Media Literacy Exercise?C-SPAN versus commercial networks

Watch C-SPAN’s Washington Journal morning interview program for half an hour. It can be viewed on your local cable service or on the Internet at www.c-span.org/. Then watch half an hour of a morning news show on a commercial broadcast or cable news channel.

In a brief essay, describe three ways in which Washington Journal differs from the morning news show you watched on the commercial network. Which type of program do you prefer? Why?

NOTES: There are a number of key differences between C-SPAN and the commercial networks. They include

• C-SPAN does not stop for commercial interruption at regular intervals.
• While some C-SPAN hosts are better known than others, they all adopt a similar detached style of interviewing. There is a stylebook for C-SPAN interviewing that describes exactly how interviews should be done.
• The guests and callers are the focus of C-SPAN programs, not the hosts.
• Commercial network interviews tend to be livelier and more confrontational.

C-SPAN has a video archive that has every program the C-SPAN networks have ever aired that you can all up as free streaming video. This is an incredible resource for mass communication teachers. Check it out at

• http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary//

You can also view all three of the C-SPAN networks online at http://www.c-span.org/live/

Media Literacy Exercise?Gans’s basic journalistic values

Pick up a copy of a major newspaper (USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal) or the nearest urban newspaper (Omaha World Herald or Denver Post) and look at the front page. Mark each example of Gans’s basic journalistic values that you can identify. Then, in your journal:

• Give the name and date of your paper.
• List every story by headline on the front page.
• List the basic journalistic values from Gans for each story, and provide examples of how you see them.
  • Not all stories will fit perfectly but review them and give your best argument for why you think its fits in one category versus another. Be specific. HINT: You should have something to say about each story on your front page.
• Then, in a brief essay (400–500 words), explain which values you found and the evidence for them. Did you see any other values that you would want to add to the list? What were they?

NOTES: This is one of my favorite exercises for several reasons:

• It forces students to look at the nature of bias rather than parrot back what they have heard media commentators saying.
• It forces them to get at the “how” of bias. That is, what forms does bias take? What do journalists actually emphasize?
• It will result in similar findings by both liberal and conservative students. Gans’s scheme gets away from the notion that everything you see is evidence of bias against your point of view.
• It works reliably. I have never had any problem with students being unable to find examples of these values within news stories.

Media Literacy Exercise?Media Bias

Everyone seems to be convinced that the media are biased. But no one seems to agree about how the media are biased. Go back to your textbook and reread pages 43 to 46 (including Test Your Media Literacy) on media bias. Then read the following two articles from the Washington Post:

• Two Views of the Same News Find Opposite Biases, by Shankar Vedantam, 7/24/2006
• Science: Behavior and Evolution, online chat transcript with Shankar Vedantam, 7/24/2006
  Note: This transcript covers a couple of different articles by Vedantam. You only need to concern yourself with the material that deals with perception of bias.

Based on what you have read, you are to write an essay (500–700 words) that answers the following questions:

• How do people who have a point of view about a topic react to studies that are supposedly neutral (or unbiased)? Ho do neutral observers react to the same material? How do people react to stories that have an explicit point of view?
• How did the researchers reach their conclusions? How did they conduct their research?
• How would you categorize this research in terms of being message, medium, ownership, or audience based? Why?
• When you are consuming news, do you ever see news that you think is biased in favor of your point of view? Or do you usually see it as being biased against your point of view? Answer with examples.

 

Grading Rubric

	Levels of Achievement
Criteria	Deficient	Less Than Assigned	As Assigned	Superior
Length Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment is significantly under length.	70 % Assignment is under assigned length.	85 % Assignment is approximately 500 words.	100 % Assignment is fully developed essay that goes beyond basic assignment.
Research on Bias Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits multiple required details. Assignment makes significant makes incorrect claims.	70 % Response on study results and techniques are incomplete; does not deal with specifics from studies.	85 % Assignment discusses how people with a POV react to neutral coverage v. how people without POV react. Discusses research techniques.	100 % Assignment contains all required materials; elaborates on details.
Categorizing Research Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits multiple required details. Assignment makes significant makes incorrect claims.	70 % Assignment is vague or incomplete. Answer argues that that this is not an audience-based study.	85 % Assignment gives clear explanation of audience-based research.	100 % Assignment goes beyond basic requirements to explain why this is audience-based research.
Personal Response Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits significant details.	60 % Assignment has simple or unclear reaction to bias.	85 % Discusses personal encounters with bias in favor or opposed to your point of view; includes examples.	100 % Assignment has added depth to reaction to your personal response to bias; shows sensitivity to positive bias.

Media Literacy Exercise Notes

I always emphasize the importance of this chapter to my students when I cover it at the beginning of the semester. I will return to it multiple times throughout the semester when I ask students to apply the ideas from Chapter 2 in subsequent exercises.

Media Use Diary

The goal of this exercise is to learn more about your own media behavior in terms of how you use the media and how much you use them.

For one week, keep a diary in which you log all your media use. Record the medium you used, when you used it, and what kind of material you were consuming (i.e., what show you were watching, which book you were reading, what social media network you were posting to). After you have completed the diary, calculate the total amount of time you spent with each medium (newspapers, books other than textbooks, magazines, recorded music, radio, television, movies, and the Internet). Then write a 500-word essay that draws some conclusion about how you use the media, what benefits you derive from the media, and how you think your media consumption might affect you.

NOTES: The goal of this assignment is to get students to engage in some introspection about their own media use. While many students will just go through the motions of the assignment, a number will make some real discoveries about their habits.

As always, feel free to use whatever grading scheme works best for you. Here is a criterion-based system, where I assume that most students will complete the assignment in a competent manner and should earn a grade of B:

• To earn a grade of B, the student must include all the basic elements: media log, total, and an essay (350–500 words). The thing to watch for in the essay is a connection between the media log and what they say in the essay. Poorly done assignments will have exactly the same media behavior each day and an essay that does not connect to the log.
• To earn an A, the student must analyze the media behavior in light of material you have covered in class or that the student has read in the text.
• A student may earn a grade of C if the essay is short, or if student omits totals for each medium.
• Consider a grade of D or F if the essay falls to a single short paragraph or if the log is omitted.

Media Fast

In an attempt to explore the pervasiveness and functions of media in your individual life, you are to abstain from media use for the period of twenty-four hours. (Textbooks and other course assignments are not included.)

After you have finished your “fast,” you are to write a 500-word essay describing your experience. When writing this essay, you should include the following:

• When did you conduct your fast? Be specific.
• Based on what we have covered in class, describe the uses and functions of media in your life. During your media fast, how did you fulfill these uses and functions?
• Which mass media were most difficult to avoid? Why?
• Were there any consequences or benefits from avoiding media?
• What did you learn about your media consumption from this fast? Are there any changes you would make to these habits?
• Is it possible to live in a democracy without mass media? Can you be an active participant in the United States? Why or why not?

 

As always, feel free to use whatever grading scheme works best for you. I use a rubric-based system, where I assume that most students will complete the assignment in a competent manner and should earn a grade of B.

	Levels of Achievement
Criteria	Deficient	Less Than assigned	As Assigned	Superior
Length Weight 20.00%	0 % Assignment is significantly under length.	70 % Assignment is under assigned length.	85 % Assignment is approximately 600 words.	100 % Assignment is fully developed essay that goes beyond basic assignment.
Required Content Weight 30.00%	0 % Assignment omits significant details.	70 % Assignment is vague or incomplete on one or more of the required details.	85 % Assignment includes day, date, and time of cleanse; discusses what was missed; discusses difficulty of avoiding media.	100 % Assignment contains all required materials; elaborates on details.
Analysis Weight 40.00%	0 % Assignment omits significant details.	70 % Assignment is vague or incomplete in one or more of the required details.	85 % Assignment's analysis includes required discussion of media functions and learning about media use.	100 % Discussion of functions and media use adds understanding beyond basic concepts.
Democracy Weight 10.00%	0 % Assignment does not discuss role of media in a democratic society.	70 % Assignment makes vague statements about role of media in a democratic society.	85 % Assignment discusses specific functions of media in a democratic society.	100 % Assignment analyzes how media use affects citizens functioning in a democratic society.

 

 

Alternative Methods of Encoding and Decoding Media Messages

The goal of this exercise is to learn more about how the way a message is transmitted affects how you perceive and react to it. Review the section on the process of mass communication. From your reading of the chapter, you know that the type of medium you use will affect how you receive the message. With this exercise you are going to experience alternative ways of receiving mass communication messages. Do one of the following:

• Watch a movie or television show with the closed captioning on your TV turned on and the sound turned off. (Your television must have the captioning turned on in order to do this. You may also use the subtitles on a DVD with the sound turned off.) Be sure to include the name of the show you watched, what channel it was on, and the date and time you watched it. You can learn more about the captioning process at the National Captioning Institute (www.ncicap.org).
• Watch a show that features described video. Described video is the other side of closed captioning in that it describes the visual information from television programs to those who can’t see. Descriptive video originated at public television station WGBH in Boston in an effort to expand program accessibility. Described video is currently available for some programs on PBS, Nickelodeon, and many DVDs (including Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas). If described video is available for a program, it will be broadcast as the Secondary Audio Program (SAP) on stereo television sets. Listen to at least one half-hour with your eyes closed and the described video turned on. Be sure to include the name of the show you watched, what channel it was on, and when you watched it

• Listen to at least one-half hour of a book on tape by one of your favorite authors. Be sure to include which book you listened to, the name of the author, and where you got it.

The goal of this exercise is not to understand what it is like to be blind or deaf; rather, it is to experience alternate forms of media transmission. In a brief essay (400–500 words), explain what you did and what you learned from the experience. How was your media experience different from your usual way of consuming programming? What did you gain from the new methods of encoding? What did you lose?

NOTES: The goal of this assignment is to force students to separate the message from its normal context. Experiencing familiar content (a football game, a sitcom, a movie, a novel) through a new channel lets students see how much the medium being used affects the delivery of the message.

As always, feel free to use whatever grading scheme works best for you. I have used a criterion-based system, where I assume that most students will complete the assignment in a competent manner and should earn a grade of B.

• To earn the grade of B, the student must clearly state what was viewed or listened to, when the media consumption took place, and analyze the experience using specific examples from the item listened to or watched.
• To earn an A, the student needs to connect what was read about encoding and decoding media content in addition to meeting the standards for a B.
• A student may earn a C if the essay is brief, if the essay simply focuses on how much the student would hate being blind or deaf, or if the essay has no connection to the specific program.
• Consider a D or F if the essay falls to a single short paragraph or if specifics about the program are omitted. 

Media Literacy Exercise?Media ownership

Your local cable company may offer more than 100 channels, but how many different companies own the channels you are viewing? For this assignment you are to list the cable channels that appear on your local system, from channel 14 to channel 33 (the first twenty nonbroadcast channels). Now list who owns each of these channels. You will likely be able to find much of the information you need at the Columbia Journalism Review’s Web site:

www.cjr.org/resources/

Another good source of information on media ownership is available at the Pew Research Center’s Project Excellence in Journalism Web site:

http://www.journalism.org/2015/04/29/state-of-the-news-media-2015/

You may also need to go the Web sites of various channels or to your university library. How many different companies control those twenty channels?

NOTES: This assignment is a good candidate for giving completion points. You might also add to this assignment by extending it to a larger number of channels. You might also consider distributing a list of the local channels to your students.

As always, feel free to use whatever grading scheme works best for you. I use a criterion-based system, where I assume that most students will complete the assignment in a competent manner and should earn a grade of B. A graduate student grades my papers using the following standard:

• Students should earn a B for listing the channel number, the name of the network/channel and at least one owner for each channel.
• Students should earn an A for the assignment if they note the cross-ownership of many of the channels, and/or if they comment on who owns the groups of channels. Noticing the packaging of channels is also evidence of A work.
• Students should earn a C for the assignment if they simply list the channel numbers and a single owner for each channel.
• Students may earn a D or F if they simply attach the name of station to the channel number.

Media Literacy Exercise?Synergy

Pick a popular current movie. What studio produced it? What major media corporation owns the studio that produced it? Next, identify as many cross-promotion partnerships as you can. For example, how many magazines owned by the same corporation are featuring articles about the movie? What books have been published that tie in with the show or movie? Is there a soundtrack CD (or even a series of CDs)? What products are being sold with the movie’s image on it? (These can range from games to posters to clothing.) Try checking the movie or show’s Web site and the parent company’s site. What nonmedia products include the movie or show in their promotions? (These could include food, beverage, and even car companies.) You can find helpful information for this exercise at the Internet Movie Data Base:

http://imdb.com

NOTES: This assignment is going to be very much a matter of degree. Commercial blockbuster movies are going to have enormous levels of product tie-ins, while more serious movies will have far fewer. Even the movie The Hours, which featured Virginia Woolf as a character, had a tie-in promotion with several of Woolf’s books. You might consider asking your students to compare the number of tie-ins each movie has with the size of its budget. This assignment can be done as a paper for a grade or as a basis for a class discussion in a smaller enrollment section.

You can find a good estimate of many movies’ budgets at

 http://www.boxofficemojo.com

A second useful site is

http://www.the-numbers.com/

As always, feel free to use whatever grading scheme works best for you. I use a rubric-based system, where I assume that most students will complete the assignment in a competent manner and should earn a grade of B.

	Levels of Achievement
Criteria	Deficient	Less Than Assigned	As Assigned	Superior
Length Weight 35.00%	0 % Assignment is significantly under length.	65 % Assignment is under assigned length.	85 % Assignment is approximately 500 words.	100 % Assignment is fully developed essay that goes beyond basic assignment.
Movie Background Weight 35.00%	0 % Assignment omits multiple required details; makes incorrect claims.	65 % Response on who produced and funded the movie is incomplete.	85 % Assignment names studios/production companies, discusses what is known about ownership; clear evidence of research.	100 % Assignment contains all required materials; elaborates on details.
Promotional Partnerships Weight 30.00%	0 % Assignment gives minimal/nonexistent discussion of partnerships/synergy.	65 % Assignment is vague or incomplete; shows little sign of research.	85 % Assignment gives clear examples of actual promotional partnerships/synergy.	100 % Assignment goes beyond basic requirements to explain how these partnership/synergies work.

Media Literacy Exercise—Best Seller Lists

Among the most important of the bestseller lists are those published by the New York Times and USA Today. The USA Today bestseller list differs from other bestseller lists because it includes fiction and nonfiction, paperback and hardback books in a single list. Also, the USA Today list attempts to mirror the actual sales of books nationwide rather than those reported by a select group of bookstores such as those that report to the New York Times. Compare and contrast the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists. How is each structured? What can you discover about the book business with the USA Today list that you won’t find out by examining the New York Times lists?

USA Today list

New York Times list

NOTES: When the bestseller lists first went online, many newspapers had a partnership with an online bookstore so that readers could buy the books right off the list. These partnerships gradually faded away as newspapers came to realize the conflict of interest they were creating by selling books through their review sections.

Another newspaper book section and bestseller list worth checking out is the one from the Washington Post. It can be interesting to contrast what folks in Washington are reading compared to the rest of the country.

As always, feel free to use whatever grading scheme works best for you. I have used a criterion-based system, where I assume that most students will complete the assignment in a competent manner and should earn a grade of B.

To earn a grade of B, students should answer the basic questions. Most likely you would have them compare and contrast the top ten books on each list.

• To earn a grade of A, students should recognize that the top bestselling hardback novels may be relatively far down on the USA Today list, which combines fiction, nonfiction, paperback, and hardback all on one list.
• To earn a grade of C, students will compare the books on the lists without significant observations about the book business.

Media Literacy Exercise?What Are You Reading?

What is the book you have read most recently that wasn’t assigned to you by a teacher? Why did you choose it? Did you like the book? Why or why not? Was it on the bestseller lists? Can you explain why?

NOTES: The difficulty with this assignment is that many of your students may not have read a book for pleasure recently. You may have to expand this to include novels and nonfiction from the course work to get everyone to complete it.

As always, feel free to use whatever grading scheme works best for you. I use a criterion-based system, where I assume that most students will complete the assignment in a competent manner and should earn a grade of B. A graduate student grades my papers using the following standard:

To earn a grade of B, the student should answer the questions in a well-developed essay of 350–500 words. A likely answer will involve that the book was by a favorite author, or that it provided helpful advice.

The Literary Equivalent of a Big Mac and a Large Fries

A reader survey sponsored by the publishing industry showed that if people found themselves stranded on a desert island, their first choice in books would be the Bible. Their second choice? A Stephen King novel. King has had more than twenty books on the New York Times best-seller list, making him one of the most popular living authors. King’s works are often criticized for being nothing more than popular fiction, a charge that King cheerfully accepts: “I’m a salami writer,” King told USA Today. “I try to write good salami, but salami is salami. You can’t sell it as caviar.” He has also said that his work is “the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and a large fries.”¹

King dismisses the separation between serious literature and popular fiction, saying that there must be a good story to go with good writing: “So-called literary critics who praise gorgeous writing without a story are like some guy dating a model, saying she’s dumb as a stone boat but is great to look at.”²

Despite making no claims to being a literary writer, King was honored in 2003 when he was given the National Book Award for his contribution to American writing. The award was controversial because King has been considered a popular writer rather than a serious one. In his acceptance speech, King said he hoped his being honored would help bridge the gap between the two. “For far too long the so-called popular writers of this country and the so-called literary writers have stared at each other with animosity and a willful lack of understanding. . . . But giving an award like this to a guy like me suggests that in the future things don’t have to be the way they’ve always been. Bridges can be built between the so-called popular fiction and the so-called literary fiction.”³

King’s selection for the National Book Award didn’t end up being an isolated incident. Popular children’s writer Judy Blume won the following year.

Read King’s acceptance speech for the National Book Award.

 

¹ Bob Minzesheimer, “Hit No. 35 Could Be in the ‘Bag,’” USA Today, September 17, 1995, D1–2.

² Ibid.

³ Stephen King, “National Book Award acceptance speech, 2003,” available from www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_sking.html. National Book Foundation, 2003.

Media Literacy Exercise?The Literary Equivalent of a Big Mac and a Large Fries

Read the Test Your Media Literacy box “The Literary Equivalent of a Big Mac and a Large Fries” in your text on pages 137–138.

 

Then read Stephen King’s address that he gave after winning the National Book Award.

After you have done so, write an essay (400–600 words) in which you address the following questions:

• What does King mean when he says he is the “literary equivalent of a Big Mac and a large fries”?
• Is he being hard on himself, or is that a fair statement?
• Based on the books you read for English class and the books you read for fun, what is the difference between serious literature and popular fiction?
• Could any of Stephen King’s books be considered serious literature?
• Is there a style of writing or storytelling that makes it literature? What might make something literature or pop culture? How “popular” or alternative does a book need to be (or not)? Is something like A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens literature or popular fiction?

 

Media Literacy Exercise?The evolution of women’s magazines

Visit the Godey’s Lady’s Book Web site (http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/website-reviews/22773 ) and look at one of the complete issues. Compare and contrast the content of Godey’s with that of one of the modern women’s magazines. How are they similar? How are they different? (This Web site has the text of all the articles and scans of all of the illustrated plates.)

NOTES:

This is going to be a fairly time consuming exercise, especially if students have only a dial-up connection to the Internet. It also may have only minimal interest for the males in your class. I typically use this exercise as one option available to students to choose from. The unsophisticated student will note that Godey’s does not have lots of sex and photographs in it. The more sophisticated student will note that it still dealt with fashion, projects, and book reviews. They may also note that Godey’s seems more similar to magazines like Family Circle or Better Homes and Gardens than to Glamour or Cosmo.

Media Literacy Exercise?Magazine covers

Take a look at ten issues of magazines that you read on a regular basis. (They can be issues of a single magazine or of different magazines) Make a list of the people who appear on the covers. What sort of distribution of people do you find (i.e., male/female, race/ethnicity, old/young)? Why do you think these people were placed on the cover (other than that they will sell magazines)? List several cover lines that you find interesting. Would they draw you into the magazine? Why or why not? Write a cover line of your own for a story in one of the magazines.

NOTES: This makes an excellent research project for a smaller class. If you assign specific magazines to students, you can collect a fairly good-size data set to see whether the magazines you’ve picked match the New York Times’s results from the text. You might also either give students or have them develop a uniform coding sheet if you want to compare their results.

You can learn more about the New York Times story about magazine covers here:

http://www.onthemedia.org/story/131063-magazine-covers-in-black-and-white/

An interesting alternative assignment, if you have a smaller class, is to give students a couple of magazine articles to read and then write provocative cover lines for them.

Grading Rubric:

	Levels of Achievement
Criteria	Deficient	Less Than Assigned	As Assigned	Superior
Length Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment is significantly under length.	70 % Assignment is under assigned length.	85 % Assignment is approximately 500 words.	100 % Assignment is fully developed essay that goes beyond basic assignment.
Cover Data Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits significant details.	70 % List is vague or incomplete on one or more of the required details.	85 % Assignment includes name of magazines, cover dates, and information about who was on the covers.	100 % Assignment contains all required materials; elaborates on details.
Cover Analysis Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits significant details.	70 % Assignment is vague or incomplete in one or more of the required details.	85 % Assignment's analysis includes required discussion of demographic distribution and reasoning behind cover model's presence.	100 % Analysis adds understanding beyond basic concepts.
Cover Lines Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits significant details.	60 % Assignment is vague or incomplete in one or more of the required details.	85 % Assignment discusses cover lines, how they draw readers into the magazine; includes a cover line you have written.	100 % Assignment has added depth to discussion of actual and original cover lines.

 

Media Literacy Exercise?Is the newspaper industry declining?

Is the newspaper business really in a decline? Identify and discuss two reasons in support of this argument and two reasons opposing it.

NOTES: This assignment builds directly out of the textbook. The central issues are

• Urban afternoon papers having been closing at a steady pace over the last several decades. And urban papers are suffering overall.
• National newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and USA Today are holding onto paid circulation and readership.
• Most cities that had multiple competing newspapers now have both the morning and the afternoon papers published by the same company. Relatively few cities have true competing papers.
• More people still subscribe to newspapers than watch network television news.
• Suburban and community papers are suffering from the recession, but are not seeing as much trouble as the urban papers are.

Media Literacy Exercise?Nellie Bly and the tabloids today

How would nineteenth-century reporter Nellie Bly fit into the world of tabloid journalism today? Explain.

NOTES: For a more complete look at journalist Nellie Bly, take a look at

www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/world

This link takes you to the Around the World in 72 Days Web site that accompanies the PBS documentary of the same name. From what was written in the book and is apparent from the Web site, Nellie Bly would have neatly fit within any of the current tabloid newspapers. Look at the sort of lively and sensational stories that Bly used to write and compare them in style to what papers like the New York Daily News or the Chicago Sun-Times print.

 

Media Literacy Exercise?National Public Radio

Listen to one-half hour of news on National Public Radio (either Morning Edition or All Things Considered). After the initial five-minute news update, time how long each story lasts. What was the major topic of each story? How did these stories differ in terms of content and length from what you would hear (and see) on television news? You can listen to these programs on your radio, or you can hear the Webcast at

All Things Considered

• http://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/

Morning Edition

• http://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/

NOTES: The biggest challenge for this assignment is that students may not have taken a serious look at a full half-hour evening newscast. You might consider asking students to do both for the assignment. In addition to making a good out-of-class writing assignment, this could also serve as a good springboard for class discussion.

As always, feel free to use whatever grading scheme works best for you. I use a criterion-based system, where I assume that most students will complete the assignment in a competent manner and should earn a grade of B. A graduate student grades my papers using the following standard:

• For a grade of B, students should provide a log of the news stories from NPR. They should have comments that the stories are long. Students might also say that the stories are about issues they are not familiar with. Finally, they may note that NPR does not have commercials.
• For a grade of A, students should note the longer nature of stories, the greater depth in reporting, and a look at longer term, less “spot-news” oriented stories.
• For a grade of C, students may note that the stories lack the pictures that go with television as their key difference.

Media Literacy Exercise?Radio Formats

For one-half hour, listen to a radio station that you don’t normally listen to. What station did you listen to? What sort of format does the station have? Who is the station trying to appeal to? How does it differ from the station you usually listen to? Would you listen to the station again? Why or why not? (You may find it helpful to visit the station’s Web site, if it has one.)

NOTES: Students will have fun with this assignment, though they may have difficulty finding ownership information. The reference desk at your school’s library can probably provide help with this information, as can the FCC Web site. Also encourage students to go to the SALES portion of the station’s Web site, which will often have target audience information for potential advertisers.

The main criterion to separate an A from a B paper is completeness on the ownership question. A good discussion of who owns the station, whether it is local or national ownership, and where the station’s programming comes from is the best evidence of an A paper.

Media Literacy Exercise?Music Videos

View a current music video. In a brief (300–500 words) paper, name the video and the artist and briefly describe what kind of music it contains. Then analyze what the lyrics of the song say and compare them with the message of the video itself.

NOTES: One of the startling things about music videos is the fact that the visuals and the lyrics are often completely unrelated to each other, something that doesn’t seem to bother college students. It’s also interesting to see how students try to see connections that may or may not exist.

• A student should get a B on the essay if it gives a fairly literal interpretation of the visuals and the lyrics.
• A student should get an A on the essay if it explains the metaphors and themes that show up in the video and lyrics that go beyond a literal interpretation.
• Essays that are short or incomplete in describing the video or lyrics should get a C or lower.

 

Media Literacy Exercise?File Sharing

Read the material in your text on file sharing. The recording industry (and to a lesser degree the television and movie industries) claims that file sharing is killing the CD/music business. New artists may depend on file sharing as a way of promoting themselves outside of the traditional music business. How do you see people using file sharing? Is it anything more than a license to steal? Should copyright laws be respected? Does it matter if the artist is rich or poor? Is there any precedence in history to support your position? How can the industry change to adapt to file sharing? Support your argument with specific examples from your readings.

 

NOTES: Students uniformly engage in file sharing these days and will give a wide range of answers to justify what they are doing. This can also be a great springboard for class discussion.

 

Media Literacy Exercise?The Production Code

Interview someone who attended movies while the Production Code was still in effect (before 1966). How did movies of that era differ from those released today under the ratings system? Were they better or worse? Why?

NOTES: You can give students a good look at the Production Code through the following two Web sites:

Hollywood Censored: The Production Code

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/beyond/hollywood.html

This page, a part of a PBS site dealing with culture shock, gives additional information about the Production Code.

Text of the Motion Picture Production Code of 1930

http://www.artsreformation.com/a001/hays-code.html

In addition to having students learn more about the Production Code, this is also a good oral history project. For example, I have had African American students come back with stories about their grandparents having to watch movies from the balcony because Jim Crow laws wouldn’t let them sit on the main floor.

This can be a difficult assignment for some students because it requires that they locate and talk to someone in their seventies or eighties. For this reason, you may want to makes this assignment be one of a series of choices.

Media Literacy Exercise?Internet buzz

Visit the movie gossip Web site Dark Horizons (www.darkhorizons.com) Summarize the “buzz” at the site about a current or upcoming movie. What is it based on? How might these messages affect audience members’ perceptions of the movie?

NOTES: This assignment can also be completed using www.aintitcool.com/. Be forewarned that both of these sites have extensive use of profanity on them, especially in the posts that readers make on the discussion boards. This is also a good time to look at the issue of how the Internet allows anything to be published, even if there are no credible sources backing up the information.

Media Literacy Exercise—The Bechdel Test

There are lots of movies with great relationships between men. There are a number of movies with interesting roles for women. But how many movies out there feature multiple major female characters who interact with each other? That's the question the Bechdel Test for Women in Film tries to answer. I stumbled across this amazingly simple tool for analyzing films in one of those "You might also like" boxes at the bottom of the Mediaite page.

Here's the scoop, quoted from Rachel Sklar's Mediaite article (which references a post from Boing, Boing):

The Bechdel test—named for the cartoonist Alison Bechdel who wrote a long-running comic strip called Dykes To Watch Out For and the critically acclaimed graphic novel Fun Home—is a test to assess whether women have a meaningful presence in a movie. It consists of three questions.

1. Are there two or more women in it that have names?
2. Do they talk to each other?
3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?

Once you start thinking about it, you’ll be surprised by how many films don’t pass this test. In fact, there are entire genres (action-adventure, for example) that seem to fail the Bechdel test, by and large.

Not surprisingly, male-centric movies such as Fight Club, or Lawrence of Arabia, or Das Boot don't pass the test. But as Rachel Sklar points out, other notable non-passing movies include:

• Shrek
• Clerks
• Big Lebowski
• Home Alone
• Slumdog Millionaire
• The Truman Show
• Lord of the Rings
• Tomb Raider
• and even . . . The Princess Bride

This test doesn't judge the quality of the movie or whether it is misogynistic, only that it doesn't portray the interaction of two women with names dealing with something other than a man.

Read the above material (including the links) on the Bechdel Test for the significance of women in the movies. Then view this video. You are then to perform the Bechdel Test for a movie that has been released in the last year. You need to view the movie with the Bechdel questions in hand. They are

1. Are there two or more women in the movie who have names?
2. Do they talk to each other?
3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?

After you have done so, you are to write a 500-word (minimum) essay that does the following:

• Briefly discuss what the Bechdel Test is for and what it tells us about a movie.
• Give the name of the movie you are analyzing and when (specifically) you watched it.
• Give detailed answers to the questions. (Who are the women characters? What do they talk about? How is the presence of women in the film different from that of men?)
• Were you surprised by what you learned completing this assignment? Why or why not?

NOTES: Look to the Media Activities section for this chapter for some more readings and discussion opportunities for looking at the Bechdel Test. There are good examples of movies with great roles for women that nevertheless don’t pass the Bechdel Test.

 

Grading Rubric

	Levels of Achievement
Criteria	Deficient	Less Than Assigned	As Assigned	Superior
Length Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment is significantly under length.	70 % Assignment is under assigned length.	85 % Assignment is approximately 500 words.	100 % Assignment is fully developed essay that goes beyond basic assignment.
Basic Elements Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits multiple required details.	70 % Movie was older than assigned, does not properly describe Bechdel test, or lacks other detail.	85 % Assignment includes name of the movie and when it was watched. The movie was released in 2011 or 2012. Assignment explains core concepts of Bechdel Test.	100 % Assignment contains all required materials; elaborates on details.
Explains Bechdel Test Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits significant details.	70 % Assignment is vague or incomplete in one or more of the required details.	85 % Assignment gives detailed, specific answers to test questions.	100 % Discussion of Bechdel Test goes beyond basic elements; explains significance of it.
Movie Analysis Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits significant details.	60 % Assignment has simple or unclear reaction to results.	85 % Assignment has a clear reaction to what was learned from conducting the analysis.	100 % Assignment has added depth to reaction to what the test tells the viewer.

 

 

Media Literacy Exercise?The Nielsen Ratings

The television industry is obsessed with ratings, but how do we really know who is Number One? The Nielsen ratings are the bible of the industry. How does the Nielsen Media Research Company measure audiences? How many homes are sampled? What is the difference between a people meter and a diary? To answer these questions, visit Nielsen Media Research at

www.nielsenmedia.com.

And here is a great explanation of Nielsen Ratings given by puppets. (Seriously . . .)

http://www.ralphehanson.com/2012/04/10/link-ch-9-puppets-explain-nielsen-ratings/

 

Media Literacy Exercise?Sense of Place

In his book No Sense of Place, Joshua Meyrowitz argues that television serves as a window on the world, exposing us to people who live in different places and have different lifestyles from ours. For this exercise, reread the Test Your Media Literacy on No Sense of Place. Then watch an evening of prime time television from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (or 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., depending on your time zone). Write down any situations you are being exposed to that you would not have normally experienced without television. Then write an essay (350–500 words) summarizing your findings.

NOTES: One of Meyrowitz’s central theses is that television, and electronic media in general, tend to cut across boundaries, while print media tend to segregate audiences into discrete groups. For example, magazines tend to be targeted at particular demographic groups but television tends to be viewed by a broad, general audience. So when a company advertises contraceptives through Cosmopolitan or Maxim, they will excite little controversy as the audience is likely to be sexually active young men and women. But when those same advertising messages are run on television in the afternoon they become problematic when viewed by young people and children, perhaps together with their parents. It’s not that there is something wrong with the information, only that we are not used to being exposed to these messages in mixed groups.

You may also want to read this interview with Joshua Meyrowitz

Media Literacy Exercise—Social Media & Privacy

Start by reading the Test Your Media Literacy: How Much Privacy Do You Have With Your Social Media Accounts? Then read these links:

 

• A Minnesota middle-school girl says she was forced to reveal her Facebook password to police and school officials.
• Government agencies and colleges are asking for applicants’ Facebook passwords.
• What can you do when an employer asks for your password?
• Revolutionaries in Middle East are being forced to give up social media passwords upon arrest.

Then:

• If you have a Facebook account, visit it, and look at what you have on your page. Think about what your "friends" can see about you. Think about what someone who is not your friend can see about you.
• Take a look at what you have on your Twitter account and any other social media accounts.
• Google yourself to check out what is publicly available about you on the Web.

 

Now, in an essay of 500–700 words, I want you answer the following questions:

• If an employer, your parents, the police, a reporter, or a potential date were to look you up online, what would they learn about you? Would letting them "friend" you change what they would find?
• Do you think that it's an invasion of your privacy to have someone investigate you online without your permission? Why or why not?
• What would you look for if you were investigating someone online?
• How would you feel about being asked to let an employer, coach, teacher or the like into your accounts? Why do you feel that way?
• Can anything you put online be considered private? Why or why not?
• What have you done to protect the image your project online?

 

Grading Rubric

 

	Levels of Achievement
Criteria	Deficient	Less Than Assigned	As Assigned	Superior
Length Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment is significantly under length.	70 % Assignment is under assigned length.	85 % Assignment is approximately 500 words.	100 % Assignment is fully developed essay that goes beyond basic assignment.
Open v. Friend Information Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits multiple required details.	70 % Response on how your public and private personas differ is generic without analysis.	85 % Assignment explains the difference between your public and private persona.	100 % Assignment contains all required materials; elaborates on details.
Investigating Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits multiple required details.	70 % Assignment is vague or incomplete.	85 % Assignment explains how you would investigate someone online and how you would feel about it being done to you.	100 % Assignment goes beyond basic requirements to explore the ethical implications of investigating someone online.
Personal privacy Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits significant details.	60 % Assignment has simple or unclear reaction to privacy implications.	85 % Discusses how you do or could protect your online privacy.	100 % Assignment has added depth to reaction to your personal response to privacy.

 

Media Literacy Exercise?Cyberpunk and hacker culture

We hear a lot of talk about all the wonderful things that Internet communication is going to do for us as a society. But it can also have dysfunctional or antisocial aspects as well. Read the links below. Based on your readings, who and what do you think cyberpunks and hackers are? What do these people do with their computers that is different from what mainstream users do? (Use examples from your readings.) Do you think that cyberpunks are a genuine counterculture? Why or why not? Give your answer in an essay (400–500 words).

·         A 1994 interview with William Gibson
www.josefsson.net/gibson/index.html

·         An article by Steven Levy from 2010 looking back on his book Hackers
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/04/ff_hackers/

NOTES: Here are some suggestions of what to be looking for in your students’ answers:

·         Who and what do you think cyberpunks and hackers are?

Cyberpunks and hackers are people who want to use computers in nontraditional ways, or ways other than they were intended. They believe computers are a tool to be explored and used to their own advantage. Hackers were initially people who wanted to figure out how their computers worked and try to improve them through their own efforts. The term hacker in the popular sense has come to mean people who break into, or hack, computers and networks. Despite Levy’s protestation that such people should be called “digital trespassers,” the term hacker is still being applied. The entire file sharing movement is emphatically part of the cyberpunk movement, and members have been outraged when the record and movie companies have started using hacking techniques to get back at the file sharers.

·         What do these people do with their computers that is different from what mainstream users do? (Use examples from your readings.)

You may see a range of answers here including sharing old video games and system emulators (you can make your PC pretend to be a Super Nintendo using a program that is being given away on the Internet), sharing of movies and music, breaking into systems, and staging attacks on Web sites.

·         Do you think that cyberpunks are a genuine counterculture? Why or why not?

Students may answer this as they please, but it would appear to me that a very large proportion of young people today would qualify as cyberpunks.

Media Literacy Exercise Is Everyone a Journalist?

It has been argued that the Internet turns everyone into a journalist by giving everyone the opportunity to publish his or her own work to a worldwide audience. One prominent way in which this is occurring is through Weblogs or blogs. Visit one of the major blogging sites and read several entries from the online journals. Then, in an essay (350–500 words), discuss what you think blogs are. Are they personal journals? A privately run editorial page? A new public forum open to everyone?

There is an extensive list of media-related blogs listed on the side of my blog located at http://ralphehanson.com

 

NOTES: There has been extensive discussion in journalism circles as to whether blogging is a new form of journalism and whether it will replace traditional news media. In some ways this is clearly happening. For example, Jim Romenesko’s blog at the Poynter.org site is clearly the leading source of daily news about the news business. Some professional journalists have been asked to take down their blog, apparently because they are seen as competition or damaging to the official Web site of the newspaper.

 

Media Literacy Exercise?Psychographics I

Clip a full-page ad from a magazine. Analyze who you think the target audience is and explain why. You might want to discuss age, sex, income, education, and psychographic group. For more information about the VALS system, you can consult its Web site at

http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/

Media Literacy Exercise?Psychographics II

Before working on this, make sure you read the material on VALS from your textbook. Visit the VALS site, read about the VALS process, and take the VALS questionnaire. In a brief essay (400–500 words) answer the following questions:

What is VALS?

In your own words, describe how did their questionnaire categorized you? Do you agree with its classification? Why or why not?

Briefly discuss at least one broadcast or print ad (be specific) that you feel targets your VALS category. Explain why you think it is targeting your category.

 

• VALS Homepage: What is VALS?
  http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/about.shtml
   
• What are the VALS categories?
  http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/ustypes.shtml
   
• OK, I'm ready to take the VALS survey.
  http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/presurvey.shtml

 

NOTES: Students are often either fascinated or offended by psychographics. Many will see instant recognition of themselves in their VALS category, while others will be furious about being reduced to what they view as a simplistic description of themselves. I remind them that VALS does not describe who they are so much as describe how advertisers view people like them.

 

Grading Rubric

	Levels of Achievement
Criteria	Deficient	Less Than Assigned	As Assigned	Superior
Length Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment is significantly under length.	70 % Assignment is under assigned length.	85 % Assignment is approximately 500 words.	100 % Assignment is fully developed essay that goes beyond basic assignment.
What Is VALS? Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits multiple required details.	70 % Assignment gives only minimal definition of VALS; uses Wikipedia.	85 % Assignment explains what the VALS system is.	100 % Assignment contains all required elements; elaborates on details.
How Did VALS Categorize You? Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits significant details.	70 % Assignment is vague or incomplete in one or more of the required details.	85 % Describes two categories VALS places you in; gives your reaction to how you are categorized.	100 % Discussion of VALS categorization goes beyond basic elements; explains significance of it.
Movie Analysis Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits significant details; does not discuss a specific ad.	60 % Assignment has simple or unclear discussion of ad.	85 % Assignment discusses an ad that targets your group from VALS.	100 % Assignment has added depth to discussion of targeted ad.

 

 

Media Literacy Exercise?Advertising Headlines

You are employed at an advertising agency and have been assigned to help with a campaign for a new line of vitamin pills. Write three different headlines for the vitamins: one designed to appeal to eighteen- to twenty-four-year-old college students, one designed to appeal to forty- to fifty-year-old women, and one designed to sell children’s vitamins to single parents. Briefly explain why each of your headlines will appeal to your target audience.

NOTES: This is a fun assignment for students that will help them internalize the notion of audience targeting. You would likely expect to see some kind of “maximum performance” theme for the college audience, a “feel your best” or “deal with stress” theme for the forty- to fifty-year-old, and an “easy way to make sure they get the nutrients they need” for the parent. Students will definitely be dealing with stereotypes with their ads, and you may want to point that out to them and see how they feel about it.

Media Literacy Exercise?Public relations and the daily news

Critics charge that a substantial portion of the daily news originates with the public relations industry. Look at the front page of your state newspaper or record a half-hour newscast. Count how many of the stories contain news that started out as public relations. Be sure to count press releases, press conferences, speeches, video news releases, and information from spokespersons. Are there any stories that don’t have a PR component? What are these stories about?

NOTES: If you look closely, virtually every story PR aspect to it. Look for signs of a press conference, press release, or spokesperson. Almost everything that comes from an institutional source will have a public relations connection. Note that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A good public relations practitioner can make a reporter’s job easier. The reporter simply has to make sure that he or she is not being steered away from the “real” story. The big problem with this system is that people who don’t have an institutional connection, and hence a representative to the press, tend to be ignored.

Media Literacy Exercise—Spin Control

Watch a TV news commentary show, such as the Meet the Press or Face the Nation, Washington Week, or Fox News Sunday. Watch for examples of how the panelists or guests are attempting to “spin” the story they are discussing. List two distinct spins on a story and explain who would benefit from the spin.

NOTES: It is fashionable now to refer to every bit of political and business communication as spin. But spin does have a specific goal beyond filling the world with blather. It’s an attempt to assign meaning to a set of events or a story. It is, in essence, agenda setting, which we discussed in Chapter 2.

 

Media Literacy Exercise—Free Speech

In March of 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of the Phelps family, operating as the Westboro Baptist Church (although they have no connection to any of the Baptist denominations), to picket the funerals of American servicemen and women. The family typically carries signs proclaiming “GOD HATES FAGS” and “THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS.” The family pickets funerals in order to draw attention to their arguments that God is punishing the United States for tolerating homosexuality.

For this assignment, start by reading about the Phelps family in the Visual Media Literacy box on page 321 of your textbook. Then read the links and view the video at this blog post about the Snyder v. Phelps court decision:

• Snyder v. Phelps Readings and Video

 

In a short essay (500 words minimum), you are to answer the following questions:

• Who are the Phelps family and the Westboro Baptist Church?
• Who is Albert Snyder, and why did he sue the Phelps family?
• What grounds would the court have had for ruling in favor of Snyder? What grounds did the court have for ruling in favor of Phelps?
• Do you agree or disagree with how the court ruled in the Phelps case? Why or why not?
• What would the consequences be for free speech if the court had ruled against Phelps?
• What can communities do (if anything) about the Westboro protests?
• Do you think people have a right to protest at or near funerals?

 

Grading Rubric

 

	Levels of Achievement
Criteria	Deficient	Less Than Assigned	As Assigned	Superior
Length Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment is significantly under length.	70 % Assignment is under assigned length.	85 % Assignment is approximately 500 words.	100 % Assignment is fully developed essay that goes beyond basic assignment.
Background Information Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits multiple required details.	70 % Response on who the players are in the case is value laden and/or incomplete.	85 % Assignment explains the background of the Snyder v. Phelps case.	100 % Assignment contains all required materials; elaborates on details.
Implications Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits multiple required details.	70 % Assignment does not properly analyze both sides of case.	85 % Assignment explains why the court ruled the way it did and discusses implications of ruling.	100 % Assignment goes beyond basic requirements to explore the ethical implications of protecting offensive speech.
Personal Response Weight 25.00%	0 % Assignment omits significant details.	60 % Assignment has simple or unclear reaction to the implications of protecting unpopular speech.	85 % Discusses how you feel about the court ruling and the right to protest at funerals.	100 % Assignment has added depth to reaction to your personal response to the case.

 

 

Media Literacy Exercise?Current issues in media law

The Freedom Forum is a nonprofit foundation established by the Gannett newspaper chain that is devoted to protecting free speech and free press rights. Among the many features on the group’s Web site (http://www.freedomforum.org) is a page devoted to current issues related to the First Amendment:

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/

For this assignment you are to visit the First Amendment page and read one of the articles. Then, in a short essay, summarize the article and explain the basic area of media law it deals with.

NOTES: There is a wealth of First Amendment issues here that go far beyond just freedom of the press, which is part of why I like this site. It’s important for students to realize that the First Amendment belongs to everyone and not just the press.

Media Literacy Exercise?Invasion of privacy in your state

Invasion of privacy cases are based primarily on state law. The Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press has placed on the Web a comprehensive overview of privacy laws in all fifty states and the District of Columbia:

http://www.rcfp.org/photoguide/stateindex.html

For this assignment you are to visit the site and choose two states. In a brief essay, compare and contrast privacy laws in the two states.

NOTES: The Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press has a number of toolkits on it to assist reporters and photographers with a range of media law issues, including the above mentioned privacy law page. If you look at the group’s home page (http://www.rcfp.org/) you will find guides to taping phone calls, open meetings laws, open records laws, and Freedom of Information Act requests. In addition, the site has a wide range of current stories on legal issues related to reporting. 

Media Literacy Exercise?Using the Bok Model

Use the Bok model for ethical decision making to analyze a newspaper editor’s decision about whether to run Richard Drew’s photo of the man falling from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Respond to each of the three steps: Consult your conscience, seek alternatives, and hold an imagined ethical dialogue with everyone involved. What did you decide to do? Explain why you made that decision.

NOTES: The biggest challenge with this assignment is for students to conduct the dialogue. They generally only want to argue their own point of view. The strongest way to do this assignment is to find sources where editors talk about why they did or did not run the photo. But students should be able to develop arguments from each of the major parties in the case. A search on Richard Drew’s name at the Poynter.org Web site will turn up several good resources for this assignment.

Media Literacy Exercise?The news ombudsman

What is a news ombudsman? What does he or she do? Read a column by the Washington Post’s current ombudsman at the paper’s Web site:

• http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/opinion/columns/ombudsman/

Give an example of how the Post’s ombudsman solved a reader’s or source’s problem.

NOTES: The Washington Post’s ombudsman has a reputation for being one of the most active, involved, and critical in the business. The best thing about this assignment is that it gets students looking at an issue that is currently in the news rather than one that is drawn from the past.

The Post’s ombudsman also writes a blog located at

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ombudsman-blog/

Media Literacy Exercise?Cartoons of controversy

Read the material on the lesson page about the Danish cartoons before working on the discussions question. In his blog, cartoonist Daryl Cagle defends the publication of the Danish cartoons portraying the prophet Muhammad. How does he defend the creation and publication of deliberately provocative cartoons? What do you think of the cartoons he published about the controversy? What do you think about the cartoons?

http://uspolitics.about.com/od/politicalcommentary/a/dk_cartoons.htm

 

NOTES: There has been an enormous amount written about the cartoons and people’s reactions to them. Here is a link to a blog post that provides links to a range of sources about the cartoons, including a blog that has reprinted the cartoons.

 

• http://www.ralphehanson.com/2012/05/30/link-ch-15-the-danish-cartoons/

Decoding the cartoons can be complicated, as Cagle explained in an entry from July 9, 2007. Sorry, there isn’t a direct link to it.

 

http://www.cagle.com/news/blog/July-Aug-2007.asp

 

In spring 2010 the always controversial animated television program South Park got itself censored and edited by its network, Comedy Central, for running an episode featuring the prophet Muhammad. You can read more about the fuss in a guest blog post written by Charley Reed, who contributed research to the third edition of Mass Communication: Living in a Media World:

 

• http://ralphehanson.com/blog/archive_10_01.html#042710_southpark

Media Literacy Exercise?Reporters Without Borders

Every year the group Reporters Without Borders for Freedom of Information issues a report on the state of press freedom around the world. You can read the introduction to their 2014 report here:

• http://rsf.org/index2014/en-index2014.php

And you should download the entire report at

• http://rsf.org/index2014/data/index2014_en.pdf

Read the opening summary (the first link), then use the complete report to write an essay (500–750 words) that looks at how democratic practices vary in regard to freedom of speech and of the press across the countries in the study. You will need to have read Chapter 15 in your text (especially about the different press systems and theories, pages 364–368) to complete this assignment. You may find it helpful to use information from the complete report as well.

In your essay, you should address the following issues:

•   Which three nations had the best records on freedom of the press? Why did they get those high ratings? How do they behave as democracies? How would you describe their approach to freedom of the press?
•   Which three nations were at the bottom of the list? Why did they get those low ratings? What kind of governments do they have in those countries? How would you describe their approach to freedom of the press?
•   Where did the United States fit on the rankings? Was it up or down from the previous year? Why is it ranked where it is? Based on what you have read, how would you describe the United States’s approach to freedom of the press?

NOTE: This report gets updated every year; you will want to link to the latest report available.

 

Grading Rubric

 

?	Levels of Achievement
Criteria	Does Not Meet Criteria	Beginning	Developing	Proficient	Advanced
Rankings of High and Low Countries Weight 33.00%	0 % Does not meet criteria.	60 % Answer omits one or more significant details.	75 % Minimal explanation of rankings.	85 % Includes basic information about each nation from the summary report	100 % Beyond required elements, includes in-depth details from the main body of the report.
Application of Theories of the Press Weight 33.00%	0 % Does not meet criteria.	60 % Answer omits one or more significant details.	75 % Uses a theory of the press to describe approaches to freedom of the press.	85 % Uses appropriate theory of the press to describe each government’s approach to freedom of the press.	100 % Uses well-developed examples from report to explain approaches to freedom of the press.
Analysis of the United States Weight 34.00%	0 % Does not meet criteria.	60 % Answer omits one or more significant details.	75 % Has minimal explanation of United States’s ranking.	85 % Discusses United States’s ranking, includes basic details from summary report.	100 % Beyond required elements, compares United States to other countries.