978-1319102852 Chapter 8 Part 2

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News Corp. used its political action committee (PAC) in 2010 to contribute more than

$105,500 directly to Democratic candidates and $74,700 directly to Republican candidates,

in addition to more than $45,000 to other Democratic and Republican committees.

General Electric (former owner of NBC) donated $688,900 to Democratic candidates and

$410,000 to Republican candidates through its PAC. In addition, the company donated

$237,000 to the Democratic Governors Association and $205,000 to the Republican

Governors Association. Time Warner (which owns CNN) donated $70,500 to Democratic

candidates in 2010 compared with $41,500 for Republican candidates through its PAC.

The PAC for Viacom (which owns CBS) contributed $108,700 to Democratic candidates and

$64,000 to Republican candidates, plus almost $50,000 more to Republican- and

Democratic–affiliated PACs. Disney (parent company of ABC) gave $110,500 to Democratic

candidates and $95,000 to Republicans through its PAC, plus almost $70,000 for various

political groups for both parties.

• This pattern continued in the 2012 election cycle. According to data collected by

Opensecrets.org, Comcast donated $206,056 to Barack Obama’s campaign and $20,500 to

Mitt Romney’s. CBS’s political action committee (PAC) donated $38,000 to House

Republicans and $11,000 to Senate Republicans. Disney CEO Bob Iger donated $30,800 to

the DNC Services Corporation, $25,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign committee,

and $10,000 to Disney’s own PAC. Time Warner gave $10,750 to Romney, and Rupert

Murdoch gave $25,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

• The 2011 phone-hacking scandal in Britain only intensified these concerns regarding News

Corp.’s influence and cozy relationship with politicians in Britain and in the United States.

MEDIA LITERACY DISCUSSIONS AND EXERCISES

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NEWSPAPERS AND DEMOCRACY

What is the role of a newspaper? If journalism is supposed to be important to democracy, how

much do students learn from newspapers about the decisions that affect their everyday life? Is

there something missing in the local newspaper(s) that students in class would want to know

more about so as to be more active citizens in a democracy?

At the end of 2015, Margaret Sullivan, the “public editor” of the New York Times, wrote two

columns about the challenges of local investigative reporting. Students can read and react to her

assessment. (See http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/public-editor/margaret–sullivan–new–

york–times-public-editor.html and http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/public-editor/keep–the–

flame–lit–for–investigative–journalism.html.)

NEWSPAPER ANALYSIS

In the Newspaper section, I like to bring in as wide a range of papers as possible (alternative

presses, USA Today, foreign newspapers, etc.) and have the students pass them around and note

the similarities and differences in relation to the newspaper chapter.

—Developed by Karen Pitcher, University of Iowa

COVERING INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The purpose of this Critical Process exercise is to sharpen your analytical approach to news.

Work with a partner or in a small group. Over a period of three weekdays, study the New York

Times, USA Today, and one local daily paper. Devise a chart and a descriptive scheme so that

you can compare how each of the three papers covers international news. You should consider

international news to be any news story that is predominantly about another country or about

another nation’s relationship with the United States. Exclude the sports section of the papers.

Follow these steps as you work on your project:

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1. Description. Count the total number of international news stories in each paper. Which

foreign cities are covered? Which countries? What are the subjects of these stories (civil

wars, anti–Americanism, natural disasters, travelogue profiles, etc.)?

2. Analysis. Using your chart as a guide, write two or three paragraphs discussing patterns that

emerge. What locales get the most attention? What kinds of stories appear most frequently?

In other words, what kind of issue or event makes another country newsworthy? Do not try to

summarize your chart here. Instead, focus on three or four intriguing patterns that you

noticed.

3. Interpretation. Write a two– or three-paragraph critical interpretation of your findings. What

does your analysis mean? Why do some countries appear more frequently than others? Why

do certain kinds of stories seem to get featured?

4. Evaluation. Discuss the limitations of your study. Which paper seemed to do the best job of

covering the rest of the world? Why? Do you think newspapers give us enough information

about other people’s cultures and experiences?

5. Engagement. Either individually or with a group of students, write a letter or e-mail to your

local editor. Report your findings. In the note, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the

local coverage of international news and other cultures. Mention what the paper does well in

this area, and suggest what the paper might do better. What kind of response did you get?

THE SWEETER EXPERIENCE: PRINT VERSUS ONLINE NEWSPAPERS

Pre–Exercise Questions: New Yorker media critic Jon Katz once wrote: “There’s almost no

media experience sweeter . . . than poring over a good newspaper. In the quiet morning, with a

cup of coffee—so long as you haven’t turned on the TV, listened to the radio, or checked in

online—it’s as comfortable and personal as information gets.” How do you feel about the

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experience of reading a print newspaper? How do you feel about the experience of reading a

newspaper online?

This Critical Process exercise is designed to compare the content and experience of print and

online editions of a newspaper. National newspapers such as USA Today and the New York

Times as well as most regional and local newspapers have web versions of their papers.

1. Description. Look at the same day of the print and web versions of a chosen newspaper.

Describe the content, style, organization, advertisements, and experience of reading both

types of newspapers.

2. Analysis. Is the web version organized in a similar way, with the same section topics? Are the

stories the same, and are they edited in the same way? Does either version offer unique

elements that couldn’t be duplicated in the other format? Which version is more interesting

or easier to read? Is either version more information-based or more interpretive?

3. Interpretation. Does the web version of the newspaper duplicate the print content and reading

experience? (This duplication is called shovel-casting.) How does the medium (print vs.

computer-based) affect the design, content, style, and reading experience of the newspaper?

Why do we prefer one over the other?

4. Evaluation. Will web versions of newspapers prevail over print? Could they coexist? What’s

more important: the news content or the experience of getting the news content?

5. Engagement. Try to make it your habit to read a newspaper every day. Experiment with a

range of different papers and formats. After a while, increase your reading load by reading

both a mainstream newspaper and an alternative news website (i.e., The Weekly Standard,

Common Dreams, Media Channel, or AlterNet) every day. You’ll be amazed at how much

you’ll have to talk about and how much more engaged you are with the world.

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Options: Students can cover several different newspapers in groups or individually. As a

discussion, this exercise can be done in a computer lab, with a live projection of a web

newspaper (if equipment is available). Alternatively, a printout of web newspaper pages could

serve to illustrate the comparison in the discussion.

THE EVOLUTION OF JOURNALISM

As Media & Culture’s Chapter 8 explains, today’s journalism is quite different from the

journalism of the past. In their history, newspapers have reached extremes, from overtly partisan

to superficially neutral and from outlandishly sensational to matter-of-fact reporting. Analyze

what happened along the way in the Critical Process exercise.

1. Description. Look at the difference in reporting styles as illustrated in Media & Culture,

Chapter 8.

2. Analysis. Divide the class into groups of two to review some of the highlights in the

evolution of journalism. Refer to the “Newspapers: The Rise and Decline of Modern

Journalism” time line at the beginning of the chapter; review the history, and consider the

patterns that emerge with each given era.

3. Interpretation. Come up with some appropriate headlines for each era for a major news story.

Be as creative as you want, but try to be true to the spirit of the era. In class, share some of

the best examples with your peers. Together, analyze how your headlines illustrate some

quality of the era. Note that newspapers are not wholly objective reports of the world.

4. Evaluation. Do we still live with the legacy of previous eras of journalism? Do we still see

partisan politics in newspapers? Human interest stories? Investigative journalism? The

inverted pyramid style of reporting? Syndicated columns?

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5. Engagement. When is the last time you sat down to read a good paper? This week, read a

newspaper every day. In your reading, see if previous eras have influenced the paper by

noting some aspect (headline, section, caption) reflective of the distinct eras on your

worksheet. Invest at least one half hour each day reviewing all, and reading some, of your

newspapers. Record your influences on your worksheet.

(Note: Students can easily access online versions of most newspapers. However, for printed

copies of your local newspaper, you may want to contact your local Newspapers in Education

coordinator so you can distribute papers in class.)

—Developed by Matthew Smith, Wittenberg University

TRACKING RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY: A

SEMESTER–LONG CRITICAL PROCESS EXERCISE AND PAPER

In this exercise students discover the most recent developments in the industry, and they become

familiar with industry trade sources. The paper they produce is due in sections, which

correspond with the steps in the Critical Process.

1. Description. Read industry trade sources to get a sense of the main issues affecting the

newspaper industry. Look at the websites of industry trade associations and professional

societies. (Links to websites of some industry trade sources are given in the Classroom

Media Sources below.) Take notes on topics that have multiple stories or mentions in the

current year. What issues or developments in the industry have received a lot of recent

attention, discussion, or commentary in industry sources? (Focus only on information from

the current year—and only from trade sources.) Write a one-page synopsis of the information

you found about current topics in the industry. Cite your sources properly.

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2. Analysis. Look for one development or pattern that has received significant attention on trade

sites and from trade journalists in the current year. Choose one specific trend, and write one

or two pages with details about the information you found about that trend. Continue to track

news about your topic as the semester progresses. Cite sources properly.

3. Interpretation. What does the trend mean for the state of the industry? Is it evolving? How?

What does it tell you about media in general at the current time? What might it say about our

culture or our society? Can your information help us interpret the role of the industry in our

lives? Write up your interpretation in a five-page paper. (The first page should be a synopsis

of the trend, with proper citations.) You might not have to provide information from your

sources for the next four pages because this section is your interpretation of the trend. (Save

any ideas you have about whether the trend is “good” or “bad” for the Evaluation step of the

Critical Process.)

4. Evaluation. Is the trend “good” or “bad?” For the industry? society? culture? democracy? us?

What do you think might happen in the future?

5. Engagement. Are there any actions you can take (related to your trend and the industry)?

Possibilities include posting your views on social media, creating a petition, contacting

people in the industry to see what they think of your interpretation and evaluation, or going

to an industry event if any are held nearby. (This step need not be required if students are not

motivated to take action.)

Note: This exercise works well if each step of the Critical Process is due two weeks after the

prior step is due. Limiting students to only trade sources and only information from the current

year helps keep them on track. Your institution’s librarians should be able to provide students

with information on how to access industry trade sources.

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CLASSROOM MEDIA RESOURCES

LAUNCHPAD FOR MEDIA & CULTURE: launchpadworks.com

Community Voices: Weekly Newspapers (2010, 2:55 minutes). Richard Campbell, Bob Speer,

and Michael House discuss the impact of weekly newspapers.

Investigative Journalism On Screen: All the President’s Men (1976, 1:56 minutes). A brief clip

from the 1976 film All the President’s Men explores the investigative journalism conducted

by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein during the Watergate scandal.

News Aggregation and Arianna Huffington (2013, 47:39 minutes). Arianna Huffington of the

Huffington Post delivers a keynote address at Inbound, a conference that showcases business

leaders.

Newspapers and the Internet: Convergence (2009, 4:06 minutes). This video discusses some of

the ways newspapers and journalists are adapting to online delivery of news. Featuring

Richard Campbell, John Katsilometes, David Little, and Clarence Page.

Newspapers Now: Balancing Citizen Journalism and Investigative Reporting (2010, 4:32

minutes). Industry professionals Scott Gold and James Rainey discuss the balance between

citizen journalism and investigative reporting.

VIDEOS/DVDS/CDS

All the President’s Men (1976, 135 minutes). Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman play

Washington Post investigative reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who uncovered

the shady Nixon affairs of Watergate.

The Black Press: Soldiers without Swords (1998, 86 minutes). The first film to chronicle the

history of the black press, with coverage from 1827 through the 1960s. Distributed by

California Newsreel, 877-811-7495; http://newsreel.org.

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Citizen Kane (1941, 119 minutes). The story of a publishing magnate based on the life of

newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. Although critics excoriated this film in 1941,

it was eventually heralded as one of the century’s best films. The scene we like to show is the

one, occurring in Bernstein’s memory, where Kane woos the staff of the Chronicle (aka the

New York World) over to the Inquirer (aka the New York Journal). Distributed by Facets

Multimedia, 800-331-6197; http://www.facets.org.

The Myth of the Liberal Media (1997, 60 minutes). Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky

challenge the myth of the “liberal media” and argue that American news media are in effect

subordinated to corporate and conservative interests. Distributed by Media Education

Foundation, 800-897-0089; http://www.mediaed.org.

The Post (2018, 115 minutes). The Washington Post’s Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep), the first

female publisher of a major American newspaper, and editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks), race

to catch up with the New York Times to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets

that spanned three decades and four U.S. Presidents. Based on a true story.

Spotlight (2015, 128 minutes). Film about the work of Boston Globe reporters to expose sexual

abuse in the Catholic Church and the subsequent cover-up of the scandal by the Archdiocese

of Boston.

Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press (1996, 111 minutes). This video

illustrates the career of foreign correspondent and media critic George Seldes and raises

important questions about the nature of American news media. Includes interviews with

Ralph Nader, Victor Navasky, and Ben Bagdikian. Distributed by New Day Films, 888-367-

9154; http://www.newday.com.

WEB SITES

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American Press Institute: https://www.americanpressinstitute.org

American Society of Newspaper Editors: http://www.asne.org

Association of Alternative Newsmedia (Association of Alternative Newsweeklies): http://aan.org

Editor & Publisher: http://www.editorandpublisher.com

ipl2 (Internet Public Library and Librarians’ Internet Websites merged):

http://www.ipl.org/div/news

National Newspaper Publishers Association | Black Press of America: http://nnpa.org

News & Tech: http://www.newsandtech.com

News Media Alliance (formerly Newspaper Association of America):

https://www.newsmediaalliance.org

Newspaper Death Watch: http://newspaperdeathwatch.com

Newspaper Guild: http://newsguild.org

Poynter: https://poynter.org

ProPublica: https://www.propublica.org

Village Voice: http://www.villagevoice.com

World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers: http://www.wan-ifra.org

BLOGS

Altercation (Eric Alterman): http://www.thenation.com/blogs/eric–alterman

BuzzMachine (Jeff Jarvis): http://www.buzzmachine.com

The Dish (Andrew Sullivan): http://dish.andrewsullivan.com

InstaPundit.com (Glenn Reynolds): http://pjmedia.com/instapundit

JimRomenesko.com: http://jimromenesko.com

MediaWire (Poynter Institute Online): http://www.poynter.org/news/

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PressThink (Jay Rosen): http://pressthink.org

Talking Points Memo (TPM) (Josh Marshall): http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com