaking standards

(see www.engageny.org for further details)

Long Range Curriculum

1st quarter: Introduction to media studies; Journalism

2nd quarter: media issues; photography; graphic novels; journalism (con't).
3rd quarter: media issues (con't).; internet; video & games; podcasting; introduction to film & television
4th quarter: film & television

Requirements:

1.  Students need to bring pencils/pens, paper (loose leaf), a class folder, and journal or notebook to class every day for writing exercises and note taking.

2.  Students will find it useful to keep a portable device (jumpdrive, flashdrive, etc.) to save documents & work in the computer labs. Students will have access to word processors in writing labs but may also find it useful to have access to the internet and word processors at home. A Google account and/or an email address is encouraged. Students may be asked to use Google Docs to workshop and share their writing with peers. If you do not know how to set this up, please ask.

3.  All texts that are currently assigned must be brought to class every day and returned to the library in a timely fashion. Students are responsible for keeping their texts in good condition. Lost or damaged books will result in library fines.

4.  Students are expected to follow the rules of the classroom and the school, to respect all other students, participate in their own learning, and behave in a mature fashion. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in academic failure, administrative intervention and/or discipline, or the need for additional parent-teacher-guidance conferences.

5.  Students are expected to keep up with the reading and writing requirements for this class.  All work must be turned in by scheduled deadlines or be subject to grade penalties, or academic failure. This course is a requirement for graduation from the Creative Writing Department.

6.  I am available for individual conferences to discuss your progress and writing. Parents wishing to reach me may do so by contacting me by email through the district website: (bradley.craddock@rcsdk12.org) and parent connect (https://parentconnect.rcsdk12.org).

Attendance & Behavior Policy:

Your attendance to this class is mandatory. Students entering tardy will lose participation credit (25% of your overall grade). Work and deadlines will be posted on our classroom blog: http://sotamediastudies.blogspot.com.
IT IS THE STUDENTS RESPONSIBILITY TO CHECK THE BLOG FOR MISSING WORK. Additionally, many of the assignments in this class are designed to be submitted electronically. Students will have access to submit work online at home or from our school lab(s). Student conduct should follow the Student Handbook in regard to rules and regulations for the school.

NOTE: Creative writing stresses the importance of individualism and the freedom to create; however, writers must understand the balance between free expression and artistic merit. Excessive or gratuitous use of profanity, violence and lewd subject matter will not be acceptable.

Our creative writing curriculum meets the New York State Standards in English/Language Arts and the Common Core.

Class rules:

1. Respect all NOUNS (persons, places, things, conditions, ideas)
2. Participate in your education
3. Be prepared for a successful class

Cell phone use & distractions: Cell phones (as adhering to our school policy) should not be turned on or taken out during class—they should be left at home or in lockers, at best. All electronic devices other than our creative lab equipment should not be in use during class. Headphones are preferable ONLY when instructed by the teacher for classroom use. Surfing the internet, sleeping in class, or doing work for another class is rude, as is being disruptive. For success in this class, please adhere and follow these simple and courteous requests. Some media projects, however, may use cell phones and/or headphones. Please be mature about the use of such equipment. We move at a very fast pace in this class. Distractions will only prevent you from doing your best.

Classroom Plan

Be on time, Be prepared, Be engaged.

Early is on time! ☺  On time is late! ☹

Engage in class and curriculum work!

Complete class and homework as required!

Please be prepared for class every day!

Cell phones and all Electronics are prohibited in ALL classrooms.

To include but not limited to: ear buds, headphones, IPODS.

The Dress code will be strictly enforced.

To include but not limited to: clothing/articles prohibited: Hats, hoodies and bandanas as well as what is prescribed  

by the school handbook.

Disrespect/Disruption to the educational process is prohibited.

To include but not limited to: bullying, profanity, food consumption and personal grooming, disrespect of other students, teachers, staff.

Do not stop, prevent, or sabotage a teacher’s lesson.

POSITIVES: Teacher discretion

Incentives include (but are not limited to): extra credit, homework passes, game days, fieldtrips, courtyard sessions, verbal praise, snacks, parties, etc.

CONSEQUENCES:   To include but not limited to:

Verbal/non-verbal warning/contact log

Move the student’s seat

Parent contact

Lunch detention

After school detention

Conference with administrator

NON-NEGOTIABLES – Immediate removal from classroom

To include but not limited to: Fighting; both physical and verbal, vandalism, theft, chronic disruption, insubordination, and suspicion of being under the influence of illegal substances.

SEVERE CONSEQUENCES:  To be determined by administration

History of Journalism: Project #2

Glogster or prezi