I used to write I used to write letters, I used to sign my name I used to sleep at night Before the flashing lights

settled deep in my brain But by the time we met By the time we met the times had already changed .
Arcade Fire

Media and Society

Prof. Jeremy J. Littau Course Information
Fall 2012 TR 10:45 a.m. to noon 209 Drown Hall

Instructors Information
Phone: Office: Email: Office Hours: (610) 758-6520 203 Coppee Hall jjl409@lehigh.edu Thursday 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Course Description
The purpose of this course is to understand the origins and history of different forms of media, the evolution of media, and the role news media plays in free democratic society. This course is an introduction to mass communication, with a focus on journalism, media literacy, history, and evolution.

Course Goals
By the end of this course, you should be able to: 1. Explain the functional similarities and differences between traditional forms of mass media, and explain the logic in the progression of media evolution. 2. Define what we mean by media ecosystem. 3. Explain the concept of the marketplace of ideas and why it matters in society 4. Explain what we mean by the former audience and how it affects us. 5. Articulate how society benefits from a culture of information sharing.

Required Texts
1. The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach & Tom Rosenstiel 2. Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky 3. Mediactive by Dan Gillmor

Expectations
I have three basic rules for this course: 1. Treat others with respect. 2. Please silence and put away your cell phones while class is in session. 3. Laptop users must sit in the back row in order to avoid distracting other students.

Grading
The final grade for this course will be determined using the following point totals (based on a 300-point scale). I do not round up fractional totals. Below is the minimum number of points you need to earn the grade you want. Point totals below 180 will earn an F grade for the course. 282 = A 261 = B+ 231 = C+ 201 = D+ 270 = A252 = B 222 = C 192 = D 240 = B210 = C180 = DThis class uses the TRAC writing program, a peer-tutoring initiative at Lehigh that matches rigorously trained undergraduate students to specific courses for the entire semester. For this class, the TRAC

fellows will work with you on three projects: Your first reflective book essay, a proposal for your term paper topic that incorporates some treatment of the main sources youll be using, and your final term paper. The job of the TRAC fellow is to read and respond with written feedback to drafts of student workin-progress as well as to meet individually with students about assignments. Three TRAC fellows have been assigned to this course and will oversee an assigned set of students. Work with TRAC fellows in this class is not optional. As a student in this class, you are required to do the following in regards to the TRAC fellows: Submit drafts of required assignments to Course Site by the deadline noted in the Course Calendar at the end of the syllabus. Deadlines are absolutely firm for these given the amount of work involved for TRAC fellows, and late papers will incur severe penalties. Attend a 20-minute follow-up draft conference with your TRAC fellow, who will email you asking you for a time to meet. You must attend a conference for each TRAC writing activity or I will deduct points on your assignment grade. You will be expected to revise and edit your assignment before submitting the final version for grading. The TRAC fellows do not grade your assignment and are not connected to the grading process any any way other than your required deadlines and meetings with them. Because TRAC is intended to improve your writing, I am expecting higher-quality work in your final version than I would without TRAC fellows being involved, and it will be graded as such. Exams (120 points): This course is structured in a way that favors exam scores. Readings posted on course site and lectures are the only materials that exams will draw from. The midterm is worth 60 points and the final exam is worth 60 points. I do not give makeup exams except due to emergency excused absences (see absence policy below). You are required to bring two bluebooks to class for both the midterm and the final exam. Exams will happen during the regular scheduled class time and you will have no more than the class time to complete it. Term paper (100 points): You will be doing a term paper in this course on some aspect of media and society. The specific assignment is attached at the end of the syllabus in the assignments section. Reflection papers (80 points): You will write four reflection papers for this course of between 750 and 1000 words. One is on the media journal assignment, and the other three are on the required books for this course. The particular assignments are included in this syllabus, including the format for the paper. Be sure to follow the assignment as described and turn it in on time. You are expected to submit two copies of the paper one through TurnItIn on Course Site, and another in printout form at the start of class that day. Due dates are on both the assignment and the course schedule below. Deadlines are extremely important because I want you to be prepared for a real world full of deadlines - late papers will incur severe penalties and I make no differentiation between excusable and unexcusable reasons for late papers. You have the assignments and deadlines on the first day and its up to you to get it done. Dont wait until the last minute because youll find that Im inflexible on the problems that come with that . You are expected to print out and save TurnItIn submission receipts when turning in papers for this course, as they provide proof of submission. If you did not get a receipt, then you submitted incorrectly and must do so again. Not adhering to the submission guidelines will result in reduced credit. Reflective essays are great because theyre wide open and I intend for them to be a chance for you to show some creativity. It should be written in first person and have more narrative than thesis-statement writing. Be creative. Include charts if you like, or pictures of things you viewed. Reflective essays are not academic in nature. Consider it as if you were writing for publication in a magazine, newspaper, or even a blog. While facts, figures and insights from other sources might make your paper stronger, outside research is not required to complete these assignments. At the same time, citations are required if you reference any material outside of your own thoughts or original data you gather yourself. Flair, humor, and lively writing are not only allowed but also encouraged. In short, reflective essays are graded on being informative and interesting.

A word about paper style

All papers must be done in MLA style. This includes proper margins, font size, works cited, and titling. You should have an MLA guide from your time at Lehigh, but if you need a quick look at style guidelines this web page is a good resource: (http://bit.ly/6g1V7f note that this site isnt all inclusive, but it gets at the basics). You dont need to put a title page on anything in this class unless you want to, but all papers should have a title using MLA standards. When you turn in your paper copy in class, it must be stapled. I do not bring a stapler to class. No papers in hole-punched binders, please. Details matter failure to adhere to any of the paper guidelines listed in this section will result in a reduction of credit.

Policies
Absences, exams, and deadlines: I do not take attendance in this class. It is up to you to acquire any missed notes or materials from another willing student if you are absent. If you miss an exam you cannot make it up without having an excused or emergency absence. I typically only excuse absences for school-sponsored functions (such as student government or athletic participation that are part of your educational activity here) or religious holidays. Sickness is only excused with a doctors note stating that time away from class was prescribed. Family emergencies also are excused but you should seek prior permission beyond a death in your immediate family; dont assume I will excuse your absence beyond that. All allowed makeup tests use an essay format; you will not get the same exam as other students. Be honest: Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and at the bare minimum will result in an F grade for the course. I refer all plagiarism cases to the dean. Dont be afraid to ask if you arent sure where or when to cite the appropriate sources. If you have even a little doubt, either ask me or visit Lehighs Navigating Information page on the Web at http://www.lehigh.edu/library/infolit/tutorials. Your papers will be analyzed via Turnitin, a Web application that detects plagiarism and unoriginal text by generating an Originality Report which highlights unoriginal text in your document. Turnitin detects unoriginal work by checking the content of your paper against Internet resources, journal databases, and an archive of student work. Your paper will be stored in Turnitins database for comparison with future submissions . Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting accommodations, please contact both your instructor and the Office of Academic Support Services, University Center C212 (610-758-4152) as early as possible in the semester. You must have documentation from the Academic Support Services office before accommodations can be granted.

COURSE SCHEDULE
Date Aug. 28 Aug. 30 Sept. 4 Sept. 5 Sept. 11 Sept. 13 Sept. 18 Sept. 20 Sept. 25 Sept. 27 Oct. 2 Oct. 4 Oct. 9 Oct. 11 Oct. 16 Oct. 18 Oct. 23 Oct. 25 Oct. 30 Nov. 1 Nov. 6 Nov. 8 Nov. 13 Nov. 15 Nov. 20 Nov. 27 Nov. 29 Dec. 4 Dec. 6 TBD Term paper final version due to Course Site submission box by 8 a.m. FINAL EXAM Bring two bluebooks to class Reflection paper #4 (Shirky) due by 8 a.m. Term paper draft due to Course Site submission box for TRAC fellow by 8 a.m., paper copy by start of class Reflection paper #3 (Kovach & Rosenstiel) final version due by 8 a.m. Term paper prospectus final version due to Course Site submission box by 8 a.m., paper copy by start of class NO CLASS: PACING BREAK Term paper prospectus draft due to Course Site submission box for TRAC fellow by 8 a.m. MIDTERM Bring two bluebooks to class Reflection paper #2 final version due to Course Site submission box by 8 a.m., paper copy by start of class Reflection paper #2 draft (Gillmor) due to Course Site submission box for TRAC fellow by 8 a.m. End Media Use Journal upon going to sleep Reflection paper #1: Media Use Journal due by 8 a.m. to Course Site, paper copy by start of class Begin Media Use Journal from the time you wake up Reading due by start of class Deadline

MEDIA USE JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT Worth: 20 points Due: September 11 Word file must be uploaded to Course Site by 8 a.m. and you must turn in a stapled hard copy by the start of class that day. The objective of this assignment is to help you become more aware of your media habits. You are going to do things. First, youre going to log your media use at a granular level, trying to account for every media use moment you have over the course of the week. Then youre going to put your results in a spreadsheet format and submit it along with a reflection paper. What is media use? Well be answering that question in the first week, but essentially it is accessing news, information or entertainment or performing some usual task through some sort of communication method other than a face-to-face conversation. Whether it be a printed sign or a telephone call, some thing is mediating your communication with another person or entity. Going to a concert isnt media use, but listening to your favorite band on Pandora is. Going to the mall and shopping isnt media use, but talking on the phone while doing it is, as is doing your shopping on Amazon. In short, if youre using a tool to communicate or be communicated to, youre using media. From the time you wake up on August 30 to the time you go to bed on September 5, I want you to log each of these media use instances. For each occurrence I want to log the following: 1. Date 2. Time of day 3. Duration of that use (for text messaging, count your texts daily sent and received and multiply by 30 seconds just for the sake of ease) 4. Were you doing anything else at the time (using other media, or just doing other tasks)? If so, list all the things you were doing at the time in order to get a sense of how divided your time is. 5. Were you by yourself or with people while using this media? What youll be doing with these questions is creating a log. Carry a notebook around with you and quickly jot them down, then put them in a spreadsheet at the end of the day and just keep adding to it each day. When you turn in the hard copy of your reflection paper, I want you at the end to include this log as a printed spreadsheet document, with each of the questions above as their own column and entries below. I do not need this log with your electronic submission, only with your hard copy. Some common media use most of you will have (and this is by no means an exhaustive list): Talking on the phone Texting Using social media such as Facebook Buying something on line Watching television Listening to music Watching videos, shows or movies online Reading the news online or in print Searching for information online. Writing papers on your computer Viewing or hearing advertisements Reading a book (printed or on an e-reader!) Playing video games Going to the movies Playing with apps on your smartphone or iPod Touch. Taking pictures or video with a camera Listening to the radio Viewing art Looking at advertisements such as billboards, packaging, or signs

And so on. If youre not sure about an item but you think its media use, jot it down and include it. Youll do this for a week. Like I said, carry a pocket notebook with you to make this easy on yourself. It doesnt need to be exactly accurate, but you will get much more out of the assignment if you are diligent about jotting things down about your media use as you observe them. After youre done logging your media use, you will be writing a 500-750 word reflective essay about the experience. The paper is your space to reflect on what you learned from taking a hard look at your media use, but I do want to see some discussion in the paper itself of the following: How many minutes during the week you spent using some type of media (note that there are 10,080 minutes in the week well be doing this). What were your top 3 media used in terms of minutes, and what percentage of your total media use did each of these things take up? Some questions to consider if youre not sure where to start (answering these is not required, but theyre worth thinking about): Tell me what you learned about your media use vs. what you expected going in? Is all this media use good for you? Was it isolating you from people even when you were with others? How was your concentration level on things when you werent using media compared to when you were? How can this realistically change your use? Its hard to cut yourself from media in this day and age, but is there a balance between having to use it and letting it control you? The overall point of this exercise is to make you aware of how much media you use, and more to the point get a sense of what the costs are for you in terms of social interaction and ability to process what youre reading, seeing, and hearing when compared to the benefits of media use. I promise you there are both positives and negatives for any type of media use. If youd like to see examples of reflective essays (not necessarily the best, not necessarily the worst), there are two on the front page of our class Course Site page. Dont feel like you need to copy this format. This is more about getting a feel for the type of tone and argument that can emerge from this type of writing. Essays should be between 500-750 words (not counting name and title information) and follow all MLA guidelines. This includes proper margins, font size, works cited, and titling. No title page is necessary, but your paper header and titles should follow MLA. Spelling and grammar are part of your grade and grade reductions will be made for sloppy writing. Your paper is due at 8 a.m. via the TurnItIn link on our class Course Site page, and then at the start of class that day youll be turning in a hard copy that must be stapled. Failure to adhere to any of these guidelines will result in a reduction in credit.

REFLECTION PAPER #2 ASSIGNMENT Worth: 20 points Draft due for TRAC: September 18 Word file must be uploaded to Course Site by 8 a.m. Final draft due: October 2 Word file must be uploaded to Course Site by 8 a.m. and you must turn in a stapled hard copy by the start of class that day. Your assignment here is to read Dan Gillmors Mediactive and reflect on it. Reflection papers are not a book report your job isnt to tell me what is in the book, because Ive already read it several times. Instead your job is to reflect on what you read and give some insight into how it matched, diverged, or changed your thinking. You can pick something specific or do something general, but I want your paper to have a clear focus statement followed by supporting points bolstered by evidence from the book. While I dont want you to tell me whats in the book, I do expect you to cite evidence, concepts, or arguments in the book to illustrate the point of your paper. I want to see evidence that youve read the book by reading examples of how it influenced your thinking. This is a TRAC writing assignment. What that means is that youll go through a three -stage process for this paper. First youll submit a draft on Course Site by 8 a.m. on September 18. Then youll get back your draft with comments from your assigned TRAC fellow and meet for an in-person conference about your writing to get feedback on how to improve it. Finally, youll make revisions and submit it by the October 2 due date. Participation in TRAC is not optional. The goal is to get some feedback on your writing and improve not only this paper but also your next two reflection papers, which are similar in scope. This is a great opportunity to get good advice on your writing. TRAC fellows do not participate in the grading process, but if you miss deadlines or meetings this will have an effect on your final paper grade. If youd like to see examples of reflective essays (not necessarily the best, not necessarily the worst), there are two on the front page of our class Course Site page. Dont feel like you need to copy this format. This is more about getting a feel for the type of tone and argument that can emerge from this type of writing. Essays should be between 500-750 words (not counting name and title information) and follow all MLA guidelines. This includes proper margins, font size, works cited, and titling. No title page is necessary, but your paper header and titles should follow MLA. Spelling and grammar are part of your grade and grade reductions will be made for sloppy writing. When you turn in your final version of the paper (not the TRAC version), your paper is due at 8 a.m. via the TurnItIn link on our class Course Site page, and then at the start of class that day youll be turning in a hard copy that must be stapled. Failure t o adhere to any of these guidelines will result in a reduction in credit.

REFLECTION PAPER #3 ASSIGNMENT Worth: 20 points Due: November 1 Word file must be uploaded to Course Site by 8 a.m. and you must turn in a stapled hard copy by the start of class that day. Your assignment here is to read Bill Kovach & Tom Rosenstiels The Elements Of Journalism and reflect on it. Similar to what you did with the first book, youll use the reflection pa per format. If youd like to see examples of reflective essays (not necessarily the best, not necessarily the worst), there are two on the front page of our class Course Site page. Dont feel like you need to copy this format. This is more about getting a feel for the type of tone and argument that can emerge from this type of writing. Essays should be between 500-750 words (not counting name and title information) and follow all MLA guidelines. This includes proper margins, font size, works cited, and titling. No title page is necessary, but your paper header and titles should follow MLA. Spelling and grammar are part of your grade and grade reductions will be made for sloppy writing. Your paper is due at 8 a.m. via the TurnItIn link on our class Course Site page, and then at the start of class that day youll be turning in a hard copy that must be stapled. Failure to adhere to any of these guidelines will result in a reduction in credit.

REFLECTION PAPER #4 ASSIGNMENT Worth: 20 points Due: November 20 Word file must be uploaded to Course Site by 8 a.m. and you must turn in a stapled hard copy by the start of class that day. Your assignment here is to read Clay Shirkys Here Comes Everybody and reflect on it. Similar to what you did with the first book, youll use the reflection paper format. If youd like to see examples of reflective essays (not necessarily the best, not necessarily the worst), there are two on the front page of our class Course Site page. Dont feel like you need to copy this format. This is more about getting a feel for the type of tone and argument that can emerge from this type of writing. Essays should be between 500-750 words (not counting name and title information) and follow all MLA guidelines. This includes proper margins, font size, works cited, and titling. No title page is necessary, but your paper header and titles should follow MLA. Spelling and grammar are part of your grade and grade reductions will be made for sloppy writing. Your paper is due at 8 a.m. via the TurnItIn link on our class Course Site page, and then at the start of class that day youll be turning in a hard copy that must be stapled. Failure to adhere to any of these guidelines will result in a reduction in credit.

TERM PAPER This semester you will research and produce a term paper on a topic of your choice related to the broad theme of this course the intersection of media and society. This is a major assignment and should reflect strong research (both in terms of depth and quality of sources) and deeper thinking about the topic than what we cover in class. Your paper should have a strong thesis statement, arguments to back up your thesis, and strong research that serves as evidence to support your point. Yo ull start with a research question and then go about answering it with research, and out of that will emerge the thesis (i.e. what you think). Part of the goal of this assignment is to give you experience asking questions that arent asked in class and th en discovering answers rather than finding evidence to support what you already think. Research exists to challenge our assumptions and imperfect thinking. You have a variety of options on how you approach the assignment. You could do a deeply researched case study to illustrate a larger point about media and society, or you can pick a topic or theme and cover it a bit more broadly. A strong thesis and logical supporting points backed by strong evidence is Factors most heavily involved in the grading A clear thesis statement that is derived from extensive research. Arguments that back up the thesis based on strong evidence found in research. Quality sources used. Scholarly sources such as books and/or journal articles are employed, and journalistic sources use actual research rather than mere commentary. The research reflects a thorough attempt at research concepts and topics, evident by a pursuit of the best sources. Strong writing Use of MLA style, spelling, grammar, and punctuation. This is a TRAC writing assignment. You will work with TRAC fellows on two parts of this assignment using the same process you used on your reflection paper for each step: the prospectus and the final version of the paper. More on that below. PART I: Prospectus Worth: 10 points Draft due for TRAC: October 11 Word file must be uploaded to Course Site by 8 a.m. Final draft due: October 25 Word file must be uploaded to Course Site by 8 a.m. and you must turn in a stapled hard copy by the start of class that day. There are two parts to your prospectus, which should be roughly three pages. The first part of your prospectus (about 1 page) is the statement of your research question. Not this is not your thesis statement, which emerges in your final paper after youve researched your question. In the prospectus, you will propose a topic you want to explore in your research and then state the question driving your research. The second part of your prospectus (about 2 pages) will cover preliminary research on the topic. W hat are some key sources youve explored thus far and how do they relate to your question. What are some things youve learned from these sources thus far? I do not expect you to have fully integrated these sources into your thinking, but I would like to see at least five sources in the prospectus to give me an idea where youre headed and to allow me to offer feedback on the quality of those sources. This is a pass/fail assignment. You either complete the work to my satisfaction or you dont get the point s.

PART II: Final paper Worth: 90 points Draft due for TRAC: November 27 Word file must be uploaded to Course Site by 8 a.m. Final draft due: December 6 Word file must be uploaded to Course Site by 8 a.m. and you must turn in a stapled hard copy by the start of class that day.

This is the full draft of your research paper. You will submit a draft to the TRAC fellow, look over comments, meet with them, and then make final revisions before the due date. There is no word, page, or source citation minimum for this assignment. You can go as deep on you like, realizing that the more you give me the better I am able to determine how good a job you did researching and investigating your topic. Practically speaking, 10 pages (in terms of real writing, not citations or title pages) feels like whats needed to be average but Im open to the idea that a student could do great research in less pages. In terms of sources, I have a continuum of what I consider quality. Books, research journal articles, and media accounts are considered to be strong evidience on the quality end. On the other end are things like Wikipedia and posts in social media. Blogs are acceptable sources, of course, but not all blogs are quality. The paper should follow all MLA guidelines. This includes proper margins, font size, works cited, and titling. No title page is necessary, but your paper header and titles should follow MLA. Spelling and grammar are part of your grade and grade reductions will be made for sloppy writing. Your paper is due at 8 a.m. via the TurnItIn link on our class Course Site page, and then at the start of class that day youll be turning in a hard copy that must be stapled. Failure to adhere to any of these guidelines will result in a reduction in credit.