Important dates

Media assignment: Is all news just news (Due Oct 23, draft due Oct 16)?

There are two ways you can do this assignment: either (1) watch TV news, or (2) read news web sites.

(1) The TV assignment:

1. Watch two network nightly newscasts (note: you need access to satellite or cable to complete this)
   1. one must be cable: either Fox, CNN or MSNBC-local network affiliates don't count!! This needs to be the national news, not local.
   2. the other must be one of the major networks: either ABC, CBS or NBC--but again not the local broadcast from Portland or Boise--the national news (with Willliams, Couric, etc.).
2. Watch one hour of PBS news (the Lehrer News Hour--I think it starts at 7:00 in La Grande).
3. Compare and contrast the three different broadcasts (see the description below on how to do this). You'll want to take good notes as you do this, and/or record the newscasts--they'll come in handy later when you're writing up the assignment.

(2) The web assignment:

1. Read the 'front news page' online of three of these major daily news sites. This means the headline stories-you don't need to read all of the sections-just the main stories. Choose website one from each group (you may have to subscribe to a couple of these, but it's free and fast):
2. Group 1 ('center'): USA Today, Christian Science Monitor
3. Group 2 ('right'): Fox News, Washington Times
4. Group 3 ('left'): commondreams.org, (the news articles are in the 'news' column on the home page, under --don't pick editorials from the 'views' column), Reader Supported News, Make sure with these you're using the 'news' columns, not the 'views' or editorial pieces.

In addition:

Check out the following websites:

1. Media Matters (read the front page, spend 10 minutes or so browsing articles);
2. Accuracy in Media (read front page, 10 minutes browsing);
3. SourceWatch (read the short news pieces on the front page. You might even find the search function useful for looking up ‘experts’ you see cited in stories)

These websites will definitely help you get a handle on this assignment. You’ll want to demonstrate in your paper how they informed your comparison of the news sites/networks.

What you need to do (this goes for either assignment):

1. Document your sources: Document your sources : what did you watch/read? Include dates, times, authors, correspondents, length of stories (minutes for the TV version of the assignment); number of commercials (if you're watching TV, number of ads if you're online). Easy points if you follow directions. Save space with a table. You can download the table in MS Word if it helps in putting together your document.

2. Discuss the commercials: How long (for TV), who were the advertisers? What audience do you think the advertisers are targeting? For a website, how much of the front page space was selling advertising? For TV, how many minutes out of the newscast? Any relationship between advertisers and stories covered or not covered (e.g., did any major stories get glossed over that might have affected a major advertiser, or was there a story that reflected well on a firm or industry that advertises heavily, for instance did you see a pharmaceutical ad next to a story about health care, etc.)? Were there differences between the commercialization of the sites (hint: yes. What are they)?
3. Coverage: Focus on what’s on the front page—how much deals with domestic politics? International news? Celebrity fluff? Tabloid headlines? Selling other network programming? Etc. How are things arranged? In other words, are they using the content as ‘bait’ to attract certain kinds of readers? You could take the same story and see whether the three sites you’ve chosen covered it differently. Do they have their own reporters or do they use a wire service (e.g., Associated Press/AP, Reuters)? If there’s a major story, you could cover different versions of it from your three sources. How many points of view/sources are represented in a story—were they balanced, and what were the credentials of the sources they used (e.g., a biased news story will restrict its use of sources / people that might contradict the story line)? Do they stick with only the important and powerful as key sources? Any ‘regular people?’ What kind of stories were covered (e.g., investigative, reporting, editorial, human interest, or domestic vs international vs war)? Did headlines ‘slant’ any stories? Were some more likely to use scare tactics? Were different stories placed up front? In addition, see what else is on the page: How much of the page was taken up by ‘fluff’ (e.g., celebrity gossip, sensationalized stories with little impact)? Was the advertising tied to the adjacent story (e.g., a pharmaceutical ad next to a health care story, or an investment ad next to a stock market story)? This is the most important section.
4. Production: did they make use of graphics, were some sites/networks more sophisticated than others, was it just a talking head (in other words, is it glitzy, entertaining, or more talking heads delivering text)? Were there differences between the three sites/networks you compared in terms of their 'look' or 'feel?' Did the headlines vary or set the tone of the site’s viewpoint? Did TV news stories have running titles and graphics (e.g., an ongoing story or series)? Were there tickers running below the images? Icons/waving flags/other graphics moving on the screen? What colors does the site use?
5. Conclusions: What did you learn? I'm assuming you will have learned something, and that it will be based on the observations you've made in the paper. Differences between commercial/ public/ non-commercial media? By the time you’re finished, does it seem like they covered the same story?

How to do well :

• Follow the assignment description;
• Analyze and compare—spend more time on analysis than summary of stories;
• Support your conclusions with evidence from stories, sites, newscasts—for instance, don’t just say Fox is biased toward conservatives, or truthout is liberal—show how (this demonstrates that you understand what a ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal’ viewpoint would be);
• Explain differences—why might different news outlets cover news differently? This question is worth more than a few minutes of reflection. That’s one of the points of the assignment—you could go to three different news outlets and get three different versions of what is important ‘news.’ And what effects might this have on those viewing the newscasts, and their understanding of current events or (dare I say it??), social problems? News outlets get to decide what to cover, what not to cover, where to put it, how to cover it, and how long to cover it. Within those decisions, there is a lot of latitude to inject bias and opinion. Within those decisions, there is a lot of latitude to inject bias and opinion.

Point assignments

Assignment is worth 100 points. You will lose points if you don't follow the guidelines, so read them well, understand them, and ask questions if you need to. A draft of the paper is due Oct 16 (submit in Blackboard). The final paper is due Oct 23 (also submitted in Blackboard). No more than 5 pages, double-spaced. You’ll definitely want to proofread and check out the samples posted on the web.

Sample papers: (A, B, C, D)

Exams: mid-term, 'test re-test', final

There will be two exams. The midterm will occur on Monday and Tuesday of week six (Oct 29-30); the final during finals week (Dec 4). On the mid-term exam, you have the option of taking the test individually on Monday, and re-taking the test the next day in a small group, where you will be able to discuss your answers before turning in one exam for the group (still closed book, though).

The individual portion of the midterm exam will be worth 75% of your exam grade, and the group portion 25%. If you prefer, you can take the test again individually on the second day and average your grades, or choose not take it again and settle for whatever grade you ended up with. If your group scores lower on the re-test than you as an individual did the previous day, I will not lower your grade (i.e., I’ll give you 100% of the points based on your individual score). The point of this exercise is to, hopefully, turn the test into a learning exercise as well as an evaluation tool. The second day score will only be used if it improves your overall score. The final will not be comprehensive, and will cover only material after the first exam (from week 6 on).

For anyone with documented disabilities, or speaking English as a second language: Please let me know if you need more time to complete the individual portion of the exams.

Paper: George Orwell's 1984 (sample papers 1 & 2)

Don’t make this assignment harder than it is. Your main task is to demonstrate that you can analyze a social problem (using the framework we’ve discussed ad nauseum in class), picking something from Orwell’s book, and then something that pertains to contemporary society (from the linked articles on the assignments web page). Two parts, and for each, you're going through the social problems questions. You'll be asked to do two things in this assignment

1. Explicitly use the frameworks for analyzing social problems, and the ideas about social problems we've discussed in class to make a case for a social problem in the book;
2. In part 2, examine possible contemporary parallels with Orwell’s 1984. Choose 3 articles from one of the four categories (there is a link on the assignments page of the course website—www.eou.edu/socprob/orwellinks.htm—to many articles online, sorted into four categories):

(a) big brother; (b) perpetual war; (c) doublespeak; (d) information control

and discuss them by going through the social problems questions, and how they relate to the book 1984 and the society Orwell has created . The above four categories aren’t necessarily social problems in themselves, so put some thought into what you think the actual social problem is (e.g., Is Big Brother a social problem, or is it what Big Brother symbolizes? Are these all means to something bigger?). Use the web page with articles covering topics from these four categories. Of the 3 articles you choose, you can pick them from more than one category, but that may complicate or lengthen your paper. Your job is to figure out, Is there a social problem; if so what is it? If not, why not? And then describe and analyze it, using the framework from class. This could be the same social problem you discussed from the book, or a different one—your choice. I would recommend choosing an article that focuses on the same kind of social problem you’ve described and analyzed in the book—it will save you a little time.

So in the second part you'll need to:

• Briefly summarize the articles you choose. Your choices should be thoughtful--don't just pick the first three you open. Have some strategy in mind--maybe you want to focus on surveillance (so stick with the 'Big Brother' category of articles). Maybe you want to compare different presidencies to see whether a problem lies with the president, or something else (e.g., it's just about power). Maybe you want to look at different kinds of strategies for achieving social control--language manipulation, surveillance, threat of war, etc.--as the government of Oceania did. But make thoughtful choices.
• Go through the social problems framework, discuss whether the issues it addresses pose a social problem; describe why or why not.
• Discuss how they relate to 1984

The point behind this assignment is to see that you can discuss and analyze a social problem, using the tools (i.e., questions) we've discussed in class. That's what I'll be looking for. If you stray from this, it will be difficult to do well on this assignment, so make sure you're clear on how you can go about analyzing a social problem. One thing to keep in mind--do you own work. I really don't want to find papers or passages lifted from other sources--there are thousands of Orwell papers out there. I'm also familiar with the two sample papers I've made available. As for the web papers, they're usually quite easy to identify, and I've yet to find any that do what I'm asking you to do. I'm really not in the mood to pass out 0s on this or any other assignment. I'd much rather you do your own thinking and own work. And besides, Big Brother might be watching you . . .

An exercise in critical thinking

This assignment is part of a university-wide effort to assess the critical thinking component of the general education curriculum. Critical thinking involves efforts to identify and explain issues, recognize contexts and assumptions, acknowledge multiple perspectives, and evaluate evidence to reach conclusions. The key component for this paper involves analyzing Orwell’s book, and applying what you’ve learned to contemporary society. There are many parallels—the US is currently involved in two wars, and Afghanistan is now the longest military engagement in the country’s history. At various times during the last nine years, the White House has emphasized the ‘war on terror,’ the need for various kinds of surveillance (or spying), torture, censorship of the press, etc. They have held suspected terrorists, without trial or legal representation, in prisons outside US borders, and kidnapped suspects and taken them to third party countries where torture is a routine and governmental enterprise (‘extraordinary rendition’). So there is evidence that some of what Orwell discusses in the book occurs in contemporary society. They have manufactured incidents designed to vilify the ‘enemy’ and create heroes of US soldiers (Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman). Much of this has been done in the interest of ‘national security.’

Your job in this paper is to critically analyze possible parallels between Orwell’s Oceania and the US. Remember that administrations come and go, policies may change, laws may be unevenly enforced over time. But Orwell is also talking to a large extent about social control, and there are various forms of social control of a population. We’ll talk about several this term, both before and after the midterm exam. They don’t have to involve force, they don’t even necessarily have to involve the government directly. So that is your task—is social control exerted in the US that keeps the population from asking questions of its leaders (either in or outside of government, in business, etc.), and that in many ways allows for the ruling class to make decisions with very little accountability, and to control or in some cases ‘create’ a reality? In what ways might it be like Oceania, and in what ways different? Oceania’s means of control required some pretty extensive technology and institutions (e.g., government ministries). What are the mechanisms that may serve similar functions in US society? To do this, you will want to use the social problems framework we will discuss most every day in this class—what is the problem as you’ve identified it, what are possible causes (and arguments/evidence for those), what groups are affected, what are some of the consequences, either to individuals, groups, or even institutions (such as government, democracy), who might stand to benefit from a certain way of thinking about or defining the problem, who has the power and access to media to influence public debate and discussion about how problems are framed in the society, and what should be done about the problem (that depends on one’s viewpoint—for instance, what Winston thinks should be done in the book is quite different than what the government thinks the problem is and how it should be addressed)? These questions are your guide to thinking critically about comparisons between Orwell’s society and contemporary US society.

I will use the following criteria in evaluating your papers:

• Making your argument—Does your paper use evidence from the book and from the sources you’ve used to draw parallels/make comparisons between Orwell’s Oceania and US society? Keep in mind—you can use older articles from the Bush/Cheney White House years, as well as more recent articles from the Obama White House—governments come and go, and this isn’t about a specific government, but about how government, war, media, and other powerful interests may collude to influence public opinion (and isn’t that a form of social control?). But--this is critical--you need to support the points you're making with evidence. For instance, if you want to discuss why the telescreens are so effective, but don't mention the role of the thought police in monitoring the population, you've missed an opportunity to support your argument with evidence from the book. 50 points possible.
• Assessing multiple perspectives—to truly understand a social problem, you must be able to view it from the perspective of those who might be harmed, those who stand to benefit, those who may serve as mediators (e.g., the media) in communicating different perspectives, political leaders, etc. The social problem as perceived by Winston, vs O'Brien, perhaps even versus yourselves (if for instance you wanted to look at surveillance of Social Media), should look quite differnet as you apply the social problems questions. 20 points possible.
• Analyzing language—in both the book and US society, language serves as a powerful means of influencing how problems are perceived (for instance, Winston is told he lives in a ‘victory mansion,’ the ‘Ministry of Love’ actually engages in torture of citizens, US enemies on the battlefield have ‘weapons of mass destruction’ while the US forces have ‘smart bombs’ and ‘precision munitions’). I’ll be looking to see that you’ve addressed the use of language (this doesn’t mean you need to pick articles from the ‘doublespeak’ section of the list of articles—you should be thinking about how language is used more generally, even where the article isn’t specifically about language use and manipulation). 15 points possible.
• Drawing conclusions—Pull your argument together with a concluding paragraph or two that states pretty concisely what you’ve learned from this process, and what your comparison of Orwell’s Oceania with contemporary US Society suggests. Hopefully you will go into this paper not with a conclusion you’re determined to prove, but with some intellectual energy for doing critical analysis, seeing where it takes you. In the long run, learning how to do that is much more useful than whatever specific conclusions you draw or grades you receive from/on this assignment. 15 pts possible.

Some strategy

Keep in mind as you do this paper, there are many ways that social control could express itself in a society. Orwell writes about the most heavy-handed kind. But are there other possibilities for controlling a population that don’t require the sort of total control of Oceania? We will discuss some possibilities in both halves of this course.

Stick to the above framework, don't put this off, and you'll be fine.

100 pts possible. Papers should be double-spaced, 5-6 pages. So there’s no space for fluff or narrative—stick to analysis. You will lose points if you don't follow the guidelines, so read them well, understand them, and ask questions if you need to. The final paper will be worth 100 points, and is due Nov 20. No draft this time.

Discussion sections

• Guidelines for point assignment
• Group assignments
• Tuesday-Thursday readings/schedule page

100 points possible from participation in discussion sections. Actually, 105 if you get all points possible.

Films we will watch (mostly in Zabel 256) : Why we fight; Supersize Me; Hot Coffee; Outfoxed; Inside Job. They will be fair game for discussing in class, or using in some fashion on exams.

Writing assignments--some guidance

Format

I'd like you to stick with double-spaced, or 1 1/2 spacing, with reasonable margins. You don't need a cover page, but your name and the class will be a big help in identifying you. As always, do your own work. Cite sources whose ideas you've used (ON TOP of doing your own work ... ). APA is preferred. They should be cited where they're used in the text (for example, Smith 1979), and they should be cited at the end of the assignment in the references section. The standard I'm interested in is this: you need to provide enough information so that I could go find the article in the library or on the Web. As for using stuff on the Web, you may want to be a little more cautious (the Web Resources page has some links to sites that have good advice on evaluating content on the Web).

Content

Unless specified otherwise, the focus should be on analysis as opposed to summary or description. I'm not looking for book reports--I want to be able to see you thinking on paper. Headings, or at the least paragraphs, are a big help for the reader as well as the author (they should help you figure out what your main points are, and whether or how they're tied together). As far as the length of the assignment, the short 'periodic' assignments are sometimes the trickiest. You need to be pretty efficient in your use of words--1-2 pages doesn't mean easy, it means make your points quickly, make sure the reader knows what they are, support them with evidence, eliminate unnecessary verbiage, and get out.

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Grammar/spelling

By mid-term, I'll start deducting credit on writing assignments if they get in the way of me understanding the points you're trying to make. If you're having trouble, see me or go to the University's Writing Lab. They are not an editing service, but the tutors there can help you think through the writing process, which often solves minor editing problems. And please try to have your work proofread--spell checkers will bee tray yew giibbn heiffer chants.

Turning in assignments electronically

We'll submit them in Blackboard--look for the link and folder under the 'assignments' link. No .wps or .pages files--save them as .doc, .docx, rtf, and to be sure, paste your work into the field in case there's a problem opening as file.

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The 'P' word: Cite your sources!

Just a reminder about plagiarism. It's using someone else's work or ideas and claiming them as your own. It violates the spirit of the learning process, and anyone caught plagiarizing will receive an 'F' for the assignment, and possibly for the course. Much better to cite others' works properly. Who knows--one day you may be the ones whose brilliant ideas are being stolen. Again, you might want to check out a tutorial on citing others' works.

The big picture

Keep in mind the intent of the assignment--not to turn in something for a grade, but to show what you've learned, and how it can be applied. Use common sense, think about how important the subject matter of this course is to real-life human beings, and show some perspective.