• This is a take-home essay exam.
• It is due by 4:00pm on Monday, May 20, 2002. You may submit early if you wish.
• No later than the due date/time, you may submit your exam in any of the following ways:
  1. in my mailbox at the Communication Department (250 Pearson Hall)
  2. as an email attachment (MS Word format) to Ralph.Begleiter@udel.edu
  3. as an HTML or PowerPoint file (if you wish to include multimedia or web links, etc.) delivered as an email attachment, or on a disk (floppy or CD)

Aim for about 7-10 pages, total. If you submit as an HTML file, be sure to check all links and graphics; I will evaluate your work based on what I can actually see. If you submit by email, I will send you a receipt by email, confirming that I can open your file. Do not assume I have received your submission until you receive your receipt.

Choose two of the following questions to discuss in your essay exam.

A. The number of broadcast talk shows and "channels" of information (print, broadcast, internet) has expanded so dramatically and the speed of new media technology has increased so quickly in recent years that the content of news and information media is shifting. Describe the changes which have taken place in the 1990's in the media and argue whether you think consumers of news -- readers and viewers -- are better informed or less well informed as a result of those changes. Use examples from class, from videos we've seen in class and from our course readings.

B. The news media have always been "players" in the events they cover, whether in reporting on the World Wars at the beginning of the last century, covering elections, helping to unravel the Cold War, or covering the nation and the world in just the last few years. But are the media "bit players" or dominant ones? Side shows, or center stage? Argue your view of the role the news media have played, using examples from class, from guest speakers, from our course readings and from videos we've seen, and from your own explorations if you wish.

C. News media in the United States (especially broadcast media) today are confronted with a conflict between "informing the democracy" and sustaining the level of financial and viewership resources needed to support quality global newsgathering. Explain why these two demands conflict, and how the news media deal with this problem. Offer suggestions to prevent this conflict from "killing" the news organizations themselves or undermining the fundamental objective of maintaining a well-informed public. Use examples from class, from videos we've seen in class and from our course readings.