SESSION TEN: New Media

Although tonight's topic was new media, we spent the lesson discussing our StoryCorps documentaries. While this subject may seem unrelated to new media, it actually illustrates the interconnectedness that defines life in an "information society." The audio documents we create during our StoryCorps project will become part of a larger network of cultural information, social interaction and history. What could be more connected than adding to the Smithsonian's American Folklore Archive?

For next week... (Nov. 14th)
Writing Assignment: Journal 10 (below)
Project homework: Submit LAP questions (1pg) and background research (2pgs)
Reading: Public Relations, pp. 293 - 321; Advertising, pp. 323 - 355
Please come to class ON TIME next week. Guest Elsie Nwankwo, of Cohn & Wolfe, will present "PR 101: An Introduction to Public Relations Today."

- JOURNAL 10 - As you prepare for your StoryCorps interview, please take a moment to review the StoryCorps website. Select and listen to any audio segment posted on the site. How does the recording illustrate StoryCorps' motto that "listening is an act of love"?

Congratulations! You have just completed the last journal entry!!!
Now, it's time to work on our StoryCorps documentaries, proving that we too understand and practice the power of listening.

SESSION NINE: MUSEUM FIELD TRIP

For next week... (11/07)
Writing Assignment: Journal 9 (below)
Project homework: Final research paper (7-10 pages)
Reading: The Internet, pp. 255-291; The Communications Infrastructure, pp. 357-389

- JOURNAL 9 - DUE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH
Visit a museum of your choice. Respond to your visit by giving a brief summary, analysis and reaction, keeping the following questions in mind:

• Who created the museum? Why?
• What is the main message of the museum?
• Who is the target audience?
• Who is paying for the museum (ads, private sponsers, gov't grants, etc.)?
• What is left out of the museum? What biases are visible?

Here are a few helpful links to get your started:

• NYC Museums
• Museum of the Moving Image
• Lower East Side Tenement Museum
• American Museum of Natural History
• Ellis Island Immigration Museum
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Museum of Modern Art

SESSION EIGHT: Visual Communications

This week, we move on to explore and to assess the meaning and the impact of visual representation. Beginning with a look at how moving images are created, we move on to think about the role of visual rhetoric in society today. Images (print, film and television) play a significant part in our understanding of ourselves, those we love (and hate) and the world around us. And, while every image "shows" elements of truth, it "hides" an equal amount. For example, if I take a close-up photograph of your eye, this image is a true representation of reality. It really is a picture of YOUR actual eye. However, you have two eyes, a mouth, a nose, two legs and so on... all real/true things that do not appear in the close-up photograph I have taken. The same can be said for every image I see on a magazine cover, in a film or on a news show. These images may give "some" truthful information about the world, but they don't show everything.

For next week... (Oct. 31)
Writing Assignment: Journal 8 (below)
Project homework: Work on research paper. Due November 7th.
Reading: Television, pp. 213 - 252

- JOURNAL 8 -

DUE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31st

After reading the article (Notes on the Construction of Reality in TV News Programmes), view and analyze a television news story (current or past). The segment you select can be broadcast on a Top 5 network, cable or Internet. Be sure to include the broadcast information (date, title, network).

• Who created the story? Why?
• What is the main message of the story?
• Who is the target audience?
• Who is paying for the story (ads, etc.)?
• What is left out of the story?

SESSION SEVEN: Women's Press Collective

This week, we had a great opportunity to witness grassroots media in action. Guests Lisa Daniels, Geneva Burch and Hector Lino spoke on behalf of WOMEN'S PRESS COLLECTIVE, a community of artists, organizers and activists using media to share their own experiences.

To learn more about Women's Press Collective, contact Lisa Daniels at 718-222-0405.

For next week...
Writing Assignment: Journal 7 (below)
Project homework: LAP contract (in class) and annotated bibliography (min. 3 sources).
Reading: Film and Home Video, pp. 181-211

- JOURNAL 7 - Find a radio program online (it can be a variety show, news program, music program, drama, etc. from any era). After listening to your program, describe its message AND the social function of its message (to disseminate information; to set an agenda; to entertain; to distract; to socialize; etc.). Be sure to include the source information for the show you selcted (eg. title, reporter, station, air date and time, URL).

Here are a few links you can use to help you:
Radio Lab
On the Media
Radio Lovers
National Public Radio
Public Radio Exchange
Mercury Theatre on the Air
Internet Archive of Radio Programs

EXTRA CREDIT: Select and LISTEN TO ONE of the six parts of Rick Karr's TechnoPop: The Secret History of Technology and Pop Music (NPR, 2002). Bring a summary of what you learned to class next week for extra credit on any late or missed journal entry.

The Life Arts Project: A StoryCorps Documentary

To complete the Life Arts Project requirements of COM105, all students must conduct an audio interview (I strongly recommend participating in a Storycorps interview!). In addition to the actual interview, students will finish all FIVE PHASES of the LAP: 1) select a subject; 2) prepare for the documentary; 3) complete the documentary; 4) complete the life arts project; and 5) present their work. Below is a checklist complete with due dates for each phase of the LAP.

To learn more about StoryCorps or to listen to sample interviews, check out the StoryCorps website. The site contains instructions on how to schedule your interview as well as a Question Generator to help you organize your LAP conversation. The StoryCorps reservation number is 800-850-4406.

IN ORDER TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR YOUR LAP, YOU MUST TURN IN THIS CHECKLIST ALONG WITH YOUR FINAL LAP ON DEC. 19TH. Simply click the image below for a printable view.

SESSION SIX: Sound Communications

This week, we begin our examination of the medium of sound. Sound communication includes music and radio, instrument and voice.

Edison's phonograph (1882) introduced the world to the wonder of mechanical sound reproduction, but his mechanical medium was quickly improved upon by the creation of electrical (1925) and digital (1982) media. Sound is a pivotal form of communication.

For next week...
Writing Assignment: Journal 6 (below)
Project homework: LAP proposal (1/2 page).
Reading: Radio, pp. 151 – 179

- Journal 6 - After reading the article Recordings and Surveillance Society, find one current example of the use of recording (sound and/or image) for surveillance. Who made the recording and why? What happened to the recording after it was made? How was the recording received, and how did it impact society?

SESSION FIVE: Newspapers

Before moving on to sound communications, let us linger for a moment with print. While newspapers used to be the dominate mass media, today print communications struggle to re-invent their channel. The prevalence of photojournalism and the addition of electronic versions are just a few forms of today's news "facelift." Let's examine the impact this has had on the journalism today by completing journal 5 (below).

For next week... (Oct. 10, 2007)
Writing Assignment: Journal 5
Project homework: LAP worksheet (in class).
Reading: Recorded Music, pp. 121 – 148

- JOURNAL 5 - After reading at least two of the articles below, describe the conflict between traditional journalism and blogging or "citizen journalism." React to the controversy by arguing for one of the two sides. How has blogging harmed or helped journalism today?

• How Blogging Changed Journalism - by Chris Mooney, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Kevin Sites and the Blogging Controversy - by Susan Mernit, Online Journalism Review
• Blogging, Journalism and Credibility - by Rebecca MacKinnon, The Nation
• Blogging as a Form of Journalism - by J.D. Lasica, Online Journalism Review