Attention Economy

According to King and Elliott, what is the major challenge facing the media? Media users? How is it different than challenges facing the media in the past? Do they have a solution? Do you?

Your response is due by 6 p.m., Tuesday, August 31.

Please remember that I accept no late assignments. Refer to the syllabus for more details.

10 Most E-Mailed Stories

Examine the 10 Most E-Mailed Stories on the New York Times Web site for Friday , August 27. When you consider them as a whole, do any consistent themes or preoccupations (on the part of journalists or readers or both) emerge? What does the list suggest is the primary function of the press in America today (informing, entertaining, rumor-mongering, counseling, editorializing advertising)? How does that make you feel (optimistic, light-headed, despairing) about the direction of the press and the society it serves? Your response is due -- remember, no late responses are given credit -- by noon Sunday, August 29.

(By the way, I added the NPR link to Links of Interest.)

Big News

What, to your mind, is the biggest issue facing the American press today? Please explain why you think so in a concise paragraph. Your response is due by Tuesday, August 24, at 6 p.m.

Final Exam Question

In Media Unlimited, Todd Gitlin identifies several different styles of navigating the media torrent.

*Which style best describes you? Are you a fan? A critic? A secessionist? Some other type?

*Offer specific examples of your use of and attitude toward media technologies and productions to support your choice.

*Also say whether you believe your primary style of navigating the media is sufficient to cope with the media torrent and why or why not.

Synthesizing other materials from class -- readings, discussions, presentations -- is helpful, if not essential. Your response, at the very least, should be thoughtful, well organized and clearly phrased.

Your paper should be 3-5 double-spaced pages. A hard copy of it is due by 12:15 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 10.

Feeling Our Way Through the Media Torrent

In Media Unlimited, Todd Gitlin writes, "Media are occasions for experiences -- experiences that are themselves the main products, the main transactions, the main 'effects' of media. This is the big story; the rest is details." What do you think he means by this? And how is it related to the ideas of Georg Simmel discussed later in the book? Please respond by the start of class Monday, Nov. 23.

Fail

Would it be good for the world if the Internet suddenly went black and never returned? Why or why not? What would YOU lose? What would YOU gain? Refer to Klosterman's essay for support as necessary.

Please post your response by 4 p.m., Wed., Nov. 18.

Girl Reporter

As the class handouts indicate, women had second-class status in journalism for most of its history. What does that suggest to you about the relationship of journalism to the rest of American society? By and large, is journalism a progressive influence on society or a reflector and enforcer of society's established beliefs? (And why do you think that is?) How does it make you feel to read about the limits placed on women in earlier eras in journalism? Do you see or sense gender-based limits on women in media professions today? If so, what are they? Please respond by 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 15.