How the News Media Shape History: Honors—Fall 2005
HowtheNewsMediaShapeHistory
COMM 270.002H
Fall semester 2004 5
Hughes 102
Tuesday and Friday, 9:55–11:10 a.m.
School of Communication
AmericanUniversity
“It is remarkable how little general interest there is in the history of the country. …
There are many reasons for this. The general subject seems distasteful to the young.
Some say that they cannot remember dates, others do not like the long accounts of wars,
and still others are heard to declare that the subject is too dull.
Now, there is no more interesting subject when properly presented.”
(See last page of syllabus for citation.)
W. Joseph Campbell, Ph.D.
Office:125 McDowell Hall
Officephone: (202) 885-2071
E-mail:
Office hours:Tuesday, 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, 2:30–5:30 p.m.
Friday, by appointment
Our course in brief: What we’ll study
Welcome to the honors section of “How the News Media Shape History.” I am delighted and privileged to be teaching this class.
During the semester, we critically explore whether, when, how, and to what extent the news media have influenced the course of events in the United States. We’ll challenge assumptions throughout, including the fundamental hypothesis that is reflected in the course title. We’ll ask: Do the news media really shape history?
We’ll examine a good deal of American history including the role of the news media in the Watergate scandal, the contributions of colonial printers such as Thomas Paine to the American Revolution, and the influence of the U.S. press in armed conflicts such as the Spanish-American and Vietnam wars. We’ll take a look at such intriguing figures as William Lloyd Garrison and William Randolph Hearst, Ida Tarbell and Ida B. Wells. And we’ll discuss theories and metaphors explaining media influence, including “agenda-setting,” “chaos theory,” and the “lightning bolt effect.”
“How the News Media Shape History” also will require you to gain or deepen familiarity with the extraordinary, only-in-Washington resources of the Library of Congress, where you will be asked to conduct research for a paper due in November.
We’ll proceed seminar-style, meaning that well-informed discussions will be crucial to our inquiry. You’re encouraged to be willing to test your assumptions, and even to revise your thinking, about the news media and the presumption of their power. Thinking critically, yet fairly, about the roles of the news media is an objective central to this section of “How the News Media Shape History.”
We have great deal of interesting, challenging material to cover and I look forward to a rewarding, intellectually challenging class. I trust that we will engage the material collegially, in a spirit of open inquiry. Please keep in mind that there is always room in my classes for logically-derived, well-reasoned contrarian points of view. I welcome them.
Readings for the course
The following texts are required for the course. They may be purchased at the Campus Store:
• Mightier than the Sword: How the News Media Have Shaped American History (Westview Press, 1997). The author of Mightier than the Sword is Rodger Streitmatter, a professor in the School of Communication at AmericanUniversity.
• Common Sense (ISBN:0–140–39016–2), Thomas Paine’s famous extended essay. This edition includes a useful introductory discussion of Common Sense.
• Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies (paperback edition, ISBN: 0-275-98113-4; Praeger, 2003). I’m the author of Yellow Journalism, which will serve as a centerpiece of our consideration of the press and the Spanish-American War period.
• Joseph McCarthy : Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America’s Most Hated Senator (ISBN: 0-684-83625-4, Free Press, 1999), a George Mason historian’s revisionist treatment of the infamous U.S. senator.
Numerous shorter readings, including articles from newspapers, journals, and trade publications, will be made available periodically. These, too, will represent important assignments.
Course procedures
We’ll follow a variety of interactive and experiential approaches in assessing whether, when, how, and to what extent the news media have shaped American history. These approaches include what I hope will be an engaging blend of some lecture, frequent in-class discussion, and a fair amount out-of-class research.
Assisting me this semester will be Michael Prather, a junior and an AU honors student who was a standout in the section of “How the News Media Shape History” I taught a year ago. Michael’s assistantship is made possible through the University’s General Education program. He will attend many, but not all, of our sessions. He will assist in out-of-class assignments, conduct optional reviews for exams, and make a presentation or two.
Our sessions will begin promptly at 9:55 a.m., Tuesday and Friday. I will routinely take attendance and will reserve the option to consider absences, late arrivals, and early departures in determining final grades. I will endeavor to learn your names as quickly as I can—in any case, by no later than the third week of class.
A few housekeeping requests: Be sure that your cell phones and pagers are switched off while we’re in session. Please don’t submit papers as email attachments. And do let me know if illness or other reasons keep you from attending class. Also: plan to check the class “Blackboard” site frequently, as many supplemental readings will be posted there.
Assignments are to be completed and submitted at the deadlines specified. My standing policy is not to acceptlate papers unless there are truly exceptional circumstances. And such circumstances tend to be exceptionally rare.
My faculty office is on the first floor of McDowell Hall, on the north side of campus. Why there? I am in the second year of a project called “faculty in residence” which seeks to bring another dimension of academic life to the residence halls, and to promote informal contacts among faculty and students. This project is modeled in part after Professor John Richardson’s successful and ongoing faculty-in-residence program in Anderson Hall. The important difference is that I don’t reside in the residence hall; Professor Richardson does.
My expectations are high in this class. I expect that you’ll much more than attend class, take notes, and give it all back on exams. Developing and sharpening skills of thinking critically and incisively about the news media in a democratic society are vital to success in “How the News Media Shape History.” As such, participating in discussions is crucial. And to participate meaningfully and well, you will have to keep up with reading assignments and bring to class your ideas, questions, and observations. I fully expect to be impressed by your intellectual curiosity and by the acuity of your insights and observations.
I look forward to speaking with you outside of class as well. We can meet during my office hours, which are listed on the first page of the syllabus, or at other, mutually convenient times. I can be reached easily via email—I check my AU email account, , quite often—and through my campus phone (extension 2071).
The vital importance of academic integrity
I expect that you will treat matters of academic integrity seriously. To that end, you are encouraged to become familiar with your rights and responsibilities as defined in the University’s Academic Integrity Code. The Code may be accessed online at:
Violations of the Code will not be treated lightly—not in this class. There is simply no place here for plagiarism, inventing or tampering with quotations, or other forms of academic dishonesty. And make no mistake: I have taken, and I will take, disciplinary action if violations are discovered.
Please see me if you have any questions about academic integrity as described in the Code or as they relate to this class. It has been my experience that Code violations sometimes are related to unwise choices made in the face of acute time pressures—choices that can, and do, have lasting and serious repercussions.
If you find yourself in a tight spot as deadlines approach, please let me know.
Grades and assignments
Grades in our section of “How the News Media Shape History” will be determined this way:
• Exams
□ Final exam, given Friday, Dec. 16:25 percent
□ Mid-termexam, given Friday, Oct. 7:15 percent
•Papers
□ Book review, due Friday, Sept. 9:10 percent
□ Berlin Wall paper, due Tuesday, Sept. 20:10 percent
□ Reaction paper, due Tuesday, Nov. 1:10 percent
□ Murrow-McCarthy research paper, due Tuesday, Dec. 6:25 percent
□ Murrow-McCarthy paper draft, due Friday, Nov. 18:5 percent
Here is a description of each of those categories:
Exams
The finalexam will be given Dec. 16, in keeping with the University’s schedule. (This means the exam date may not be altered.) The exam will include several short answer questions and probably two essay questions. We’ll devote a portion of our class Dec. 9 to preparing for the final exam.
The mid-term exam will be given Oct. 7. It, too, will contain short answer questions, as well as one essay question. A review for the mid-term will be conducted near the close of class on Oct. 15.
Questions for exams will be drawn from lectures, in-class discussions, and assigned readings. The final exam will cover course material presented since the mid-term.
Murrow-McCarthy research paper
The Library of Congress is an exceptional and invaluable resource in Washington, and I want my students to gain familiarity with at least one important part of this institution. In this assignment, you are to visit the library’s Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room (see and examine a month’s coverage in a U.S. newspaper in 1954, as the confrontation between Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy reached a peak. This assignment will allow you to gain insights into what some media historians have called a defining moment in television history. Was Murrow’s broadcast exposé of McCarthy regarded at the time as a momentous program? Your research will examine that still-intriguing question.
The Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room is in the Library’s Madison Building at Independence Avenue and First Street, SE. (The Metro station nearest the Madison Building is Capitol South, on the orange and blue lines.) Please note the newspaper reading room is open until 9:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday.
Here’s what to do:
- Obtain a reader’s card (easily and quickly accomplished, on the ground floor of the Madison Building, in Room LM-140). Then head down the hall to the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room (Room LM-133) where, to enter, you’ll show your reader’s card.
- Consult the index of the microfilm holdings of newspapers which includes the year 1954; the index is in one of the battered green volumes kept just inside the door of the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room.
- Select from the entries for 1954 a newspaper from your hometown, or your home state, or a state in which you might like to live some day. Do not select the Los Angeles Times,the New York Times or the Washington Post, however. That’s because nearly complete runs of each of those newspapers are now available through the ProQuest “historical newspapers” electronic database, accessible through the Bender Library online site.
- Submit a request for microfilmed issues of the newspaper for March 1954. (Requests for microfilm usually are usually filled within 30–40 minutes.) Several newspapers are available in the Newspaper Reading Room on a self-serve basis. These titles include the Atlanta Journal, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune,and Philadelphia Inquirer, and as well as the now-defunct Washington Evening Star. You’re welcome to choose to review any of those titles.
- Scroll throughthe microfilm, reviewing the front page of every issue of the month. You need not read every article on every front page. And you need not take copious notes. But do jot down observations about:
- the appearance of the newspaper’s frontpage. (How does the front page compare to that of contemporary newspapers? Also, what is most striking to you about the 1954 newspaper’s appearance?)
- the coverage related to McCarthy and/or Murrow. (That is, what did the newspaper say about the senator and the broadcaster? Were there stories about Murrow’s “See It Now” program about McCarthy on the front page? Was Murrow’s program of March 7, 1954, regarded by the newspaper as a pivotal moment in the dismantling of McCarthy?)
- the coverage on other topics on the front page. (What were some of the other important stories of the time? Remember, this was at the height of the Cold War period. You’re welcome to browse beyond the front page and take a look at the sports pages and what then were typically called “women’s pages.”)
- any oddities (that is, any news items, or typographic elements, that strike you as strange or odd) that appeared in the newspaper that month.
- any articles on the front page that discuss the journalism of the day. (What was said about journalism in 1954—if anything? It may that you won’t find any front-page articles that discussed the journalism of the period. In that case, simply say so in your paper.)
6. Make noteof one article from March 1954 which you feel would be useful for everyone in the class to read. The article could be a particularly well-written dispatch. Or it could be an angry or a humorous front-page news analysis. The choice is entirely yours. Just be sure to note the date and headline, and briefly explain why you selected that article.
Drawing on the material you gather during your research at the Library of Congress, write a descriptive paper of ten to twelve pages (double spaced and printed in 12-point) that discusses your impressions of the newspaper and covers the elements in items 5 and 6 (above). You’re welcome to attach photocopies of articles from the newspaper you reviewed, as you feel is warranted. (The attachments will not count toward the required page length, of course.)
As with any research paper, be sure to include citations of the articles to which you refer. This is a must. I prefer footnotes on this assignment, and will discuss a footnoting method before the assignment is due.
Submit two copies of your Murrow-McCarthy paper at the start of class Dec. 6. A draft—ideally, a nearly complete draft—is due at the start of class Nov. 18. I’ll return the drafts, with comments and suggestions, on Nov. 29, our first session following the Thanksgiving break.
Pleasenote that you may place microfilm on the reserve shelf in the Newspaper Reading Room for as many as three days. Doing so will enable you to retrieve the microfilm promptly when you make a return visit. You may find that you’ll need to make more than one visit to the reading room to complete the assignment.
Do not hesitate to let me know should you have questions or concerns about this assignment, which should prove quite insightful.
Book review
A well-written, five-to-six page critical review of Thomas Paine’sCommon Sensewill be due at the start of class Sept. 9. The review should be double spaced and printed in 12-point type.
I recommend that you address the content of Common Sense in a detailed assessmentofthe book’s strengths and weaknesses. So avoid a lengthy recapitulation and write instead a detailed analysis of the strong and soft spots in Paine’s argument. Common Sense is a polemic, meaning it’s not intended to reflect both or all sides. And Paine’s arguments and logic are not everywhere airtight.
Also be sure to discuss why, in your view, Common Sense was so compelling, why it was such a runaway best-seller in the late 1770s. A thoughtful and fairly detailed discussion of that topic is expected. You are welcome to incorporate references to the introductory essay found in the edition of Common Sense that is required for this class.
Be sure to include specific examples to illustrate and support your points. Incorporating a few telling quotes from Common Sense (and noting the pages on which the quotes appear) is encouraged. I’ll be looking for evidence that you engaged this work and considered its content critically. Generalities, alone, just won’t do.
Also be sure to include a clear recommendation whether Common Sense should be required in future sections of “How the News Media Shape History”—and explain your opinion in some detail.
During an early session of our class, I will distribute a couple of sample book reviews, to give you an idea about what solid critiques are like. You also are encouraged to read the Sunday book review sections of the New York Times and Washington Post for insights and examples.
Although this assignment is required of everyone in the class, please do not consider it a collaborative effort. In other words, do not work with your colleagues in preparing and writing the review. The review is your assessment of Common Sense.
Berlin Wall paper
Please plan to visit (either individually or in self-chosen groups) Freedom Park, which is outside the now-closed Newseum in Arlington, Va. At the base of Freedom Park you’ll find the longest stretch of the Berlin Wall outside of Germany. The forbidding Wall separated Berlin for twenty-eight years. It fell sixteen year ago.