Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday September 14 / 15 /16

On Monday and Tuesday, folks are writing their critical lens based upon the summer reading. These are due at the end of class on Tuesday.

The following students missed the first day of the critical lens and should make arrangements to complete the work.

Alanna, Claire, Candice, Caroline

Those students who missed the unit 1 quiz on the history of journalism on Friday September 11, and have a legally excused, noted-with-Ms. Aspenleiter-absence, have until Monday 21 September. This may be done before or after school or periods 2, 5, 6 or 8. See me, please.
For full credit, all papers were due on Friday September 11. Thank you all who e-mailed your work by 6 pm. Since it is 10 points off per day for late work, those not received by Wednesday will receive a grade of 50; that is better than a 0. (That is assuming you do turn in the paper.)

New material: everyone should be registered on the site. There will routinely be short assignments to which you will respond on line only. These will be due at the end of class and be posted to the site. You will receive any comments and grade this way as well.

First short: go to cnn.com http://cnn.com. Please note the news topic headings. Choose one article, read and give a one sentence summary.

New Major project: history of journalism
Directions (read carefully):Pick a partner in your class and select one of the topics listed below to complete for the major grade in the History of Journalism Unit. Proposals are due at the end of class today. The presentation should be 10 minutes, neither less, nor more.

LOG SHEET: your name and partner's on the top.
Each day write down what you have specifically accomplished and your objective for the next day. These will serve as your 20% daily participation grade. These should be turne in everyday.

Projects will be presented in October to the class orally by using a PowerPoint, video or website(s) presentation. Your presentation must not be read to the class, so avoid putting text on your presentation media and use visual and acoustic items to augment what you say in class. I apologize that I cannot give you a specific presentation date, as I am waiting to hear when Ms. Belair will be coming in to work on your resumes and cover letters.

TOPIC CHOICES:

1. Printers: Find out about famous journalists (at least 3) that devoted themselves to improving the print industry. Show and discuss the progression of printing through the years. How have techniques changed and what impact did each change have on the newspaper industry? Tips – Johannes Gutenberg, Ben Franklin, Letterpress, Offset Printing.

2. Reporters were sometimes found to be “radical” in different periods of history. Look at people like Martin Luther, Horace Greeley, John Upton Sinclair, Sam Adams and others who used their journalistic skills to fight for people’s rights. See “Muckraking.”


3. Coverage of politicians’ private affairs – How does the media handle cover personal situations in politicians’ lives? How have they done this in the past and what has the development has occurred?

4. Examine the history of the papers owned and run by Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hurst during the period from 1895 to 1905. How sensational can reporters write without becoming a “yellow journalist”?

5. Beginning with the area of the “Penny Press,” going through today, discuss the cost of newspaper subscriptions and the evolution of advertising. How does advertising help finance production costs? How much revenue is generated today vs. years ago? How does the industry decide on the price of the ads?

6. Stunt Journalism – Does it take reporters engaging in “dangerous” acts to get stories and to make it in the field? Ideas: look at someone like Nellie Bly and compare her to the people and type of reporting today which is similar. How has it made a difference in society?

7. Compare coverage of the Civil War vs. Vietnam War and Desert Storm. Show how reporting and photography has played a major role in shaping the public’s opinions of U.S. involvement. How has reporting changed over the last 100 years? Where do reporters, called correspondents, get their information?

8. Trace the course of the woman’s involvement in journalism from the colonial days to the present time. Use the Anne Catherine Green story as a basis as well as others Fanny Fern, Margaret Fuller, Middy Morgan, Jane Grey Swisshelm, Winifred Black (Annie Laurie), Bessie Bramble, Margherita Arlina Hamm, Julie Hayes Percy, etc. Find some current successes and compare stories. What has made them so successful?

9. Since “The Yellow Kid” began in 1896, trace the changes an evolution of the nature of comic strips. Why are some humorous, some adventurous; why are some self-contained in one day, and some continuing stories? What purposes do comic strips serve?

10. Trace the lines of communication that went up across America from the telegraph to the telephone and radio stations. Show how the discovery of waves in the air led to broadcast journalism where sound could come into homes and eventually into cars. What was impact of Samuel Morse’s invention? How did each new invention or discovery change the way we communicate? Discuss AM and FM frequencies. How have Bill Clinton’s radio broadcasts affected the public in comparison to Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” when he was in office?

11. Music and music videos have made a huge impact on the youth of America. Show how forms of music have changed over the past 50 years in equipment, as well as the variety of content available. What change in the music industry took place when MTV aired? How has MTV changed from the original format? Trace the history. Don’t forget to touch on ratings and censorship within the music industry.

12. Minorities have often had difficulties breaking into the media industry historically. Research and discuss historically minorities who have made it in the industry. What challenges did they face? How were they able to break into the industry when so many tried to shove them out? What was it about the people who were successful that helped them to made it? Did they have any advantages?

13. How and why does the media work as a “watch dog” or society? How has investigative reporting helped the “betterment” of America? Discuss what influence the book, “The Jungle,” and stories such as “Watergate” have done to impact and better society. Include examples of current journalists doing similar things .