COMMUNICATION 245:  MASS COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE

Course Description

Mass Communication and Culture provides an overview of the print media, film, radio, the music business, television and advertising.  It touches on issues such as the impact of mass media on society, on children and minorities, the economic structure of the mass media, and the relationship between the mass media and the government.

Requirements

Your grade will be based on a total of 150 points:

							 													
Readings

John Vivian, The Media of Mass Communication (Fifth Edition).  Boston:  Allyn & Bacon, 1999.

Thomas Beell, editor.  Messages 4:  The Washington Post Media Companion.  Boston:  Allyn & Bacon, 1997.

Readings on reserve at Morris Library (designated "RBR" below).

COMMUNICATION 245:  LETTER TO AN ADVERTISER

The letter to an advertiser is worth 5 points and is due on Tuesday, May 16.  You should begin by selecting a newspaper or magazine ad or a radio or TV commercial which you either love or hate.  If it is a print ad, cut it out of newspaper or magazine, but be sure to identify the newspaper or magazine, the date and the page number of the ad.  

If it is a radio or TV commercial, you are not required to tape it (although if it is a really outrageous commercial and you are lucky enough to get it on tape, I'd like to see or hear it), but if you cannot tape it, be sure to note the exact time and the call letters of the radio station or the television channel on which you saw it.  

Your next step is to identify the company which manufactured whatever product is being advertised and get the address of the company.  Addresses of the major manufacturers in the United States are available from a number of sources in the Reference Room of the library.  The call numbers of various reference books listing these addresses are attached to this handout.  Once you have the address of the company which advertised its product, write a letter with the following format:

Your address
Date

Advertiser's address

Dear Sir/Madam:

[Tell them why you like or dislike the ad.]

Sincerely,
Your name

You should attach a zeroxed copy of the ad to the original of your letter and mail it to the company.  If you choose a broadcast commercial, you may also send a copy of your letter to the FTC and/or FCC if you would like to, but you must send your letter to the company first.  The addresses of these agencies are:

FTC FCC
Pennsylvania Avenue at Sixth Street NW 1919 M Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20580 Washington, D.C. 20036

Then, turn in a zeroxed copy of your letter with the original copy of the ad on Tuesday, May 16.  Do not turn in zeroxed copies of any print ads; only the originals will be accepted.  There will be a 3-point penalty for any letters turned in late, so be sure to turn them in on time.  If you receive a response from the company later in May (or ever), I'd be interested in seeing it.

We look at the economic structure of the print media and the problems arising when the news media in general fail to report stories which might offend their major advertisers, for example.  Alternative media sometimes report controversial stories ignored by the mainstream media, which may or may not pick up such stories after they are raised by the alternative press.  The least reported but most serious stories (such as the absence of any reports about the trillion-dollar bailout of the savings and loans before the 1988 election) are considered "censored" by Carl Jensen's "Project Censored."

We then look at movies in terms of their impact on society, followed by a look at the impact of radio as illustrated by the public reaction to Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio drama, for example.

Radio is followed by an extensive overview of popular music beginning with ragtime and moving through heavy metal, punk and rap of the 1990s.  Lyrics and effects of selected songs from each decade of the twentieth century are considered.

We then look at the economic structure of broadcast television, followed by a consideration of television's effects on children and various theories about how television violence affects children and adults.

We also consider ethical dilemmas which broadcast journalists confront, such as whether or not to cooperate with demands of hostages, and whether or not to air videotaped footage of murders, suicides and plane crashes, for example.

We also make an examination of advertising in terms of its powerful impact upon socialization:  stereotyped portrayals of men and women in advertising are considered.

The course ends with a look at the effects of pornography in light of research by Malamuth, Donnerstein and others.