Media and Society Fall 2017

Read over the SPJ Code of Ethics again, either via the handout or at http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp and write a blog response about which of these you find most important, any you might disagree with, and explain your answer to both questions. Worth 10 points, due by 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 2.

An excerpt of a scene of the UCA-commissioned opera, The Little Rock Nine, will premier at Reynolds Performance Hall at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25. The composer of the opera, Tania Leon, and history/consultant Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., will each lecture on "Turning History into Art." The lectures will be followed by a discussion with the two moderated by me. For 50 bonus points, give me your impression/review of the opera excerpt (10); summarize the lectures (10 each) and summarize the discussion (10). Then give me your impression of the evening. Did you enjoy it? Did you not understand something? Is the story of the LR9 a good one to turn history into art? 50 bonus points will require full, thoughtful answers. You will email your assignments to me or turn them in when we meet next, 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27. DO NOT POST THEM ON THE BLOG.

Peruse these virtual exhibits at the UA-Little Rock's Center for Arkansas History and Culture: https://ualrexhibits.org/legacy/ https://ualrexhibits.org/legacy/arkansas-gazette Spend some time with them this week as we ponder Monday's 60th anniversary of the desegregation. For 25 points each (50 for the assignment), respond to each exhibit: • What lessons can we learn today, 60 years later? • Who were some of the heroes in 1957? Why? • Can journalism still make a difference? Why or why not? Give examples. • Where is the best place for us to go as a society from here? 50 points, due by 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 25.

Chapter 2 outline Media and Society n    Understanding the Media Ø    Do media change society or reflect society? Ø    Mutual relationship between media and culture Ø    Theories on how media institutions function n    Media Economics Ø    Media exist to make money Ø    Mass production, distribution are keys to economic success Ø    Profits reaped by producing many copies at low cost Ø    Large audiences help media companies recoup first-copy   n    Media Economics Ø    Economies of scale n    Cut staff, automate, merge n    Reduce marginal costs Ø    Benefits of competition n    Law of supply and demand n    Good for consumers: lower prices, better products Ø    Marginal costs n    Media Economics Ø    Media monopolies n    No press...

n    Chapter 1 The Changing Media n    The Media in Our Lives Ø    9+ hours per day Ø    5 months per year Ø    34 billion bytes per day per person Ø    We consume and make information n    Media in Changing World Ø    Conventional media: books, newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, film Ø    Impact of digital technology and the Internet Ø    Merging of mass media into new media forms and content n    Merging Technologies Ø    Media convergence Ø    Communication moving from analog to digital Ø    Formerly distinct channels now integrated in common medium (Net, DVD) n      Digital Media Primer Ø    Digits 1 or 0, on or off Ø    Sound: samples & levels Ø    Pictures: brightness and color of pixels Ø    Bits: 1000001=A Ø    Human sense...

How can the media help or hurt such situations?  How far has our country come in race relations since 1957? 20 points for your thoughtful answer, due by 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 11 September 4 On this day in 1957, 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford encountered an angry mob when she attempted to enter Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas . Eckford was one of nine teenagers, known as the Little Rock Nine, who became the first African American students to attend the previously all-white Little Rock Central High School after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional in its famous Brown v. Board of Education decision. While the nine students had planned to enter the school together, the meeting place was changed the night before and Eckford, whose family did not have a telephone, did not learn about the change of plans. As a result, she attempted to enter the school alone through a mob of 400 angry segregationists and a blockage by the ...