Annual Editions Mass Media 03/04

UNIT 1. Living With Media 1. A Defense of Reading, Marie Winn, from The Plug-In Drug: Television, Computers, and Family Life , Penguin Books, 2002 In this chapter from the 25th anniversary edition of The Plug-In Drug, Marie Winn compares mental processes associated with reading and listening to the radio to those used when viewing television. 2. The Suddenly Crowded Queen-Size Bed: A Wake-Up Call to TV and Movie Fright, Joanne Cantor, from Mommy, I'm Scared: How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do to Protect Them , Harcourt Brace & Company, 1998 Joanne Cantor argues that television and movies create feelings of fear and anxiety responses that persist long after children view traumatic content. 3. Media Violence and the American Public: Scientific Facts Versus Media Misinformation, Brad J. Bushman and Craig A. Anderson, American Psychologist , June/July 2001 Over the past 50 years, news reports of the link between media violence and aggression have changed from claims of a weak link to a moderate link and back to a weak link. In this article, two Iowa State University researchers analyze statistical findings of scientific studies, and they conclude that the link, which has strengthened over time, is clearly a positive one. 4. The Whipping Boy, Jib Fowles, Reason , March 2001 Jib Fowles argues that the belief that television violence causes hostile behavior is "a whipping boy, a stand-in for other clashes, real or imagined." This article summarizes social conflicts that contribute to misdirected antitelevision violence crusades. 5. The Color of Ratings, Av Westin, Brill's Content , April 2001 A veteran broadcaster interviews television news executives, producers, correspondents, and crew and concludes that in a ratings-obsessed management culture, stories about minorities are routinely rejected. 6. Gimme a Break!, John McWhorter, The New Republic , March 5, 2001 In his review of Donald Bogle's book Primetime Blues: African Americans on Network Television , John McWhorter provides a history of television's portrayal of black characters and black issues across the last half century. He concludes that there are clear signs that the color line is dissolving. 7. Can TV Improve Us?, Jane Rosenzweig, The American Prospect , July/August 1999 Beginning with a case study of television's role in the designated driver campaign, Jane Rosenzweig contends that television content can indeed result in positive feedforward effects. Media have power to educate and influence, and advocacy groups are most effective when they are working with television rather than protesting against it. 8. Ozzy Without Harriet, Jonah Goldberg, National Review , June 17, 2002 While government debates giving tax write-offs to television networks for embedding antidrug messages into their programming, Jonah Goldberg finds MTV's The Osbournes to be an unintentional antidrug message in media. UNIT 2. Covering News 9. Real-Time Responsibility, Stephen Jukes, Harvard International Review , Summer 2002 Governments are finding it increasingly difficult to control news flow and spin. At the same time, pressures of an accelerated news cycle and demand for instant analysis are challenging core journalistic values of objectivity and accuracy. 10. Explaining the Rage, Alina Tugend, American Journalism Review , December 2001 In this article, Alina Tugend explores how well the media in the United States have done in analyzing the reasons why much of the Muslim world hates us. She finds a plus in the events of September 11, 2001, in the fact that more attention is being paid to events in the rest of the world by both American journalists and readers. 11. The View From Abroad, George A. Krimsky, American Journalism Review , January/February 2002 George Krimsky describes differences in spin and emphasis between U.S. and foreign media coverage of the war on terrorism. 12. The Newsweeklies: New and 'Improved'?, Cynthia Grenier, The World & I , February 2002 This article reviews the history of weekly newsmagazines, exploring their shift toward soft news that "appears to be firmly entrenchedthe post-September 11 lurch toward foreign news notwithstanding." 13. Where TV Has Teeth, Neil Hickey, Columbia Journalism Review , May/June 2001 Neil Hickey looks at investigative journalism and its yield of outstanding, expensive, time-consuming efforts that have the potential of triggering significant social change. 14. Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Democracy!, Bruce A. Williams and Michael X. Delli Carpini, The Chronicle of Higher Education , April 10, 2002 The authors argue that the blurred distinction between news and entertainment media requires a new definition of political communications and a different set of criteria for assesing them. While most traditional political news is geared toward political elites, an episode of The Simpsons or a Jay Leno monologue "can be as politically relevant as the nightly news, maybe more so." 15. "Live" with TAE: Bernard Goldberg, John Meroney, The American Enterprise , March 2002 The American Enterprise associate editor John Meroney interviews longtime CBS news correspondent Bernard Goldberg about his book Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News. 16. ENRON: Uncovering the Uncovered Story, Scott Sherman, Columbia Journalism Review , March/April 2002 Scott Sherman analyzes media coverage of Enron before and after its fall, providing a hindsight lesson in gatekeeping choices and asking tough questions in business reporting. 17. The Real Computer Virus, Carl M. Cannon, American Journalism Review , April 2001 The Internet provides access to an immense cache of information that anyone, including reporters, can acquireand that anyone can post. Journalists have not been immune to picking up and passing on misinformation. This article examines the case for and state of fact checking. 18. On Message: A Theater of War at the Pentagon, David Samuels, Harper's , January 2002 David Samuels's detailed account of Pentagon press briefings provides an inside view of the complexities of reporters' interaction with and dependence on government sources in covering wGorham, Joan is the author of 'Annual Editions Mass Media 03/04', published 2003 under ISBN 9780072838633 and ISBN 0072838639.