SYLLABUS
Spring 2010
COMMUNICATIONS 425
History & Philosophy of American Mass Communications
“WHEN A NATION goes down...or a society perishes, one condition may always be found. They forgot where they came from. They lost sight of what had brought them along.” Carl Sandburg
Instructor: DR. ANTHONY R. FELLOW, Chair and Professor of Communications
Office Hours: Mondays, 4-5 p.m. and by appointment
Office: College Park 401, Department Office
Office Phone: 657-278-3959
E-mail: afellow@fullerton.edu
Website: commfaculty.fullerton.edu/afellow
CATALOG DESCRIPTION
Prerequisites: Comm. 233 and junior standing. American mass communication; newspapers and periodicals through radio and television; ideological, political, social and economic aspects.
“Society not only continues to exist by transmission, by communication, but it may fairly be said to exist in transmission, in communication. There is more than a verbal tie between the words common, community, and communication. Men live in a community in virtue of things they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come to possess things in common,” according to John Dewey in Democracy and Education (New York: Macmillan Co., 1915, p. 4).
For Dewey, then, communication is an important ingredient in forming communities and in shaping the politics and social fabric of communities. Our aim this semester is to study the development of American media and their impact on shaping the nation.
By
the end of this course, you should be able to:
1. Identify philosophers and their ideas colonists drew upon in establishing America’s early legal, political, and communications systems.
2. Discuss the role of the press in fomenting the Revolutionary War and forming the political foundations of American democracy, in particularly the First Amendment.
3. Identify reasons for the transformation of the press from “viewspapers” to the beginning of mass communications in America.
4. Classify the various definitions of sensationalism from the Penny Press to today.
5. Describe the impact of muckraking journalists on the rise of public relations as a profession.
6. Explain the development of American film and its impact on the political and social fabric of our nation.
7. Discuss radio’s development and how it changed American politics and the nation’s social habits.
8. Assess television’s development as an entertainment and information source and its impact on the political and social fabric of the nation.
9. Discuss the development of advertising and its role as America’s privileged discourse.
10. Discuss the importance and development of diversity in the mass media, particularly its consequences and benefits.
11. Analyze the changing values of journalism and journalists since the nation’s inception and their impact on the future of democracy.
12. Explain the development of the computer, Internet, World Wide Web and other new
communications technologies and their impact on the social and political fabric of the nation.
REQUIRED TEXT
Anthony R. Fellow. American Media History. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage, 2010.
You will need one No. 2 pencil and three Scantron Form No. 882-E.
ONLINE COMPONENT
Some four weeks of the course may occur online this semester. This means classes will take place over the web at a time convenient for you. Please check the syllabus for dates of possible online instruction.
REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
1. Examinations. Three examinations (50 points each) will be administered. Exams will be objective
(multiple-choice and true/false questions) and will deal with materials covered since the previous
examination.
2. Quizzes. Four announced quizzes (15 points each) will be administered throughout the semester. Quizzes may be objective or short answer and will deal with the day’s readings. They will usually be administered at the end of class sessions. Students will have ONE week to makeup quizzes. Quizzes have two purposes. The first is to encourage students to stay current with the readings. The second is that it will allow students to focus on fewer chapters for exams.
3. Checkups. Twelve Checkups, short quizzes, will be administered at the start, but not necessarily, of class sessions. They will cover the new reading materials for that day. The lowest two scores will be dropped. Thus, no make-ups will be given. Checkups are worth 8 points each for a total of 80 points. Checkups will be graded in class. They will be collected but not returned. Please check your grades on the website. You will have one week to make any corrections if an error occurs.
4. Extra-Credit Opportunities. Students will have various opportunities to obtain extra points. They include: History Jeopardy and the media history blog. History Jeopardy is a review of materials from the previous class. Students will receive .5 points if they are called upon. In addition, students can earn extra-credit by contributing to Americanmediahistory.blogspot.com. Each week a statement or question will be posed for student to comment. Students also may comment on other student comments. Students can earn up to 5 points for each blog.
A+ 100-97 percent B+ 89-87 percent C+ 79-77 percent D+ 69-67 percent
A 96-94 percent B 86-84 percent C 76-74 percent D 66-64 percent
A- 93-90 percent B- 83-80 percent C- 73-70 percent D- 63-60 percent
F 59 percent
Three Examinations (50 points each) 150 points
Four Chapter Quizzes (15 points each) 60 points
Ten Checkups (8 points each) 80 points
Total 290 points
IMPORTANT INTERNET SITES
The following Internet sites are designed to help you:
http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/afellow. This is the class web site. Please get into the habit of
checking the site before each class session. The site contains announcements, discussion outlines, and
grades.
http://www.cengage.com/masscom/fellow/americanmediahistory2e. This is the book companion site which contains Study Guide Questions, Study Guide Quizzes, Cast of Characters and History Web Sites. Readings, Study Guide Questions and Study Guide Quizzes should be completed before coming to class. They will not be collected but will provide the foundation for class discussions.
http://Americanmediahistory.blogspot.com. This is a site in which students could obtain extra-credit points. Each week a question or statement will be posted on the blog. Students will be given from 0 to 5 points for the quality of comments posted. Students will have until noon Fridays to post comments or react to students’ comments for that week.
CORE/GENERAL EDUCATION INFORMATION
Communications 425 is a core requirement for all Communications majors and (2) has been designated as a General Education course.
If
you are a Communications major, this course is NOT a prerequisite for other
Communications courses. Thus a grade of C is NOT required for passing.
However, if you are NOT a Communications major and you are taking this course to
fulfill your General Education requirements, a grade of “C” or better IS
required. In addition, those taking the course for GE credit must participate
in one of the student presentations during class.
Plagiarism is defined as taking ideas or writing from another and passing them off as one’s own; in journalism, this includes appropriating the reporting of another without clear attribution. The Department of Communications has maintained a commitment to the highest standards of ethical conduct and academic excellence. Any student found guilty of plagiarism, fabrication, cheating on examinations, or purchasing papers or other assignments will receive a failing grade in the course. There are no exceptions to this policy.
ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on disability should notify me as soon as possible. Please go to UH101 to obtain the necessary papers if you need to take the examination at Disabled Student Services. You may call them at 657-278-2408.
I hope you will readily note that I enjoy teaching this course. Perhaps, it is because of my passion for media, history, and politics. I also think it is important to understand how our media developed and its impact on the social and political fabric of America. Some find history difficult. Others wonder about its relevance. We are finding more and more that many Americans have no sense of history. Perhaps, that is why we continue to repeat it. Just take the Iraqi war or the Bush-Gore election. Go back and look at the Vietnam War or Mexican-American War and the Hayes-Tilden electoral battle. It is possible that another villain such as Sen. Joseph McCarthy may arise on the political scene or America entertains a repeat of the blacklisting period. We need to know our history. Good luck to you this semester. My wish is that you will have a greater appreciation of the media pioneers who not only developed our communications system but this great nation called America.
At the moment America is suffering financially. Billion-dollar deficits have forced various state entities to require their employees to furlough two or more days per month. Your professors at Cal State Fullerton are among those who must reduce their working hours by two days each month. Cal State President Milton Gordon selected three of these furlough days. They are Oct. 20, 21 and 22. Most professors and part-time instructors may not be holding classes those days. However, students are required to complete work outside of classes. Students in this class will have an opportunity to complete an assignment at the Richard M. Nixon Library and Birthplace on Oct. 21. Thank you for your cooperation.
FINALLY
§ No incompletes will be given by this instructor unless a medical emergency exists.
§ Students may tape class proceedings for their personal use.
§ Students must turn the sound off on cell phones and beepers during class.
§ All cell phones must be turned into the instructor or out of vision during examinations.
§ No late work will be accepted.
§ Excessive talking or inattentiveness will not be tolerated.
CLASS PROCEDURES, SCHEDULE, AND TOPICAL OUTLINE
All readings must be completed on or before class discussion, since all students will be expected to participate. In addition, study quizzes in the book, which must be brought to each class session, MUST be completed before entering the class.
WEEK OF:
Jan. 25 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN MEDIA HISTORY
BEFORE THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Readings: American Media History. “Before the American Experience,” p. 1-11; Chapter 1: “The Colonial Years,” pp. 13-37.
Questions:
1) What impact did Gutenberg’s invention have on the medieval world?
2) Gutenberg’s invention threatened European authority. How did they cope with this new
invention?
3) What were the philosophies of Milton, Hobbes, Locke and Cato and what impact did their words
have on U.S. political development?
4) Who were the political voices at the time?
5) What impact did the war have on the press?
Feb. 1 THE NEW WORLD’S FIRST INFORMATION REVOLUTION
Readings: American Media History, Chapter 2: “The Press and the Revolution,” p. 39-63; Chapter 3:
“The Press and the Founding of a Nation,” pp. 65-82.
Quiz 1: Chapter 3: “The Press and the Founding of a Nation” (Feb. 8)
Questions:
1) Why was the American Revolution called a “reluctant revolution”?
2) Who were the voices on the road to revolution?
3) What was the Revolutionary War’s impact on the press?
4) How did the First Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing a free press evolve?
5) What were the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798? How did they seriously jeopardize the Bill of
Rights?
Feb. 8 DEMOCRATIZATION, CAPITALISM AND THE MEDIA
Readings: American Media History, Chapter 4: “A Press for the Masses,” pp. 85-109
Questions:
1) Do any similarities exist between what people wanted to read in the1830s and what they want
to read today?
2) What contributions did Day, Bennett, Greeley and Raymond make to journalism?
3) Why did the Penny Press develop when it did?
Feb. 17 EXAMINATION 1
Chapters: Introduction, 1, 2, 4
Feb. 22 ONLINE: THE CIVIL WAR AND MEDIA
Readings: American Media History; Chapter 5: “A Divided Nation, a Divided Media, pp. 113-143.
Quiz 2: Chapter 5: “A Divided Nation, a Divided Media” (Feb. 24)
Questions:
1) How did war reporting in the North and South differ?
2) What was the source of military–press conflicts during the Civil War and still is today and
what means were used to silence the press?
Readings: American Media History. Chapter 6: “The Yellow Press and the Times,” pp. 145-173.
Questions:
1) Why are Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst referred to as public defenders?
Do they fit your definition of the term?
2) How did the term “yellow journalism” develop?
3) What was this new journalism, this “yellow” press?
4) Were Pulitzer and Hearst positive or negative influences on American journalism?
5) What contributions did Adolph Ochs make to modern American journalism? How did his type of journalism differ from that of Pulitzer and Hearst?
March 8 ONLINE: THE GOLDEN AGE OF REFORM JOURNALISM
Readings: American Media History. Chapter 7: “Magazines, Muckraking and Public Relations,” pp. 175-208.
Questions:
1) What is meant by muckraking? What were the aim of muckrakers? Why were they so unique
in American journalism?
2) What impact did Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, David Graham Phillips, and Upton Sinclair
have on the social and/or political fabric of the nation?
3) How did progressivism, and especially its journalism, undermine the ritual of political
participation?
4) What brought about the decline of the muckraking movement?
5) Compare and contrast Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays’ philosophy of public relations. Why is
Bernays revered as the “father of public relations”?
March 15 THE BIRTH OF AMERICAN FILM AND MOVIE CENSORSHIP
Readings: American Media History. Chapter 8: “American Film,” pp. 211-236.
Quiz 3: Chapter 8: “American Film” (March 17)
Questions:
1) The motion picture did not become a well-developed entertainment medium overnight. What
were the five major phases of its development?
2) What contributions did the following make to the development of American film? a.
Eadweard Muybridge b. Thomas Edison c. Edwin Porter
3) Why can it be said that the story of David W. Griffith’s innovations is the story of the
development of film as an entertainment and artistic medium? What innovations did Griffith
make toward the development of the modern motion picture? What impact did Griffith’s
innovations have on society?
4) What were the early attempts at film censorship?
5) What threats do you see to the motion picture business today?
March 22 ONLINE: TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROMISES
Readings: American Media History. Chapter 9: “Radio and Its Promise,” pp. 237-267.
Questions:
1) What scientific contributions did the following make to radio’s development: Morse, Edison,
Bell, Marconi, Hertz, Fessenden, De Forest, and Armstrong?
2) How and why did the Radio Corporation of America develop? Of all the corporations within
RCA, which had the most power?
3) How did the networks develop? What contributions did David Sarnoff, William S. Paley, and
Edward J. Noble make to radio’s development?
4) Why and how did regulation of radio develop?
5) What impacts did radio have on America?
March 29 SPRING RECESS
April 5 EXAMINATION 2
Chapters: 6, 7 and 9
April 12 TRANSFORMATIONS IN AN AGE OF DECEPTION
Readings: American Media History. Chapter 10: “Television: Progress and Problems,” pp. 269-303.
Questions:
1) Why did a battle take place between Farnsworth and RCA over television patents? Who would
eventually be declared the “father of television”?
2) Which television executive was “star driven”? Which was “technology driven”? How was
Paley able to “rob” stars from NBC?
3) Why is Joseph McCarthy considered an example of the weaknesses of traditional journalistic
objectivity?
4) What charges did Edward R. Murrow level against television in his October 1958 speech to
radio and television news directors? What do you think Murrow would say about today’s
television programs?
5) What impact did television have on the nation’s social and political structure?
April 19 ONLINE: ADVERTISING AS A PRIVILEGED DISCOURSE
Readings: American Media History. Chapter 11: “Advertising as a Social and Political Force,” pp.
307-329.
Quiz4: Chapter 11: “Advertising as a Privileged Discourse.” (April 21)
Questions:
1) Why does Daniel J. Boorstin call the early ad campaign to lure adventurers to the new world
one of the most unscrupulous in history?
2) What contributions did Volney Palmer, S.M. Pettengill, and George Rowell make to the
development of the advertising agency?
3) What ethical concerns developed with early advertisements? How did George P. Rowell and
Francis W. Ayer attempt to make advertising more ethical?
4) In what ways has advertising had an impact on the social life of America?
5) In what ways has advertising been a political force in America?
April 26 CRISES IN CREDIBILITY
Readings: American Media History. Chapter 12. “The Media and National Crises,” pp. 331-345.
Questions:
1) What were the major controversies that developed between correspondents and the military
and correspondents and the public?
2) Why did cooperation between the media and military unravel in Vietnam?
3) Why did Time attack the Saigon press corps?
4) What impact did Morley Safer’s “The Burning of the Village of Cam Ne” have on the public?
5) What impact did the Tet offensive have on the viewing audience?
6) What were the dirty tricks played by President Richard Nixon’s men and who played them?
7) What was the “sin” of Watergate? How did the White House view it?
8) Compare and contrast the presidents from Nixon to today as far as their relationships with the
media are concerned?
9) What was the Iran-Contra scandal about? Do you think the president committed an
impeachable offense? Why or why not?
10) Why was the American media were caught flat-footed in the Gulf?
May 3 ASSESSING AMERICAN MEDIA
Questions:
1) What were the Pentagon Papers? Why did the administration want to stop publication of the
document? How did the administration stop publication of the document? What was the
court’s response?
2) Which have become more powerful since the 1970s, the mass media or holders of power who
shaped public opinion by using the media as their agents? Why?
3) What evidence exists that the values of journalists changed in the 1970s? Explain.
4) What is wrong with the media today? What do you see as the future role of news media?
5) How do you access this current administration and its relationship with media?
May 10 THE INTERNET AND THE INFORMATION EXPLOSION: WHERE DO WE GO
FROM HERE?
Readings: American Media History. Chapter 12. “The Internet and the Information
Explosion,” pp. 369-392.
Questions:
1) What was the initial purpose of computers?
2) How did computers develop? What role did President Eisenhower play in their development?
3) How did the World Wide Web develop?
4) What are the social and political implications of the Internet?
5) How strong is the ethnic and alternative media today?
6) Are their any consequences to five families owning all media?
May 19 EXAMINATION 3 (2:30-4:20 p.m.)
Chapters 10, 12 and 13
Modified on 14 May 2010