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Mass Media Syllabus
Summer Day Class

By: Rich Cameron

Posted: 5/15/08

Mass Media and Society

Note: If you are taking this class online, please see the syllabus for the online class.

Journalism 100 teaches the student to be a more discerning consumer of the mass media. Topics include the origin, development, and contemporary role of the newspaper, magazine, radio, television, books, and other mass media in shaping the political, economic and social fabric of society. The course meets lower division requirements for most communication-related majors and is transferable to California State University and the University of California.

TEXTS
Media/Impact (Wadsworth 7th Edition) by Shirley Biagi. (Campus bookstore cost = approx. $60). If you purchase the book from an online bookstore be sure to get the 8th edition. You WILL need the text to pass tests. The text is also available for purchase as a pdf download for about half the cost of a text or by chapter at www.ichapters.com (Search for Biagi).

WEB PAGE AND E-MAIL INFO
The web site for this class is located at www.cerritosjournalism.com. Technology is an important part of a journalism education and you should become familiar with use of the World Wide Web. The web site includes copies of this syllabus, assignment information, lecture notes, and more. You'll also access the web site to take tests.

In addition to use of the web page you should also become familiar with the use of e-mail. Important information may be distributed to you via e-mail and you can use e-mail to communicate with each other.

You can contact the instructor at rcameron@cerritos.edu.

If you are asking a question, put J100-QUESTION-YourName in the subject line. If you are submitting an assignment by e-mail put J100 -- YourLastName -- Assignment -- in the subject line.


GRADING
Grade reports will be e-mailed to you periodically throughout the semester. It is your responsibility to check these reports and report any omissions.

Tests Cumulative Totals . . . . . 25 percent

There will be five tests. They will be multiple choice and based on the materials covered in class and in the text. Approximately one-third of the questions will come from lectures and two-thirds from the text. You WILL need the text to pass tests. Tests will include a number of questions covering the plots of movies you are expected to watch outside of class (see "Go to the Movies").

Tests are open book, open note, but you should not wait until the test to familiarize yourself with the contents of the chapters. For your convenience, lecture note outlines are available on the course site.

Tests will be online and must be taken any time on the days the test is scheduled. Tests may be scheduled for different days of the week, so be prepared to make arrangements to take them when they are scheduled. If this creates a hardship for you please make other arrangements with the instructor THE WEEK BEFORE THE TEST. No other makeups will be allowed.

Note that there are practice tests for each section of the class. Practice tests are optional and ungraded; they are there for yor benefit. You may take them any time during the section.

Unit One -- Intro to Media
Unit Two -- Intro to Print Media
Unit Three -- Intro to Media Law/Ethics
Unit Four -- Intro to Broadcast Media
Unit Five -- intro to Issues/Effects/Movies/PR/Advertising

Homework . . . . . 25 percent

There will be 5-10 homework assignments and five concept reports designed to get you to think about your involvement with the mass media. Regular homework assignments will be worth 10 points. When appropriate assignments MUST be typed.

Concept assignments parallel the five sections of the class and can be looked upon as study guides. They are worth 20 homework points and are always due at test time. All concept assignments must be typed. Do not plan on completing concepts assignments after a test.

No late assignments will be accepted. Assignments are due within the first five minutes of class.

First Amendment Project . . . . . 25 percent

Specifics of this assignment will be announced later, but its intent is to have you take a closer and critical look at First Amendment freedoms in today's society. See the online file on how I grade the First Amendment Project. Also note the file on grade distribution that shows a high correlation on Project grades and final grades.

Attendance/Participation . . . . . 25 percent

A lot of information will be presented in class. Attendance in this class is the most important thing you will do this semester, but merely attending will not insure you a passing grade.

Extra Credit

Inevitably someone doing poorly on tests or homework assignments will ask about extra credit. From time to time there may be extra credit opportunities; they will be announced. But, in general, you should concentrate on improving scores on tests and assignments to improve your grade. I do not provide extra credit opportunities at the end of the semester.

Final grades are non-negotiable.

GO TO THE MOVIES

We all love the movies and there have been a number of movies that create our images of the media. We don't have time to show them all in class, but you will be asked to view some of them outside of class. Questions about the plot of each movie will be included on the tests. Movies you will need to see outside of class include
Section Two:
"The Paper"
"The Front Page" (Lemon/Matthau edition)
"Shattered Glass"

Section Three
"All the President's Men"
"Absence of Malice"

Section Four
"Network"

Section Five
"Singing in the Rain"
"Citizen Kane"

There are a number of very interesting media related movies that you may also want to view on your own. See my Journalism Movies on the journalism web site. Scholarship Honors Projects and Directed Studies projects are available during the fall and spring semesters that involve watching and reporting on some of these movies.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the semester students will be able to identify:
  • At least three of the major roles of the media in society.

  • The five clauses of the First Amendment

  • Six of the seven major mass media in the country

  • At least one of the major rationales for regulation of broadcast media in this country.
ACADEMIC HONESTY

Work submitted in this class is expected to be your own and should represent your abilities. Plagiarism, fabrication of information and quotes, work done by others, cheating, etc. will not be tolerated and may incur penalities including an automatic F in the class or other institutional discipline. Collaboration and study groups are encouraged as long as final work represents individual effort.

This is particularly true with the First Amendment Project, where students are expected to gather information from other sources, but are also expected to indicate what was borrowed and from where.

EXTRA CREDIT

I will not have extra credit opportunities available at the end of the semester. From time to time throughout the semester I MAY have extra credit opportunities that require you to attend a workshop off campus. These workshops, when they occur, focus on some aspect of what we are studying. They are sponsored by outside organizations and many are free. They usually occur on evenings or on Saturdays. To get credit you will need to attend and write a report. You need to take advantage of the opportunities as they occur if you want to rely on extra credit to bolster your grade. Extra credit should not be considered to make up for work you did not do, but rather to help your grade in areas where you did not perform as well as you wish you had.

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

R i c h C a m e r o n

Office hours = M-Th 12:30-1:30

Phone = (562) 860-2451, x2619 -- Fax (562) 467-5044

E-mail = rcameron@cerritos.edu

Note: E-mail is a better way to reach me than by phone. Put J100-Question-YourName in the subject line. (The word "question" flags the message for me so I get back sooner.)
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