Although the Relationship Between Political Activism and the Mass Media Is As Old As The

Media & Political Activism Fall 2016

Fall 2016 Weds: 12:30 – 3:20 pm

Larry Gross Room KER 202

7/25/2016

Communications 620:

Media and Political Activism

Although the relationship between political activism and the mass media is as old as the mass media, it is often argued that the media have taken over the public sphere to the extent that effective movements for social and political change are doomed to struggle in arenas created and controlled by mass media. This seminar will focus on the history and current forms of public combat as they are shaped by - and in reaction to - the mass media. Beginning with a consideration of the close relations between mass media and political movements in earlier centuries, we will move to such contemporary examples as AIDS, environmentalism, and pro/anti abortion activism, the tactical constraints facing marginal political groups, and the role of the internet in grassroots politics. The explosion of social media and other “horizontal” organizing in the post-OCCUPY moment.

In addition to reading and discussing theoretical, historical and empirical studies, students will be expected to develop research projects relating to the seminar topic areas.

Brief comments on each week's readings are to be posted on Blackboard by Tuesday evening.

ASSIGNED READINGS:

1. August 24: The Press and The Nation

A. J. Ayer," Common Sense and Its Effects," Thomas Paine, (Chicago, 1988), Chapter 3, pp. 35-55.

Benedict Anderson, "The origins of national consciousness" and "Creole pioneers," Chapters 3-4, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism, (Verso, 1983/1991), pp. 37-65.

Raymond Williams, "The Growth of the Popular Press," The Long Revolution (Harper, 1961), Chapters, pp. 173-213.

2. August 31: Media and Politics. 19th century

Judith Wechsler, "Caricature, Newspapers and Politics: Paris in the 1830s," Studies in Visual Communication, 1981, 7:4,2-39.

E. P. Thompson, "Class consciousness," The Making of the English Working Class (Vintage, 1963), Chapter 16, pp. 711-779 (portions)

Dan Schiller, Objectivity and the News: The Public and the Rise of Commercial Journalism (Pennsylvania, 1981), "The invisible frame," pp. 1-11, "a new press for a new public" excerpts, "Democracy and the news," 179-197.

John Nerone, "The crusade against abolitionism," in Violence Against the Press (Oxford, 1994), pp. 84-110.

3. Sept. 7: Immigrant/Minority Press in the US

Robert Park, The Immigrant Press and Its Control (Harper, 1922), excerpts: "Why there is a foreign-language press," "The class war," "The survival of the fittest"

Clint Wilson and Felix Gutierrez, Race, Multiculturalism and the Media: From Mass to Class Communication (Sage, 1995, 2nd edition), Chapters, "History" pp. 171-197, and "Advocacy," pp. 214-229.

Journalism History, excerpts from special issues: "Spanish-Language Media in America: Background, Resources, History," 4:2, 1977; "The Roots of Black Journalism," 4:4, 1977-78; “Native American Journalism,” 6:2,1979.

4. Sept 14: Media and Class Struggle

Selections on "Popular Practices": Etienne Cabet, "Support the popular press" (1834); V. I. Lenin, "Party organization and party literature" (1905); Communist International, Thesis on the organization and structure of the communist parties, vii: "On the party press" (1921); Adalbert Fogarasi, "The tasks of the communist press" (1921); Worker's Life, "The worker correspondent" (1928); Berthold Brecht, "Radio as a means of communication: A talk of the function of radio" (1930); Ernesto "Che" Guevara, "Propaganda, information, training and indoctrination" (1960); Frantz Fanon, ''This is the voice of Algeria" (1959); Mattelart and Siegelaub, eds. Communication and Class Struggle: 2. Liberation, Socialism (International General, 1983)

Hanno Hardt and Karen Ohrn, "The eyes of the proletariat: The worker-photography movement in Weimar Germany," Studies in Visual Communication, 1981, 7:4, 72-83.

5. Sept 21: Muckraking and Dissident Press

Robert Miraldi, "The muckrakers: Heroes or villains?” Muckraking and Objectivity: Journalism’s Colliding Traditions (Greenwood, 1990),pp. 1-22.

Robert Glessing, "Introduction" by Robert Gray, "The future," and "Last word from underground," in Lincoln Bergman and Allan Katzman, eds. The Underground Press in America (Indiana, 1970).

The Anti-Mass: Methods of Organization for Collectives, pamphlet, 1970.

6. Sept 28: Antiwar Activisim and the 60s

Todd Gitlin, The Whole World is Watching, California, 1980

7. Oct. 5: Pressure on the Media

Eric Barnouw, “Clifford J. Durr” in Media Marathon: A Twentieth Century Memoir, (Duke, 1996), pp. 167-181.

John D'Emilio, "The quest for legitimacy," in Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940-1970 (Chicago, 1983), pp. 108-115.

Lyons, Charles, "We Are Not Invisible," in The New Censors: Movies and the Culture Wars (Temple, 1997), pp. 107-145,

Douglas Crimp with Adam Ralston, AIDS Demo Graphics (Bay Press, 1990)

Alison Anderson, "The Environmental Lobby," in Media, Culture and the Environment, (Rutgers, 1997), pp. 75-105.

8. Oct. 12: Pressure on the Media, cont.

Bernadette Barker-Plummer, “News as a Political Resource: Media Strategies and Political Identity in the U.S. Women’s Movement, 1966-1975,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication, September 1995, pp. 306-324.

Marvin Olasky, "Pulpits for Abortion, 1970-1974," in The Press and Abortion, 1838-1988 (Erlbaum, 1988), Chapter 12, pp. 113-122.

Linda Kintz, “Kitchen Table Politics: The Folking of America,” in Between Jesus and the Market: The Emotions that Matter in Right Wing America (Duke, 1997), pp. 77-109.

9. Oct. 19: Alternative Media Landscapes: Mimeograph to the Internet

Minority Press Group, Here Is The Other News: Challenges to the Local Commercial Press (London, 1980), "Roots" pp. 5-12, "Branches," pp. 13-30."

Ed Herman, "Democratic Media," Z Papers, Jan-Mar, 1992, pp. 23-30.

Benjamin Shepard and Ronald Hayduk, From ACT UP to the WTO: Urban Protest and Community Building in the Era of Globalization (Verso, 2002) [selections].

Graham Meikle, Future Active: Media Activism and the Internet (Routledge, 2002).

Martha McCaughey and Michael Ayers, eds., Cyberactivism: Online Activism in Theory and Practice (Routledge, 2003) [selections].

Given the vast array of current examples, the assignments and topics for the final weeks will be determined by the direction of your research projects.

10. Oct. 26:

11. Nov. 2:

12. Nov. 9;

13. Nov. 16;

14. Nov. 30:

ASSIGNMENTS

Students will be expected to post online [Blackboard] comments of the readings each week. There will be a mid-term writing assignment [approximately 8-10 pages], focused primarily on the development and literature review for their final project paper. The final project paper will be discussed in class, to permit students to take feedback into account in the final stages of completion of the final paper [approximately 18-20 pages].

30% Mid-term paper

50% Final paper

10% E-mail written contributions

10% Class participation

The Annenberg School of Communication is committed to upholding the University's Academic Integrity Code as detailed in the SCampus Guide. It is the policy of the School of Communication to report all violations of the code. Any serious violation or pattern of violations of the Academic Integrity Code may result in the student's expulsion.

Any Student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as early as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.”