If you were given a class and were told to teach Mass Media, without a curriculum, what would you teach? I know Mass Media is a broad term, so what are some topics you think should be taught in a Mass Media course?
I'd discuss the gilded age, the robber barons, and the corrosive nature of monopolies.
I'd discuss the role of the 4th estate in a democracy and abject failure of the mass media to embrace that role and the intentional embrace of a far more corrosive role in public life.
Then I'd spend a lecture yelling about people reading/writing bullshit government and corporate propaganda releases and passing it off as news.
Then for the final lesson I'd buy a blow-up doll, tape a picture of katie couric's face to it, and titty fuck it in front of the class and announce that their final grade will be based on the popularity of the news person's head they can bring back to me.
Edited Mon Jun 16 2008, 09:36pm
Perhaps I can use one or two of the serious suggestions when I actually teach this Mass Media class. Its such a broad topic, so I'm not sure what to cover.
Maybe you can open your first class with "Mass Media is such a broad topic... what do you guys think i should cover?"
make it a lesson on how the public starts off uninformed, and can either be force-fed worthless content (britney spears, GWB, and traffic reports) or can be guided to specific conclusions by targeted presentation of information (Operation Iraqi Freedom).
That would naturally lead into conversations about the subversive mass media - like comedy central's "daily show" and "colbert report" - which are still part of the mass media, but act against the normal grain.
from there, you blend into bloggers, their contributions to mass media, and what blogging means to the entrenched media presenters (like where the AP is currently serving DMCA notices to bloggers).
one class could be a series of outtakes from the Anchorman, coupled with shots from actual newscasts from when the situations were actively occurring.
You could talk about what the difference between "media" and "entertainment" is, and how that line has been blurred over the last 30 years.
or, you could tell whoever gave you this assignment that you don't even have a clue on where you start, so you're probably not the right guy for the job.
Perhaps I can use one or two of the serious suggestions when I actually teach this Mass Media class. Its such a broad topic, so I'm not sure what to cover.
Maybe you can open your first class with "Mass Media is such a broad topic... what do you guys think i should cover?"
make it a lesson on how the public starts off uninformed, and can either be force-fed worthless content (britney spears, GWB, and traffic reports) or can be guided to specific conclusions by targeted presentation of information (Operation Iraqi Freedom).
That would naturally lead into conversations about the subversive mass media - or, you could tell whoever gave you this assignment that you don't even have a clue on where you start, so you're probably not the right guy for the job.
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I like that idea for how to start the class. Its brilliant actually.
I have a lot of ideas for what to teach, but its a year long course, every other day. So, I'm researching and asking advice. Since I obviously cannot inclulde everything, it nice to hear suggestions for what might be included.
So far I've thought about including the following:
the history of electronic media
This includes Marconi ( He created the telegraph machine and SOS titanic was first to use it
an entire unit on Radio. Perhaps I could get old radio shows. I can even download scripts such as Albert and Costello and the Lone Ranger.
WAR OF THE WORLDS., although The beginning is kind of boring
Then into the history of TV. Like how the Nazis were the first to prefect the TV and were way ahead of us.
I could do historical first TV shows and news casts
The first news casts were only 15 min long
I could make the students do a TV project where they would research what TV shows /Actors changed the values of Americans
EXAMPLE:
Lucy was the most watched show when she gave birth to Little Ricky
Dezi Arnez came up with an idea to shoot using multiple cameras a first
Lucy was filmed not video taped thus the great quality still
Brady bunch…first blended family and first husband and wife to sleep in the same bed
the Kennedy Assination
CNN
how the Twin towers affected people and how the media coverage changed the world
Kennedy and Nixon Debates… and then the Obama/McCain debates
Theres obviously a lot of history that could be included, but I'd also include current examples.
I'm also trying to decide whether to include film at all. I could use Michael Moore as an example. I don't know. I'm going to spend the whole summer researching it though, because its going to be an awesome class to teach.
