Politics of Journalism

General

This course studies the linkages between the media and political figures.  It asks:

• Who runs the media?
• How is new technology reshaping American journalism?
• How do political figures try to spin the news?
• How do press coverage and advertising affect political behavior and public policy?
• Do the mass media have a political or social bias?
• What ethical standards should journalists observe?

Classes  

Class sessions will include lecture and discussion.  Finish each week's readings before the class because our discussions will involve those readings.  We shall discuss breaking stories, so you should read newspapers or on-line news sources every day.   

Grades  

• The papers will develop your research and writing skills.  In grading your papers, I will take account of the quality of your writing, applying the principles of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style. If you object to this approach, do not take this course, or anything else that I teach.

• The exam will test your comprehension of course information and concepts.

• Class participation will hone your ability to think on your feet, as I shall call on students at random.  If you often miss class or fail to prepare, your grade will suffer.  Because we have a take-home exam instead of a sit-down, I shall use the cold calls to judge how well you are keeping up with the material.  If you object to this approach, do not take this course.  I also expect you to post relevant material to the blog.

• As a courtesy to your fellow students, please arrive on time, and refrain from eating in class.  I reserve the right to withhold class handouts from latecomers.  Check due dates for coursework and the exam. Arrange your schedule accordingly.  Do not plan on extensions.     Plagiarism or any other form of academic dishonesty will result in referral to the Academic Standards Committee.  See: http://writing.claremontmckenna.edu/plagiarism.asp

Required Books 

• Stephen J. Farnsworth and S. Robert Lichter, The Nightly News Nightmare, 2d ed. (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007).

• Shanto Iyengar and  Jennifer A. McGrady, Media Politics: A Citizen's Guide (New York: Norton, 2007).

• David D. Perlmutter, Blogwars (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).

• Jason Salzman, Making the News:  A Guide for Activists and Nonprofits, rev. ed. (Boulder: Westview, 2003).

Schedule (subject to change, with advance notice). 

Jan 21: Introduction   

“But, that's all right, it's okay. You can look the other way. We can try to understand The New York Times’ effect on man.”  -- The Bee Gees          

Jan 26, 28: Ownership and Regulation of the Media  

"The readers of LA Metblogs have voted and overwhelmingly chose to tug their ears in the direction of Sam Zell, the 2008 Grinch of the Year! If you need one, two, or a couple dozen reasons as to why Zell is deserving of this honor, check out LA Observed’s recap Signs of Our (L.A.) Times." -- LA Metblogs

• Iyengar & Grady, ch. 1-2

• Jill Lepore, "Back Issues: The Day the Newspaper Died," The New Yorker, January 26, 2009, at http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2009/01/26/090126crat_atlarge_lepore?yrail

• Eric Alterman, “Out of Print,” The New Yorker, March 31, 2008, at http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/31/080331fa_fact_alterman

FIRST ESSAY ASSIGNED JAN 28, DUE FEB 11.  READ STRUNK AND WHITE FIRST.  

Feb 2, 4: Market, Organization, and Operating Procedure

“We’re not in the business of telling people the news.  News has become a commodity. They already know the news.” -- Richard Stengel, managing editor of Time, a product of Time Warner’s Time Inc. division (NYT, 1/17/09)

• Iyengar & Grady, ch. 3

• Pew Center for the People and the Press, "Key News Audiences Now Blend Online and Traditional Sources," August 17, 2008, at

  http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/444.pdf  (please read the complete report, not just the homepage).

• Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, “Financial Woes Now Overshadow All Other Concerns for Journalists,” March 17, 2008, at http://people-press.org/report/403/financial-woes-now-overshadow-all-other-concerns-for-journalists (please read the complete report, not just the homepage).

• Project for Excellence in Journalism, “The Changing Newspaper Newsroom,” March 2008, at http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.com/2008/narrative_special_newsroom.php?cat=2&media=13

Feb 9, 11: Reporters and Sources 

"Spoke to Rove on double super secret background for about two mins before he went on vacation." -- Michael Duffy

• Iyengar & Grady, ch. 4. 

• Jennifer Dorroh, "Endangered Species," American Journalism Review, December/January 2009, at http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4645

• Play the "Be a Reporter" game at http://www.newsu.org/courses/course_detail.aspx?id=knight_reportgame08. Registration is free but necessary.  Email your course report to me when you have finished.

Feb 16, 18: New Media I  

"They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the Internet. And again, the Internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material." -- Former Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK)

• Iyengar & Grady, ch. 5

• Perlmutter, ch. 1-3

  SECOND ESSAY ASSIGNED FEB 18, DUE MAR 4

Feb 23, 25:  New Media II

"Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. I'm Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House and one of the people who will be contributing to the blog." -- White House Blog, 1/20/09 at 12:01 PM

• Perlmutter, ch. 4, 5.

• Gabriel Sherman, "The Scoop Factory," The New Republic, March 4, 2009, at                                                                         http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=82d8d496-d402-4863-b98d-8967de7cc6ab

• Project for Excellence in Journalism, "The New Washington Press Corps," February 11, 2009, at http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/new_washington_press_corps

Mar 2, 4: Campaigns I  

• Iyengar & Grady, ch. 6, 9
• Farnsworth & Lichter, ch. 1-2

Mar 9, 11:  Campaigns II 

 "We worked hard, we worked long, we dug hard and did our best to be accurate, to authenticate what we could," Rather said. "This story is true, the questions we raised about then-Lt. Bush's National Guard service are serious and legitimate questions." -- Dan Rather on Bush National Guard memos, LA Times, September 11, 2004."

Now, after extensive additional interviews, I no longer have the confidence in these documents that would allow us to continue vouching for them journalistically. I find we have been misled on the key question of how our source for the documents came into possession of these papers." -- Dan Rather statement, September 20, 2004

• Farnsworth & Lichter, ch. 3-5  

Mar 16, 18:  SPRING BREAK

Mar 23, 25: Governing Through the Media

"In this town, you're either a source or a target." -- Robert D. Novak  

• Iyengar & Grady, ch. 7, 10.

• Robert D. Novak, The Prince of Darkness (New York: Crown Forum, 2007), 359-390.

THIRD ESSAY ASSIGNED MAR 25, DUE APRIL 8.  

Mar 30, Apr 1: Foreign and Military Affairs  

“Don't look at the camera! Just go by -- like you're fighting!” -- Francis Ford Coppola in Apocalypse Now  

“The troops landing in Somalia yesterday jumped from their rubber boats and headed into the dunes -- and into the glare of television lights.   More than 75 reporters and camera crews were waiting on the beach with microphones on and videotape rolling.” New York Times, 12/9/92.  

• Center for Army Lessons Learned, "Media Relations," December 2008, at http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/call/docs/09-11/toc.asp

• Covering the World,” and all related stories at American Journalism Review, December/January 2008, at http://www.jclass.umd.edu/ajr_in_class/12012008.htm#story3

   

Apr 6, 8: News and Public Opinion

"You dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube, you even think like the tube! This is mass madness, you maniacs! In God's name, you people are the real thing, WE are the illusion!"  -- Peter Finch, in Network

• Iyengar & Grady, ch. 8.

• Pew Center for the People and the Press, "Public Knowledge of Current Affairs Little Changed by News and Information Revolutions," April 15, 2007, at http://people-press.org/report/319/public-knowledge-of-current-affairs-little-changed-by-news-and-information-revolutions

 Apr 13, 15:  Bias, Ethics, Accuracy

'Kick 'em when they're up
Kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up
Kick 'em all around "   -- Don Henley, “Dirty Laundry” 

•  Take the "Introduction to Ethical Decision-Making" course at http://www.newsu.org/courses/course_detail.aspx?id=rtnda_ethics06 and email me your course report when you have finished.

•  “Lying to Get the Truth” and all related stories  at http://www.jclass.umd.edu/ajr_in_class/10112007.htm#story3

• Media Research Center, "Media Bias Basics," at http://www.mediaresearch.org/biasbasics/biasbasics1.asp

• Media Matters for America, "Attacks on Progressives," at http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/attacks_on_progressives (see recent items, TBA)

Apr 20, 22: Influencing Media I

• Salzman, Introduction and Part 1-3

 April 27, 29: Influencing Media II

"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." -- Saul Alinsky

• Salzman, Part 4-7

May 4, 6: Media Future 

"Journalism is popular, but it is popular mainly as fiction. Life is one world, and life seen in the newspapers another." -- G.K. Chesterton

• Iyengar & Grady, ch. 11

• Perlmutter, afterpost

• Farnsworth & Lichter, ch. 6.

FINAL EXAM DUE IN CLASS ON MAY 6.

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