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Blog AssignmentsWeek 1: Media Autobiography
Write your short media autobiography. This should be a short essay (about 200-400 words) about you and your relationship with the eight types of mass media we are studying in this class:
- books
- newspapers
- magazines
- movies
- recordings
- radio
- television
- Internet
Talk about your background with these media, your experiences (uses/habits) with them, your likes and dislikes of them, and which ones are important to you now and when you were growing up. Tell if you have, had or would like a job or career in the media. If you have lived in another country, talk about the media there. Mention your major, if it is related to the media, and the name of the university you want to transfer to, if appropriate. Do not write about other aspects of your life, unless they relate to the media.
Week 2: Media Impact
After reading Chapter 2 on Media Impact, propose a media research project, based on what you learned in the chapter. (Looking closely at the comic book study on pages 36-37 should be helpful.) Describe your project in 4-5 sentences, using some of the terminology from the textbook's margin notes. What are you researching? What methodology would you use? How would you test your hypothesis? What results do you predict?
Week 3: Books
Name three books you have read that had a lot of influence on you. In 1-2 sentences, describe why each one was influential. Write in more detail than "It was good" or "It made me laugh." Say WHY it was good or WHY it made you laugh. Add links to the books on Amazon.com or another online bookseller.
Week 4: Magazines
Write a proposal for a new magazine (either a print magazine or an online magazine), as if you were going to submit it to a publisher. Your proposal should include:
- Name of magazine
- Concept - how is your magazine different from existing magazines?
- Readers - demographics and psychographics (may include age group, gender, ethnicity, income level, interests, self-image, self-identification, etc.)
- Other magazines servicing this demographic (your competition)
- Five advertisers who you think would like to reach your readers
- Describe the cover of your premier issue (photo, graphics, color, words, etc.)
- Bonus: Draw (or create electronically) your proposed cover and bring it to class.
Week 5: Movies or Recordings
What was your favorite movie of 2009 or 2010? In which format id you firs see it? Write 1-2 sentences about why you liked it. Add a link to the movie review in rottentomatoes.com or IMDB.com
OR
What was your favorite sound recording of 2009 or 2010? In which format did you first hear it? Describe it in 1-2 sentences and add a link to Amazon, YouTube or another site where others can listen to it (or a sample of it).
OR
Ask a person much older than you one of his or her earliest memories of going to the movies. About what year was it? Where was it? What movie was it? What was the theater like? How did they feel? What else does s/he remember about it? (Parents and grandparents make good interviewees for this topic.)
Week 6: Television
Find and describe an online video (from YouTube or another video site) that explains or explores topics that are mentioned in the textbook. Videos should be under 10 minutes in length and should not be one that a classmate has already posted.
For each video, give a link to the video and include
- the length of the video
- a description of the video in your own words
- the name of the corresponding chapter in our textbook
- a course related* quiz question to go along with the video
- an answer to the quiz question
* course related means a question that is relevant to the study of mas communication. For example, in a video of a 1950s car ad on television, a course related question would be, "What are two ways television ads have changed since the 1950s?" An inappropriate, non-course related question would be, "How many cars were in the commercial?" Also, quiz questions should be more specific than a question like, "What was this video about?"
An example is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxSFXBcCQaE:
- length: 2:37
- Description: This video discusses ways TV distribution is changing.
- Chapter 9: Television
- Question: Television was first distributed by antenna, then satellite. What's the next distribution system?
- Answer: Broadband phone lines or the Internet, allowing more choice and flexibility to the consumer. Viewers will have more control of television schedules.
Week 7: Internet
On Wikipedia.org, look up "social networking websites." About how many sites are listed? Which sites have you heard of? Do you know of any that aren't listed? Research and describe a site you've never heard of.
How do you, personally, use social networking? Which sites do you use? Describe one incident in which social networking got you into trouble or really helped you out. (If you have never used a social networking site, then interview someone who has.)
Week 8: Electronic News
Keep a log while watching a half-hour news show on television. List the stories reported and ads aired in order, giving the approximate amount of time allotted to each one. How much time was actually devoted to news, omitting advertisements, the weather report, sports and "happy talk"? Which was the lead story? Why do you think it was chosen? How did the anchors set the tone of the broadcast with his/her attitude, mannerisms, voice and facial expressions?
OR
Choose a story that's in the news, and read about it on several different news Web sites or blogs. Find and describe how three different sites cover the story from (1) a conservative bias, (2) a liberal bias and (3) using creeping bias. Include a link to each of the three sites you found.
Week 9: Propaganda in Advertising/PR
Look up "Propaganda techniques on wikipedia.org and read through the entry. Then find an advertisement online that uses at least two propaganda techniques described in the wikipedia article. Explain what the techniques are and how they are used. Add a link to the ad.
OR
Propose a PR campaign for a positive value that uses propaganda techniques (e.g., Wear seat belts. Graduate high school. Use condoms, etc.)
Week 10: Media Ethics/Media Law
Do a Web search to find a media law or media ethics case from 2009 or 2010 involving one or more of the following:
- First Amendment/censorship
- Libel
- Privacy/intrusion
- Copyright
- Federal Communications Commission
- Misappropriation
Describe the case. Then, add your brief comments.
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