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JAMS 661 Sem. 003 DRAFT SYLLABUS Prof. Jeff Smith
TR 3:30-4:45 in BOL 581 Fall 2015
SEMINAR IN MEDIA COMMUNICATION AND SOCIETY
War News, Entertainment, and Persuasion
The news, entertainment, and opinion media seek audiences and revenue, but often deal with sensitive topics. National security issues and the experiences of armed conflict are typically represented in ways intended to serve the purposes of the communicator. The meaning making can be analyzed with media studies concepts such as agenda setting, framing, myth, news management, press freedom, propaganda, professionalism, public relations, self-censorship, and sensationalism. Students in this course develop skills in research, discussion, writing, and critical thinking as they investigate how defense issues relate to cultural values. Course material analyzes mediated communication with references to concerns such as professional standards, media industry objectives, laws, public opinion, and military-presidential practices.
Required text: Smith, Jeffery A. War and Press Freedom: The Problem of Prerogative Power (1999). (Copies will be loaned to students at no cost.)
The class D2L site has the syllabus, weekly lectures, videos, and assignment drop box. D2L sites are at http://uwm.courses.wisconsin.edu.
My office hours in 538 Bolton Hall are 2:00 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Appointments can be made for other times. E-mail: . Consider me readily available for consultation and questions.
Grading: The course grade will be based on a research paper (40%), three assignments (10% each), a final examination (20%), and in-class participation and oral presentations of assignments and the research paper (10%). The main criteria for grading written work will be clarity and correctness of writing style, quality and quantity of primary (documenting information) and secondary (scholarly) sources used, and soundness and sophistication of understanding and analysis. The main criteria for spoken contributions will be how logical, informed, and substantial the observations are. Assignment and course average grades (which are not rounded up) will be: 95-100 A, 92-94 A-, 89-91 B+, 86-88 B, 83-85 B-, 80-82 C+, 77-79 C, 74-76 C-, 71-73 D+, 68-70 D, 65-67 D-, below 65 F.
Research papers are expected to expand existing knowledge by providing an original interpretation of events and trends. In order to understand and write about the forces at work, scholars need a sufficient number of high-quality primary sources (first-hand material from the time period being examined) and secondary studies (peer-reviewed scholarship about the topic). A critical evaluation of previous research will show the gaps and debates the paper can address. To focus the project, fill in the blanks: I am studying ______to discover ______to understand ______.
Communication effects are difficult to document, but the analysis of the creation of media products can include factors such as individual contexts (biography, intellectual climate, etc.), media practices (branding, framing, and sensationalism, for example), extra-media occurrences (such as wars), and ideologies (general systems of beliefs and values such as democracy). Determine the concepts (e.g., professionalism, moral panic, marketplace of ideas, etc.), criteria (ethical, philosophical, prudential, etc.), and level(s) of analysis (e.g., individual, group, organization, nation, etc.) to use.
All of the written work for the course is strengthened by solid research. Common problems with the research paper are 1) a lack of digging into primary sources (including media content) in order to have something fresh to interpret 2) a failure to cite relevant secondary sources on the precise topic and/or somewhat larger subjects and 3) research questions that are too broad, not researchable, or without a problem to solve.
Good places to begin research are Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/), Google Books (http://books.google.com/), and the UWM library homepage (http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/) where you can find books (using the “PantherCat”) and scholarly articles (using the “A-Z databases”). A handy JAMS 661 library research guide is at: http://guides.library.uwm.edu/JAMS_661-SMITH .
The instructor will suggest sources for each research paper. UWM librarians can also be helpful. Books and articles not available at UWM can be borrowed by filling out a form at: http://uwm.edu/libraries/user-services/ill/ . Books will be delivered to the UWM library circulation desk. (Try the U.W. System search for best and quickest results.) Articles will be sent by e-mail.
Library databases are helpful for locating scholarship, much of which is available in full-text versions. Recommended UWM library A-Z databases for articles: Academic Search (various academic fields), America: History and Life (history), Lexis-Nexis (law and journalism), Military and Government (defense), and Readers Guide (magazines). WorldCat is especially helpful for finding scholarly, media, and archival materials.
The Wisconsin Historical Society has one of the nation’s best media history collections. Materials from those holdings can be delivered to the UWM library archive room (http://uwm.edu/libraries/archives/) for your use. Search at: http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ . For archival sources in Wisconsin, go to: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/wiarchives/ .
Participants in research seminars such as this one are expected to communicate the results of their individual inquiries on the general topic. Oral presentations of the class assignments and of the research papers should provide necessary context and summarize main points. Brief use of video or Internet material may be possible. Make clear and concise arguments backed by stated evidence. Avoid simply reading notes. Five minutes will be allowed for assignments and ten minutes for research papers. Some additional time will be available for questions or comments.
Schedule
September 3: Introduction.
Larger issues for discussion: How should we think about war? What purposes does it have? What do we want to know about the role of the media in war today?
D2L Handouts: SPJ Code of Ethics, Media Studies Concepts, From The Craft of Research, Research Paper Steps, Sherlock Holmes Methods.
September 8 and 10: Current Coverage of War.
Show-and-tell oral presentations related to a topic you may want to use for a research paper: Bring a war-related opinion piece, news story, or persuasive message from the print/online media to describe and critically analyze with criteria (ethical, conceptual, philosophical, prudential, etc.) you specify. The purpose is to practice using the kind of interpretive lens you may be using in the first assignment and in your paper. Plan on three minutes for presentations followed by one or two minutes for discussion. Please email a link to the media content being analyzed (or the content itself) to the instructor by noon on Tuesday. The presentation is part of the participation grade, but is not turned in. Presentations we do not have time for on Tuesday will be made on Thursday. Note: for our discussions this semester, I recommend obtaining a discounted subscription to the New York Times at nytimes.com/collegerate .
Larger issue: Should war be a subject of humor?
Discussion: Selecting research topics that are a) researchable in media content, documents, etc. available to you b) fresh in terms of what scholarly books and articles already exist, and c) related to your interests and perhaps career plans.
Schedule Assignment 1 presentation dates.
September 15 and 17: Media Performance, Theories, and Concepts.
Assignment 1 presented in class on Tuesday or Thursday and due in the D2L drop box at 10 p.m. on Friday, September 18. Length: 600 to 750 words. Write a letter to the editor, op-ed piece, journalism review column, or blog to analyze a specific example (include a link if possible) of media performance on a war-related subject with selected ethical criteria (e.g. those found in the SPJ ethics code), philosophical (e.g., democratic processes) perspectives, or media studies concepts you state. The subject may be related to your research paper idea(s). Focus on the work of the media rather than the topic in the media. Try to use less than 100 words merely describing rather than analyzing what is in the example. Please email a link to the media content being analyzed (and a draft of the assignment or a list of main points if you wish) to the instructor by noon on the day of your presentation for projection during your presentation.
Larger issues: Which media studies theories and concepts seem to be the most and least credible and useful? Why? What monitorial (supplying information), facilitative (supporting processes), radical (critiquing the status quo), and collaborative (cooperating with authorities) roles do the media play? See the UWM library database Communication and Mass Media Complete .
September 22 and 24: Power and Press Freedom in Wartime.
Text reading: Smith, pp. vii-125. Each student is required to bring one discussion question about the text material this week. The purpose is to practice using critical thought on one type of defense issue and developing questions for research.
Larger issues: How much power should a president have in wartime? What does the press clause protect? Is James Madison’s absolutism too radical? How and why is freedom of expression violated in wartime? What roles do human emotions and political biases play in wartime suppression? How and why did battlefield censorship arise in American history?
September 29 and October 1: Power and Press Freedom in Wartime.
Text reading: Smith, pp. 127-228. Each student is required to bring one discussion question about the text material this week. The purpose is to practice using critical thought on one type of defense issue and developing questions for research.
Larger issues: How has wartime censorship been bureaucratized and what techniques have been used? Should military-presidential power be used to decide what the public should know about armed conflict? What is constitutional, just, and practical? How do the media frame war? What perspectives are missing from the discussions?
Schedule individual meetings and Assignment 2 presentation times.
Week of October 5-9: Individual meetings on research projects with the instructor in his 538 Bolton office. No class meetings this week.
October 13 and 15: Analyzing and Advising.
Assignment 2 presented in class on Tuesday or Thursday and due in the D2L drop box at 10 p.m. on Friday, October 16. Length: 600 to 750 words. Use Chicago style notes as described later in the syllabus. Please email a one-page summary of your main points to the instructor by noon on the day of your presentation. Choose one of two options: 1) Use primary and secondary sources to write a historical case study about a specific media-related incident involving defense issues (such as propaganda). Critically analyze, as the War and Press Freedom book does, the reasoning used for the decisions and discuss the outcomes. Do not rely solely on information and/or insights in previous writings by others. 2) Write a briefing paper to advise a policy maker (e.g., an editor or the president) on a current media policy or practice issue (such as publishing leaked secrets) in the area of national defense. (You can find topics by examining recent media stories, journalism reviews, trade journals, and the Web sites of organizations such as those mentioned in the Introduction and Current Coverage topics on D2L.) The briefing paper should consist of a) up to 100 words of background information and b) a list of talking points backed up by facts and logic supporting your position and answering objections that may arise. Try to make your solutions constitutional, just, and practical. Your case study or briefing paper could be related to your research paper ideas. The purpose is to practice doing the kind of research and thinking you will be doing in your paper.
October 20 and 22: The Safety of Journalists.
Reminder: Each week read the D2L lecture before class and bring questions and comments for discussion.
Larger issues: What are the dangers in war coverage and what precautions can reporters take? What reasons do they have for taking dangerous assignments?
Schedule Assignment 3 presentation times.
October 27 and 29: Seeking Solutions.
Assignment 3 presented in class on Tuesday or Thursday and due in the D2L drop box at 10 p.m. on Friday, October 30. Length: approximately 750 words. Prepare a prospectus for the course research paper with 1) a title, 2) a bibliographical list of the main primary (documents, media content, etc.) and secondary (scholarly) sources, 3) a research question, 4) an interpretive framework, and 5) a brief outline that follows the paper format shown below at the due date. For the Chicago style bibliography format, see the JAMS 661 library course guide at http://guides.library.uwm.edu/JAMS_661-SMITH. The purpose of Assignment 3 is to assess progress and see what still needs to be refined. Please email a draft of your prospectus (or a summary) to the instructor by noon on the day of your presentation. Presentations should be about three minutes.
Larger issues: Can the media contribute to the resolution of armed conflicts?
Recommended reading on D2L: Smith, Jeffery A. “The Media and Moral Force.” Keynote address, symposium on Media, War, and Terrorism, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, May 20, 2002.
Recommend reading on D2L: Smith, Jeffery A. “Power and Freedom,” in
The History of Evil, Volume V: The History of Evil in the Early 20th Century (1900-1950) ed. Victoria Harrison. Durham, U.K.: Acumen Publishing, forthcoming.
November 3 and 5: War Photographs and Documentaries.
Larger issues: What “evidence” does photography supply? When should self-censorship be used on images of war?
November 10 and 12: Wartime Propaganda and Public Relations.
Larger issues: How is wartime propaganda constructed and for what purposes?
November 17 and 19: Hollywood Imagery.
Larger issues: How does the motion picture industry respond to official and unofficial war-related pressures? How do commercial forces and directors’ objectives affect the messages?
November 24: Optional individual meetings with the instructor in Bolton 538. No class meeting.
November 26: Thanksgiving.
December 1 and 3: Militainment and Military Promotions.
Larger issues: How are military goals sold to the public? What persuasion techniques are being used?
On Thursday (or before) each student may submit a signed proposal for one final examination question (with correct answer) for 3 extra-credit points on the examination. Note cards will be supplied for the submissions. Questions selected for use will earn 2 more extra credit points. Selection factors include the need for an exam with questions that are about each weekly topic, that have a reasonable level of difficulty, and that are a mix of multiple choice and true-false. Questions are subject to some editing.