Furness | COMM 100 | FA17 Final Exam
MEDIA & SOCIETY – FINAL EXAM
Due: Monday, Dec 11 by 2:30 pm, via Canvas
ESSAY QUESTIONS – 10 points each
Using your course materials as points of reference, please answer the following questions to the best of your ability:
- I want you to first draw on our readings in order to brieflydescribe what objectivity in journalism means and why it’s so important to our society. Then, I want you to explain how and why objectivity can also lead to problems in the ways that citizens are presented with facts and information. Be sure to discuss some of the issues that critics raise about objectivity and explain why you agree or disagree with them. As part of your discussion, be sure to mention something about how “fake news” figures intothe picture. (For example: does objective reporting challenge fake news? Or has that style of reporting helped to create the situation we’re now in?)
- I want you to begin by describing how early forms of media regulation shaped the the media system in theU.S. I’m particularly interested in the kind of big picture issues that Victor Pickard talks about in his article. (For example: what was kind of media system was created in the US back in the day? Whose interests wasit designed to serve and how can you tell?). Then, I want you to draw on both Pickard’s article and our lecture notes to explain what what we can learn from that history in order to make sense of current debates over net neutrality. As part of your discussion, be sure to explain a) what net neutrality is, b) what laws FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai is proposing to change, and c) why you think the current laws should or shouldn’t be changed.
- Here, I want you to imagine that you’re having a conversation about this class with a fairly intelligent young person who is curious about what you’re studying. When you tell them you just read some articles about media technologies and the Internet, they ask you a straightforward question that’s deceptively simple: “So, what’s wrong with social media and cell phones?” Maybe that’s not the best question someone could ask you, and maybe there is no simple right vs. wrong, or good vs. bad. But it’s a reasonable question, nonetheless, and I want you to respond to it by drawing on the arguments made in three of the articles we read in Weeks 12 and 13. Organize your response around a few specific points you want this person to understand, and use some clear examples to ground your discussion.
ASSIGNMENT DETAILS
Format
- Essays should be typed in 12-pt font with standard margins and spacing. Essays should each be roughly 2 pages and should each have their own list of Works Cited.
- Combine your essays into a single Word or PDF file that you will upload to Canvas.
- At the end of your essays, I would like you to include a final Self-Assessment paragraph in which you tell me the participation grade you think you should receive this semester. Briefly explain why you deserve that grade, and also tell me how many classes you think you missed.
Grading
- Each essay will be graded out of 10 points. The three scores will be averaged together and converted into an overall percentage (for ex. 7 out of 10 average = 70% or a C).
- Your essays will be evaluated for:
a)Accuracy and fluency with course concepts.
b)Effective use (and citation) of course materials. The emphasis should be on course readings, but this also includes lecture notes from your professor and supplementary materials such as documentary films.
c)Clarity, style, and form. This includes proper citations for ALL materials referenced in the document, as well as properly formatted lists of works cited for each essay.
d)Originality and depth of thought.