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CMN 515: ANALYSIS OF NEWSProfessor Joshua Meyrowitz*

THE COURSE AT A GLANCE

Below is an outline of the general structure of the course. See the detailed syllabus for specific

dates and assignments. Throughout the course, we will also be analyzing the coverage of

“Operation Enduring Freedom,” “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” “Operation New Dawn,” “The War on

Terror,” national security, surveillance, whistleblowers, and “leakers.”

I. PART ONE: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEWCourse OverviewIdeals of a “Free Press”The Process of NewsmakingThe Collaborative Construction of News: A Role-Playing Exercise

II. PART TWO: ANALYSIS OF “WHO?,” “WHAT?,” “WHEN?,” AND “WHERE?”“Who?” – What types of people are usually (and usually not) the sources & subjects of news?Case Study: Police as Sources for Crime NewsCase Study: Different “Who’s” on the Invasion of GrenadaK E X A M O N E (Through “Who?”)“What?” – What types of “occurrences” are more or less likely to become “news events”?“When?” – How do news-timing frames interact with occurrences & source-timing strategies?Case Study: Pack Journalism – “Breaking News” vs. “Oozing Occurrences”K E X A M T W O (on “What?” and “When?”)“Where?”Case Study: Blinds on the News Window (Why is coverage of Africa so weak?)

III. PART THREE: TELLING THE “STORY” (Explaining “WHY?” and “HOW?”)News Narratives: Typical language & themes (“Terrorists” vs. “Freedom Fighters,”

“Drug-Dealing Despots,” “Marxist-Leninist Regimes,” “Inner-City War Zones”)Case Study: What’s the “Story” on Waco?Case Study: Telling it Right or Wrong? – AFLAC vs. ABC News Libel SuitK E X A M T H R E E (on “Where?” and “News Narratives” to this point)World Views: Competing NarrativesCase Study (“World Views”): Processing the Work of the “Secret Government”War News (drawing on all previous sections of course to explore “war stories” & propaganda)Case Study (“World Views”): The U.S. in Latin America, Contrasting NarrativesCase Study (War News): The Invasion of PanamaCase Study (War News): U.S. Wars with IraqCase Study (War News): The Longest American War – The U.S. in AfghanistanK E X A M F O U R (on “World Views” and “War News”)

IV. PART FOUR: NEWS “BIAS” CONTROVERSIESAre the U.S. News Media Politically Biased?Case Study: Visible and Invisible Political CandidatesCase Study: Coverage of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela – Democrat or Dictator?News and Commercial BiasOverview of Other Bias Claims (Power Bias, Status Quo Bias, Access vs. Accountability Bias,

Cynicism Bias, Gender Bias, Journalistic Consensus Bias, Visual Gestalt Bias)Review and Integration: How to Continue Analyzing the News

K F I N A L E X A M (Cumulative)

*Meyrowitz is pronounced like the three words, my-row-wits, with the emphasis on “my.”{GLANCE B AN_F14– 11/17/14 printout}

MEYROWITZ / ANALYSIS OF NEWS / SYLLABUS / 1

CMN 515 – ANALYSIS OF NEWSCOURSE OUTLINE

FALL 2014, Mondays & Wednesdays, 5:40-7:30 P.M., Horton 125

Dr. Joshua Meyrowitz / Office Hours: Tu & Thu 4:10- 5:00 & by appt. in Horton 128ADPhone & 24-hr Voice Mail: 862-3031 / e-mail: [email protected]

Nothing could be more irrational than to give the people power and to withhold from theminformation without which power is abused. A people who mean to be their own governorsmust arm themselves with power which knowledge gives. A popular government withoutpopular information or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy,or perhaps both.... To the press alone, checkered as it is with abuses, the world isindebted for all the triumphs which have been obtained by reason and humanity over errorand oppression.

– James Madison (1751-1836), framer of the Constitution & 4th U.S. President

Television is programming more news than it used to. News of all kinds: crime news,entertainment news, sports news, style news, et cetera.

– Reese Schonfeld, producer of “People Magazine on TV,” 1989

“Analysis of News” explores the social, political, economic, psychological, and cultural factors thatinfluence the definition and reporting of “news” in the United States. This is not primarily a course in howto become a successful journalist (though it will offer prospective journalists a great deal of insight intothe workings of that profession), but rather how to become a more critical consumer of news and a moreinformed citizen.

An extensive literature in critical analysis of news has developed over the last few decades that disputesthe common journalistic claim, “We don’t make the news, we just report it.” Instead, news is being viewedincreasingly as an active social construction that reflects the institutional practices of profit-based newsorganizations as they interact in generally predictable ways with government and public-relationsprofessionals, respond to economic pressures, and as they reflect and reinforce dominant social values.

This course examines the ideals of the U.S. news media in relation to the critical literature that identifiesmany limits and complexities in the definition and reporting of “news.” While rejecting simplistic notionsof “conspiracy” or “political bias” of journalists, we will take a critical look at the questions U.S. journalismsays it asks of the world: We will look at the types of people who tend to become “sources” for andsubjects of mainstream news (Who?), the themes that are and are not common in U.S. news (What?),the rhythm and timing of news (When?), how places tend to be viewed in the news (Where?), and howlanguage and narrative are shaped to explain our localities, country, and the world (How? & Why?).

All the above will be examined in relation to the institutional structures and limits of news organizations(funding, staffing, reliance on advertising revenue, legal constraints, social/political pressures, corporateownership, etc.). Even when we explore the most damning critiques, therefore, our primary focus is noton criticizing journalists, as individuals, but on examining the constraints under which most mainstreamjournalists operate (and about which they are increasingly talking “off the record” and in their own tradepublications, such as Columbia Journalism Review and American Journalism Review). Finally, we willconsider how technological developments such as ultra-compact camcorders, the Internet, WikiLeaks,and grassroots alternative media sites may change the way news is defined, reported, and processed.

We will test the competing claims about news against recent and historical case studies and in terms ofevents that unfold and are reported on during the semester. This course will involve reading assignments,monitoring daily news reports, class exercises, case studies, in-class analyses of scores of video samplesand news articles, and out-of-class video analysis assignments.


This course’s no-holds-barred deconstruction of the news is meant for those who have critical and openminds and are not afraid to consider and debate perspectives on the news and aspects of U.S. domesticand foreign policy that are rarely presented in the mainstream news media themselves or in most schooltextbooks. You may choose which, if any, perspectives to believe; but understanding them all is required.Also, while strong differences of opinion are welcome in discussions, personal attacks are not.

The course is taught primarily in a “directed dialogue” approach, where I lead the discussion with generalgoals in mind, but where I am never sure of exactly where you, as active participants, will take us. Onmost days, I will bring many more video and news article examples than we could possibly examine, andI select from those examples based on the flow of the discussion. The course offers a highly interactiveand supportive class learning environment — welcoming of questions, confusions, challenges,disagreements, and mistakes — combined with high expectations for student performance on exams andformal written assignments. Just about the only “sin” you can commit during the discussions (other thannot participating) is not having completed the assigned readings before coming to class (in which caseyou may be asked to leave the room or drop the course). Be prepared for possible reading quizzes.

In addition to encouraging mastery of the specific subject matter, this course aims at enhancing a numberof important general skills, including critical reading, conceptual thinking, pattern recognition, coherentgroup discussion, and clarity and precision in written and oral description and analysis. REQUIRED TEXTS: !Robert Karl Manoff & Michael Schudson, Eds., READIN G THE NEWS, Pantheon, 1987.!Meyrowitz, ANALYSIS OF NEWS: STUDENT MANUAL & READE R, 2014 (2 volumes), #31, $99 Manoff & Schudson, though out of print, is available for sale online or to borrow from me. The two-part Manual & Reader will be available from UNH Printing, 10 West Edge Dr., 862-0537.

You are also asked to subscribe to The New York Times (at www.nytimes.com/collegediscount or 888-698-2655) or use the free UNH library web site’s “databases” to access the digital archive, from 1851 toabout 2 years ago or more current HTML article access. I also recommend that you become generallyfamiliar with at least a few other newspapers, news magazines, radio, TV, and online news sources.

The New York Times is a prime focus for us for four reasons: 1) It is generally considered the best U.S.newspaper, and we can study it to see what types of reporting are typically missing from other newsoutlets; 2) many other news organizations look to The Times (particularly page one) in order to decidewhat news to cover; 3) it is seen as the “newspaper of record” and is kept in libraries as an account of“what happened” each day; and thus 4) any patterns of omission, selective reporting, or distortion wemight find in this “best,” “official,” and highly influential newspaper will be all the more significant.

RECOMMENDED FURTHER READING (see course bibliography for more optional resources):•Leonard Downie, Jr. & Robert G. Kaiser, The News About the News: American Journalism in Peril,

Vintage, 2003.•William Greider, Who Will Tell the People: The Betrayal of American Democracy, Touchstone, 1992.•Mark Hertsgaard, On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency, Schocken, 1989.•Edward S. Herman & Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass

Media, rev. ed., Pantheon, 2002.•Phillip Knightley, The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker,

3rd. ed. John Hopkins University Press, 2004. •James W. Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong,

Touchstone, 2nd ed., 2007.•John R. MacArthur, The Second Front: Censorship & Propaganda in the Gulf War, U. of Calif., 1992.•Robert W. McChesney, Rich Media, Poor Democracy, New Press, 1999.•Edward Said, Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the

World, Pantheon, 1981.•Michael Schudson, The Power of News, Harvard University Press, 1995.•Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, 1492-Present (rev. ed.), HarperCollins, 2005.


STUDENT REQUIREMENTS AND COURSE-GRADE BREAKDOWN :

1) Complete careful and critical reading (and re-reading) of assigned essays, articles, and handouts andanswer the study questions (in manual & on Bb) for required readings in the Manoff & Schudsonanthology in preparation for class discussions and exams. If you are not committed to keepingup with the reading assignments and to thinking critically about them, please drop the course.

2) Attend class regularly [8% of course grade] – eight points for perfect attendance; -2 points for eachabsence; see manual for details] and participate actively in class discussions [6% of coursegrade] . See “Comments on Class Participation” in the course manual and on Blackboard.Physical and/or mental absences, as well as poor results on reading quizzes, will lower yourgrade. Since many of the most important in-class experiences are not easily tested on exams,five or more absences will lead to course failure, regardless of exam and paper grades .

3) To test claims in the reading and your grasp of them, and to enhance your class participation and thequality of your course papers, bring annotated news examples to class (alone or in collaborationwith 1-2 peers in the class) that support or challenge the arguments in the readings. (Specificnews-example assignments are listed in the course schedule and on a Checklist, at rear ofmanual) [up to 5% BONUS for full set of clear examples sub mitted at end of semester] .

4) Take four mid-semester exams [40% of course grade] and a cumulative Final Exam [20% of coursegrade] . The exams are a combination of short answer questions (such as multiple choice,matching, etc.) and essay questions. (See detailed exam previews in the course manual.)

5) Watch and listen to class videos with a critical eye and ear and hand in typed Summary-Analysis-Reaction (S-A-R) papers on the 6 to 8 videos assigned for out-of-class viewing [26% of grade] .

6) Check Blackboard and your e-mail frequently for material related to the course, and use the Internetto search for examples of newsworthy occurrences that rarely become “news” in the mainstreammedia. (An e-mail account and high-speed Internet access are required for this course.)

7) OPTIONALLY, complete a “narrative switch” paper alone or with 1-2 class peers [up to 8% bonus] .

8) OPTIONALLY, propose and complete a final Application Paper, alone or with 1-3 other classmates[to make up for 10-20% of missed or poor work–or fo r an honors version of the course].

PAPER DUE DATES: So that you never miss a class or skip readings because you are scurrying tocomplete a paper, I offer a one-day no-penalty grace period beyond the due dates on the syllabus. Thisapplies only to the video S-A-R papers, the “narrative switch,” the application paper, and the optionalassignments. If you take advantage of this grace period, please leave the paper in my mailbox in Horton112 or under my office door (Horton 128AD) by 4 PM the next day. If the hallway doors are locked, slidethe paper under that door in a envelope with my name on it. If you are not on campus that day, you maymail the paper to me at the Dept. of Communication, HSSC, UNH, Durham, NH 03824 (see that it hasthat day’s postmark on it). Please do not send papers to me by e-mail.

OUT-OF-CLASS VIDEOS: There will be 6-8 videos assigned for viewing/analysis outside of class.

SCHEDULE CHANGES: Given the topic of the course and its heavy reliance on student readingpreparedness and class participation, the schedule is likely to change somewhat as we go along. I oftentailor class exercises, handouts, and short in-class videos to what I perceive to be the evolving interests,strengths, and confusions of the group. If we are able to complete reading discussions more quickly, wewill be able to schedule more in-class videos for analysis. If our discussions lag, then some of thescheduled in-class showings of longer videos will need to be moved to out-of-class viewings. Stay alertto schedule revisions announced in class, by Blackboard announcements, or by e-mail.


WORK LOAD: There are about 2 hours per credit each week of outside work (reading, viewing,assignments, etc.). Thus, for this 4-credit course, you should reserve between 6-10 hours a week beyondin-class time. On average, there are about 50-75 pages of assigned material for each week (includingworksheets [WS], study guides, and assignment instructions). Although this is not a very heavy readingload in terms of number of pages and type of material (many are short, easy-to-read newspaper andmagazine articles), there are typically a number of different readings for each class, and you areexpected to be very familiar with the assigned material and to think about the implicit interrelationshipsamong the readings. It is essential that you spread your reading throughout the week and leave time tore-read, take notes, and analyze the readings in preparation for our class discussions.

STUDY QUESTIONS: While the discussions will be open to a wide array of perspectives, our focus willnot be on our personal “feelings” or “opinions” about the news, but on concepts and claims that we cantest (at least in a preliminary manner) in terms of past and present news coverage. Many of the conceptswe will explore are outlined in our main text, Manoff & Schudson’s Reading the News. In part, we will beexploring whether concepts employed to analyze the news toward the end of the Cold War era still “work”for analyzing news today in the era of the “War on Terror.” To help you master the readings in Manoffand Schudson, I have provided preliminary study questions in the manual and on Bb. (There are noquestions for the James Carey chapter, which is optional.) You are expected to fill in answers to the studyquestions in preparation for class discussions. On some days, I may spot check to see that you haveanswered the questions, or I may ask you to copy and hand in the key parts of your answers to two orthree of the questions. (Also be prepared to answer brief questions, orally or in writing, on any requiredreading.) Think of your completion of assigned readings as your “ticket” to the discussions.

TESTING COURSE CONCEPTS: To prepare for the class discussions, please bring in (alone or with 1-2peers) news examples (current or past) that illustrate your grasp of the concepts in the readings andeither support or contradict the authors’ arguments. (If you are taking this course for a minor or non-CMNmajor–such as American Studies, International Affairs, Women’s Studies, Latin American Studies, orRace, Culture, Power–all your news examples should be related to your minor or major.) The specificsfor examples are noted on the syllabus. For your own reference–and in case I ask you to pass aroundor pass in your examples–please write your name(s) on your news examples, underline keypassages, label them with the concept(s) they illus trate, and add relevant annotations in themargins or on an attached piece of paper. Always include each clipping’s source, day of week,and date. Print, photocopy, or attach the articles onto 8 ½” x 11” paper (use a “light” copy setting fornewspaper clippings). Keep a record of your news examples (see the Checklist at rear of the manual),and consider submitting a full set of examples at the end of the semester for up to 5% BONUS credit.

OTHER READINGS: The many short articles listed in the syllabus are reprinted in the course packet inthe order in which they are assigned. Original page numbers are included in the syllabus to indicate thelength of the assigned reading for each day so that you can plan your schedule accordingly. (NOTE: Thetwo-part course manual is a custom packet for this semester. I do not know ahead of time what the pagenumber in this semester’s manual will be for each reading listed in the syllabus, and trying to add thatinformation to the syllabus would not only take days of work after I see the printer’s proof of the manual,but it would stop me from being able to make last-minute additions/refinements in the contents of themanual.) I recommend that you use bookmarks to keep your place within each section of the manual.You are also responsible for any supplementary handouts or e-mail or Blackboard material and for anyannounced changes in assignments or schedules. I plan to offer a few bonus points on exams for correctanswers about optional items marked “BONUS” (readings, lectures, audiotapes, videotapes). There willbe no exam questions on other readings or media labeled “optional” or “recommended,” but you may findthat they clarify ideas that are tested on the exams. Many of the optional readings are now availableonline at the publications’ web sites, such as < www.cjr.org > for CJR or < fair.org > for Extra! (Youcan also use www.google.com to search for them by title.)

CLASS VISITORS: Generally, I welcome your bringing a relative or friend (including journalists you know)with you to classes. They may even participate in discussions. But please let me know before class(preferably a day or more ahead) that you are bringing a guest. For a few special-topic sessions, I usuallyopen the class to interested members of the campus community and public.


SPECIAL NEEDS: If you have any special needs that may affect your work in the course (e.g., severeeconomic constraints, medical conditions, unusual learning styles, complex schedules, etc.), please letme know about them as soon as possible so that we can try to develop a plan to accommodate them.

KEEP AN OPEN MIND: One of the key goals of this course is to define the “boundaries” of mostmainstream U.S. news media by trying to identify the types of people (Who?), issues (What?), timeperspectives (When?), images of places (Where?), and “stories” about the U.S. and the world (How? andWhy?) that are typically excluded from most U.S. news. As a result, this course will cover manycontroversial topics, and you are likely to be exposed to facts, ideas, images, and perspectives that arenew to you (precisely because they are usually not in our mass media, including most school textbooks).If at any time you begin to become uncomfortable with what you are hearing or reading, remember thatthe content of this course is not like a religion. I am not trying to present you with “truths” that you mustaccept (or perhaps feel the need to rebel against), but rather with an array of arguments and issues thatI want you to consider and evaluate in relation to the construction of “news.” To repeat an important point:You are not required to believe any argument that is presented, but you are expected to understand thestructure of all the arguments. You should be able to explain how and why someone might make suchclaims about the news, how such claims could be tested, and what sort of data would be needed tosupport or disprove them, or to argue that news has changed. You are always allowed to question andto offer counter-arguments (indeed, such challenges make for excellent class participation, which is akey component of your course grade). Note also that some of the course videos present very disturbingimages and arguments, and you should consider your comfort level with such materials beforecommitting to the course.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULEL Readings are to be completed by the date under which they are listed, unless identified as

“AFTER” readings. Always check the next page for possible continuation of a day’s assignments.

! = Required Reading in Course Manual !M&S = Required reading in Manoff & Schudson Bb = Blackboard posting " = Optional Reading ='< = videotape =< = audiotape

(MM) = Multimedia Center, Dimond Library (T) = transcript on reserve, online, and/or Bb

In case of a storm, call 862-0000 to see if classes have been canceled. If one of our sessions iscanceled due to inclement weather, check your e-mail for a message from me on scheduleadjustments. We will likely need to add a special session if we miss a class. I welcome your

suggestions for course revisions for future semesters and even for this semester as we proceed.

I. PART ONE: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

1. WED SEPT 3 2014Course OverviewStudent Information CardsDiscussion: Ideals of a “Free Press” AFTER-CLASS ASSIGNMENTS: !Send an e-mail within 24 hours to [email protected]

describing a “grade” (A, A-, B+, B, etc.) you would give the news media on their performance withrespect to the “news ideals” discussed in today’s class. Include your contact information: name,home mailing address, preferred email address(es), phone number(s), and calling hours; !Buythe two-volume course manual as soon as it is ready (wait for my announcement) and becomefamiliar with its contents by filling in the page numbers on the Tables of Contents; !Check theBlackboard site for the course; !Become familiar with the current news in The New York Timesby the third class session (available at a special discounted student subscription rate and/orbecome familiar with the free and searchable Proquest NYT archives available at:www.library.unh.edu/find/databases/type/newspapers (digital reproduction for all but last fewyears, plus HTML for more recent; see the other available newspapers there as well).

AFTER-CLASS READINGS (9 pages): These three important course-orientation readings will be in the


front section of the course manual and on Bb: !Meyrowitz, “R.O.S.E. Model: Four Processes forAnalyzing the News,” 1-2; !Meyrowitz, “General Guide to the Assigned Readings,” 1-2;!Meyrowitz, “Comments on Class Participation,” 1-4; !Meyrowitz, “Course Attendance/AbsencePolicy,” one page.

* * *NEWSPAPER READING: Please start looking at past or present articles in The New York Times andother news as soon as possible. In preparation for the 3rd class session, pay attention to the “Who’s” inthe news. Choose topics of interest to you, such as those related to your major or minor or favoritecourses, or to particular time periods in your family members’ lives. What types of people becomesources for and subjects of “serious” news? How much of reporting relies on what “officials” tell thepress? How much of the news relies on reporters’ witnessing of events, their review of documents orreading of books, their exploration of historical and social context, or their interviewing of scholars andother experts who have no ties to government or industry? How broad is the range of views presented?Consider how the choice of sources (“Who”) may be shaping “What” does and does not become news.Do source types vary for different news topics (and for different days of the week or times of the year)?Also begin to consider how sources may be shaping the “When” of the news (that is the timing of stories,something we will examine in much more detail later in the course). Reflect on how the news might bedifferent in content, timing, and form if journalists relied on different sources.

2. MON SEPT 8 2014The Process of NewsmakingThe Collaborative Construction of News: A Role-Play ing ExerciseREQUIRED READING FOR THIS CLASS (29 pages; all the readings for today are also on Bb): !M&S,

“Reading the News” (Introduction), 3-8 ; !Siebert, Peterson, & Schramm, “Four Theories of thePress,” (one-page chart); !SPJ Code of Ethics, 1-2, combined into one-page online at<www.spj.org/pdf/ethicscode.pdf>; !“America’s Best Newspapers,” CJR, Nov/Dec 1999, 14-16(take note of the features that CJR editors believe make for an excellent newspaper, though notethat many U.S. newspapers have laid off staff or gone out of business since this article waswritten); !Kingkade, “Millennials and News Study,” Huff Post, 9/21/12, one page (Are your viewssimilar or different from those suggested here?); !Carvajal, “1,000 Journalists Killed in 10 YearsWhile Reporting,” NYT, 3/7/07, A3; !Weiser, “Judge Criticizes Tradition of Parading Suspectsfor Photographers,” NYT, 2/26/99; !Tuchman, “The Rhythm of Newsmaking,” 41-45 and “Timeand the Glut of Occurrences,” 45-47; !Darnton, “Writing News and Telling Stories” (excerpt),Daedalus, 104(2), 1975, 175-182 (take note of what Darnton finds misguided about the Pool-Shulman study); !Frankel, “Jumpers vs. Refers,” NYT Mag, one page (read this article by aformer editor of The New York Times for some clues to how story placement in the printed NYTreflects editors’ perception of significance).

OPTIONAL READING (The Tuchman & Altheide books are on reserve in the Dimond Library):"Tuchman, “Preface,” ix-xi; "“News as Frame,” 1-14; "“Space and the Constitution of News,”23-31; "Altheide, “Organizing for News,” 61-73.

AFTER CLASS: Save your name cards and bring to all future classes, and review the Worksheet on“Concept-Based Learning vs. Fact-Based Learning,” and try to fill in 2-3 examples, and read!Cole, “What Newspapers Tell Advertisers About Their Audience,” Extra!, May/June 1995, 6-7.

II. PART TWO: ANALYSIS OF “WHO?,” “WHAT?,” “WHEN,” AND “WHERE?”

3. WED SEPT 10 2014“Who?”IN-CLASS VIDEO: ='< “A Nation of Law?” (excerpt, Eyes on the Prize II, PBS series) (12:00) (MM) (T)REQUIRED READING (34 pages +WS; all the readings for today are also on Bb): !Kinsley, “Please

Don’t Quote Me,” Time, 5/13/91, 82; !Tuchman, “Knowing Sources,” 68-69; !M&S: Sigal,“Sources Make the News,” in Manoff & Schudson book [M&S], 9-25 (make sure you comeprepared with answers to the Sigal study questions) ; !Irwin, “Cops and Cameras,” CJR,Sept/Oct 1991, 15-17; !Frankel, “A Case of Sheep v. Coyotes,” NYTM, 1997, 30; !“Why the


Tough Questions Aren’t Asked,” Extra! Update, Dec 2001, 1; !Peer et al., “Washington’s PressCorps,” Newsweek, 5/25/81, 88-89, 92; !Glaberson, “A Washington Journalist Strays from thePack,” NYT, 12/26/94, 57 (Note: Warren remained at the Tribune until management shakeupsin 2008; he joined the NY Daily News as Washington Bureau Chief in 2013); !Meyrowitz,“Symbiotic Relationships” (compilation of examples of tacit alliances), 1-5; !Stephens, “MoneyTalks: Journalists on the Circuit,” CJR, Sept/Oct 2002, 35; !Patner, “Izzy vs. a MendaciousAgency,” WJR, 5/88, 50 (What does this “best scoop” by the legendary reporter I.F. Stonesuggest about most “routine journalism”?); The following are in the Worksheet [WS] section of themanual and on Bb; use them throughout this section of the course in preparation for Exam One:!Worksheet: “Key ‘Who’ Concepts & Terms,” 1-2; !Worksheet: “Journalists & Officials: Practical,Positive, and Problematic Implications,” 1-2.

BRING: Your name cards from the previous session (and bring to all future classes).OPTIONAL READING/VIEWING: "Ackerman, “Network of Insiders,” Extra!, Nov/Dec 2001, 11-12

<http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/network-of-insiders/> (study of network news “Who’s” after theSept. 11, 2001 attacks); "Hart, “Media Millionaires: Journalism by and for the 0.01 Percent,”Extra!, July 2013, 9-11 <http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/cover-story-media-millionaires/>;"Jackson, “‘Spotlight’ on Police Violence Fails to Illuminate,” Extra!, Aug 2010, 6-7, or with videoat <http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/spotlight-on-police-violence-fails-to-illuminate/>; "[Bb]Christopher Report (excerpts) on L.A. Police Brutality and Racism, 1-10; ='< Full episode of “ANation of Law?,” <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwXiEyHz8Qs>.

OPTIONAL RECOMMENDED WEEKEND VIDEO VIEWING: ='< “All the President’s Men” (1976) (2:18)(Consider what makes Woodward’s and Bernstein’s legendary reporting, as portrayed by RobertRedford and Dustin Hoffman, different from typical White House coverage–including Woodward’smore recent reporting.); ='< “Serpico” (1973) (2:10) (Al Pacino portrays the police-officer heroof the 1971 Knapp Commission hearings into corruption in the NYPD).

3A. REQUIRED OUT-OF-CLASS VIDEO (copies in Horton 112 & Dimond Library’s Multimedia Center)Case Study: Different “Who’s” on the U.S. Invasion of Grenada VIDEO: ='< Frontline: “Operation Urgent Fury: The Invasion of Grenada” (1988) (55:00) (MM) (T) (See

due date below for Summary-Analysis-Reaction paper.)REQUIRED READING (18 pages +WS & S-A-R instructions): !Video Worksheet: “Operation Urgent

Fury,” 1-2 (make sure to draw on this worksheet in preparing your summary of the video); !“U.S.Says Grenada Invasion Is Succeeding,” NYT, 10/27/83 (front page); ![MAN & Bb] Marro, “Whenthe Government Tells Lies” (excerpt), CJR, March/April 1985, 1-14 (an award-winning article fromthe editor of Newsday; focus on the Grenada examples and on the general points illustrated bythe many other examples; see searchable Bb posting copy); !See more Grenada invasion storieson page one of NYT, 10/30/83, including the bottom “No More Paper Tiger” story; !“‘You Can’tJust Say the President is Lying,’” Extra!, Jan/Feb 2005, 17; !“Oliver North: Journalist’s Friend,”Extra!, Aug/Sept 1987, 4; The following are at the rear of the manual and on Bb: !Meyrowitz,“Summary-Analysis-Reaction (S-A-R) Paper Instructions” and “S-A-R Checklist,” 2pages.

OPTIONAL READING: "[Bb] “Operation Urgent Fury” transcript; "[Bb] Landau, “Seymour Hersh,”Progressive, 10/98, 33-37; "Rendell, “In Grenada, Leaving the Facts Behind,” Fair Blog, 2009,<www.fair.org/blog/2009/02/13>; "Review more Grenada NYT stories using the library database.

4. MON SEPT 15 2014“Who?” cont’dIN-CLASS VIDEOS: ='< “The Blue Wall of Silence” (14:20) and othersREQUIRED READING (29 pages +paper info): !M&S: Sigal, “Sources Make the News,” M&S, 26-37;

!Hart, “Time Gives Up on Factchecking,” Extra!, Dec 2012, 8-9; !Ackerman, “Prattle in Seattle,”Extra!, Jan/Feb 2000, 13-17; !Wenner, “Major Rally, Minor Play,” AJR, Dec 2002, 10-11;!Rudolph, “Skirting the Issues,” Time, 6/5/95, 58-60, 62; !Lovell, “Movies and Manipulation: HowStudios Punish Critics,” CJR, Jan/Feb 1997, 9, 11-12; !“Making News,” Consumer Reports,10/91, 694-695; !Watkins et al., “Three Main Tendencies in the Women’s Movement, 1970-1979,” 120-121 (What does this chart suggest about the adequacy of typical news“personifications” of feminism, often in terms of a single person?);The following are at the rear


of the manual and on Bb: !Meyrowitz, “Common Writing Errors to Avoid,” one page; !Meyrowitz,“Paper ‘Correction Key,’” one page.

BRING “WHO?” CLIPPINGS (alone or with 1-2 partners): 4-6 news article (not opinion column)examples from The New York Times and a local paper of different types of “sources” (e.g.,“official,” “unofficial,” think-tank expert, official hearing or report, eyewitnesses, students, averagecitizens, declassified documents, academic experts with no ties to government or industry,journalists’ own research, etc.). Highlight or underline sources and annotate with description, yournames , publication, day of week, date, page number(s) or web link. Comment on unusedsources.

OPTIONAL READING: "Tuchman, “Knowing Sources,” cont’d, 69-73; "Tuchman, “Web of Facticity,”82-97; "Rosenstiel, “Yakety-Yak: The Lost Art of Interviewing,” CJR, Jan/Feb 1995, 23-27.

OPTIONAL LISTENING (BONUS): =<Manoff et al. on “Common Ground” (15:00 excerpt) (in MultimediaCenter, Dimond Library)

5. WED SEPT 17 2014“Who?” cont’dExam One PreviewREQUIRED READING (17 pages +Exam Info): !Weinberg, “Is Alma Mater a Sacred Cow?,” CJR,

Jan/Feb 1993, 55; !“UNH Communication Guidelines Regarding Media Interviews, 2010-2011,”2 pages; !“‘Laurel’ to the St. Paul Pioneer Press,” CJR, July/Aug 1999, 21; !“Truth versusFacts,” Extra!, June 1987, 11; !“Health Care Reform: Not Journalistically Viable?,” Extra!,July/Aug 1993, 9; !Hollar & Macdonald, “Media Quarantine of Single-Payer Continues,” Extra!,June 2009, 2 pages; !Nader, “Media Matters,” Nation, 12/18/95, 778 (Note: Nader was the“powerless critic” mentioned in the last paragraph); !Allen & Calderone, “Washington PostCancels Lobbyist Event Amid Uproar,” Politico, 7/2/09, 2 pages (consider the implicit link to thereporting trends described by Nader); !Cunningham, “Rethinking Objectivity” (excerpt), CJR,July/Aug 2003, 24-29; !Katz, “AIDS and the Media: Shifting Out of Neutral,” Rolling Stone,5/27/93, 31-32; !Meyrowitz, “Important Information on Your Answers to Exam Essays,” “GeneralInformation About Course Exams” and “Preview of Exam One,” 6 pages (at rear of manual).

OPTIONAL READING: "Massing, “Now They Tell Us,” NYRB, 2/26/04 (available online at<www.williambowles.info/media/massing _media.html>; "Jackson, “But You Didn’t Hear ItFrom...Anyone: Anonymity Abuse in the Corporate Press,” Extra!, Nov 2011, 5-6<http://fair.org/?s=Anonymity+Abuse>; "Editorial, “Obamacare–Round II: A Chance forJournalistic Redemption,” CJR, Jan/Feb 2013 (critiques press for covering the healthcare debateas if it were a sporting event), <www.cjr.org/editorial/obamacare_round_two.php>.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING (if not watched in class): 60 Mins: “Officer Herrera Goes Public,” 6/2/08(13:37), <www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4143148n%3fsource=search_video>.

HAND IN PAPER: Typed, 4-8 page Summary-Analysis-Reaction (S-A-R) paper on “Operation UrgentFury”; see instructions in manual (accepted until 4 P.M. next day without penalty).

6. MON SEPT 22 2014“Who?” cont’dEXAM ONE (through “Who?”)BRING: #2 pencils with erasers and a blue or black pen(If we are running behind, this exam may be moved to a Common-Exam slot or moved to next session.)REQUIRED READING (9 pages +review): !Downie & Kaiser, “Saving Lives,” 42-51 (Contrast with

Sigal’s Mrs. Bumpurs example, and consider why the reporting described here is so rare.);!Review this section’s readings (and Blackboard review material) in preparation for Exam Oneand finish filling in the “Key ‘Who’ Terms” worksheet and the Practical-Positive-Problematicworksheet about journalists’ relationships with official sources.

* * *NEWSPAPER READING: In reading The New York Times and attending to other news media inpreparation for our upcoming sessions on “What?,” pay attention to what types of topics seem to be mostcommon in the news media and what types of themes and topics (and approaches to those topics) arerelatively rare. (Use Romano and Gans readings as initial guides to exploration of these questions.)


7. WED SEPT 24 2014“What?”[If you have a religious conflict with attending this session, please let me know well in advance.]REQUIRED READING (27 pages): !“Drones Aren’t News–But UFOs Are,” Extra!, Dec 2013, 3; !M&S:

Romano, “The Grisly Truth About Bare Facts,” in M&S , 38-58 (Part of philosopher-journalistRomano’s purpose is to suggest that many of the “obvious” claims about what news is – or is not– don’t make any sense. So don’t be surprised if at first you find yourself getting confused aboutwhat you think should be “simple” definitions of “news”; that’s part of his intent.); !Tuchman,“Space and the News Net,” 15-16; !Frankel, “The Murder Broadcasting System,” NYT Mag,12/17/95, 46-47; !Brady & Pertilla, “The Look of Local News,” CJR+, Nov/Dec 2001, 11-12;!Darnton, “Standardizing and Stereotyping,” 1975, one page; !Ellerbee, “The First Law ofJournalism is to Confirm Existing Prejudice,” 1986, one page (what are today’s prejudices?).

PRE-THINK: Think of analogies in other (non-news) aspects of your lives to what Romano dubs as the“Lippmanns” and “Stewarts” and be prepared to share your tentative examples with the class.

8. MON SEPT 29 2014“What?” cont’dREQUIRED READING (32 pages): !M&S: Romano, “The Grisly Truth About Bare Facts,” i n M&S,

58-78 (you can skim from the last 2 lines of p. 67 to the break on p. 72, since we will read thatmaterial again later in the course); !Gans, “The Messages Behind the News,” CJR, Jan/Feb1979, 40-45 (Use the worksheet on this key reading in the manual to help you to become veryfamiliar with Gans’ claims and consider the following readings in relation to Gans’ descriptionsof “leadership,” “order,” “altruistic democracy,” “responsible capitalism,” and other “enduringvalues” that he argues typically underlie U.S. news.); !Naureckas, “Ignoring Reality at theInauguration” (and side box), Extra!, March/April 2001, 6-7; !Richie & Naureckas, “Lani Guinier:‘Quota Queen’ or Misquoted Queen?,” Extra!, July/Aug 1993, 5; !AP, “As Easy as 1,2,3?...‘Instant Runoffs,’” NYT, 3/19/02, A20; !Hart, “For NYT, Apple Making Less Profit Is Not Evenan Option,”<www.fair.org/blog/2012/02/13>, 2012, one page; !Faux, “Another View: Seattle andOther Stories That the Media Missed,” CJR, May/June 2000, 39; !Global Exchange, “Top TenReasons to Oppose the Free Trade Area of the Americas,” www.globalexchagne.org, 1-2;!Giuffo, “Smoke Gets in Our Eyes: The Globalization Protests and the Befuddled Press,” CJR,Sept/Oct 2001, 14-17.

OPTIONAL READING: "Altheide, “Community Context,” 55-59; "Altheide, “Newsworkers &Newsmakers” & “Selecting Stories,” 112-124; "Tuchman, “Centralization of News Gathering,” 19-23; "Tuchman, “Negot ia t ing Newsworthiness, ” 31-3; "Lani Guin ier ,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lani_Guinier.

BRING “WHAT?” CLIPPINGS (alone or with 1-2 partners): At least two examples (but not op-eds) fromThe New York Times or other mainstream news forms that confirm or disconfirm any two or moreof Romano’s and Gans’ principles. (Also note how many of our previous readings take on newmeaning through Gans’ perspective.)

9. WED OCT 1 2014“What?” cont’dREQUIRED READING (14 pages +WS & review): !Virgets, “How I Wrote Myself Out of a Job,” Extra!,

July/Aug 1988, 16; !Jurkowitz, “Scoop Leaves Vermont Journalist Jobless,” BG, 11/18/99, onepage; !Rendell, “A Poverty of Coverage,” Extra!, Sept/Oct 2007, 8; !Nader, “Free EnterpriseRuns Too Free,” Washington Spectator, 8/1/96, 1-3 (Whether or not you agree with Nader’spoints, consider whether such views receive so little attention in the news media because theydon’t fit with the between-the-lines values in most news reports in the corporate-owned newsmedia. Also note that Nader satirically uses the term “Welfare Kings” to comment on the newsmedia’s focus on “Welfare Queens,” that is, poor mothers on welfare.!Flanders & Jackson,“Public Enemy No. 1?: Media’s Welfare Debate is a War on Poor Women,” Extra!, May/June1995, 13-17; !Boot, “Taking the Bait,” CJR, Nov/Dec 1985, 59-61; !Doherty, “Help Us Help YouGet Your Press Releases Published,” FDD, 9/26/92 (review this column for what it suggestsabout the source and content of much local community news); !Winer, “Gotcha!,” CJR, Sept/Oct


1986, 4-5; !Potter, “A Vast Wasteland,” AJR, Nov 2000, 58; !Robins, “American Media Blastedon World Coverage,” TV Guide, 1/20/01, 2 pages (note the date of this article and consider someof the consequences of Americans being so poorly informed about the world); !Hershman,“Consensus on the News,” (one-page excerpt);!Review the prior “What?” readings for possiblefurther discussion and your questions before we move on to “When?” at the next class.

REQUIRED VIEWING (if not shown in class): ='<“Newscasters Agree: The End of E-MailOverload?”(01:50); see www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p7RnDQwFRw.

OPTIONAL “AFTER READING”: "[Bb] “What’s Not News” transcript.OPTIONAL RECOMMENDED WEEKEND VIDEO RENTAL: ='< “Doc Hollywood” (1991) (1:44) (you

should be able to match the views of city vs. country life presented in this Michael J. Fox comedyto one of Gans’ values). If you invite your peers to a group viewing time, I can lend you a DVD.

* * *NEWSPAPER READING: In reading The New York Times and attending to other news media inpreparation for our upcoming sessions, pay attention to the timing of the news (“When?”). Whatpercentage of news stories are “hung” on a “news peg” (an event of the last 24 hours–or a very recentevent, or one coming up very soon)? How many of these pegged stories have what Schudson calls a“deep past”? Are there many stories exclusively about events that happened a long time ago? Are therefrequent stories about ongoing occurrences that affect readers every day, such as air pollution, waterquality, changing cost of food, environmental/health impacts of genetically engineered organisms, etc.?(These are what Schudson terms “oozing occurrences” vs. “breaking stories.”) Are there differences inthe types of stories that appear on different days of the week? (I’d recommend that you subscribe to atleast one e-mail breaking news service. I signed up at <www.abcnews.com>. The purpose of subscribingfor us is not “to keep up,” but to see what types of occurrences do and do not come through the “breakingnews” filter.)

10. MON OCT 6 2014“When?”REQUIRED READING (37 pages): !M&S: Schudson, “Deadlines, Datelines, and History,” in M&S,

79-108; The following short articles are about some aspect of the “routine rush” for the news:!Straus, “The Pop Life: It’s Time for the Return of the Rolling Stones,” 8/20/97, B6; !Banker,“The Mayor’s Been Shot!,” TV Guide, 10/24/81, 36-38; !Alter, “Skipping Through the News,”Newsweek, 6/9/86, 85-87;!Rendell, “Election Night Meltdown,” Extra!, Nov/Dec 2000, 13-14;!Marks, “The Justices Speak, and the Networks Scramble...,” NYT, 21/5/00, A17.

BRING “WHEN?” CLIPPINGS (alone or with 1-2 partners): At least one example of a news story witha recent “news peg” but also a “deep past.” (Highlight and label both parts.)

11. WED OCT 8 2014“When?” cont’dIN-CLASS VIDEO: ='< “Rushing to Cover O.J.: What’s Left Out?” (selected segments). IN-CLASS VIDEO: ='< Lesley Stahl on White House press “competition” (5:00).REQUIRED READING (20 pages): !Woodruff, “This Is Judy Woodruff at the White House” (book

excerpt), four pages (Note how Woodruff seems to be oblivious to the ways in which thejournalistic time conventions she embraces subject her and other journalists to the White House’sstrategic timing strategies she complains about!); The following readings suggest there is no“rush” to report some types of significant occurrences: !Kolbert, “Early Report by ABC News IsCriticized,” NYT, 4/14/94, one page; !Ackerman, “Withholding the News,” Extra!, March/April1999, 6-7 (Take special note of the cartoon!); !Hertsgaard, “Covering the World, Ignoring theEarth,” Rolling Stone, 11/16/89, 47-49 (Note that this article, written just as “the environment” wasfinally becoming a common news topic, offers enduring insights into why typical journalisticpractices often obscure key ecological trends); !“Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com,” onepage; !Bartlett & Steele, “Corporate Welfare, Part I: States At War,” Time, 11/9/98, 36-42,44,46,48-50,52,54 (A rare 12-page report on “oozing” occurrences that unfortunately andironically got buried by “breaking” news on the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal; read it carefully enoughto see what’s unusual about the reporting techniques and observe the overall pattern ofoccurrences described, rather than trying to memorize every specific example. Also available


online at: www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/1998/11/02/corp.welfare.html plus 2nd link. See ExamTwo preview for possible exam question.)

OPTIONAL READING: "[Bb] Hanson, “NASA and the Spellbound Press,” CJR, Nov/Dec 1986, 23-29.BRING “WHEN?” CLIPPINGS (alone or with 1-2 partners): An example of at least one of Schudson’s

other tenses (but NOT simply “the past” or “the future”) AND at least one example of anoccurrence that “oozes” (from a news or non-news source) vs. a (real or hypothetical) relatednews story that “breaks” AND an example of an embargoed release (google the words “release”+ “embargoed” to find an example).

12. MON OCT 13 2014“When?” cont’dCase Study: Pack JournalismExam Two Preview IN-CLASS VIDEO: ='< Nightline: “Pack Journalism–Horde Copy” (1989) (22:00) (T) Bring video

Worksheet to class. [This video may be moved to out-of-class viewing.]REQUIRED READING (17 pages +WS & Exam Info): !ABC News Nightline Daily E-Mail, “Ladies &

Gentlemen, the President of the U.S.,” 12/11/07, one page; !Macdonald, “Perilous Journalismin the Persian Gulf,” Extra!, March/April 2008, 12; Further examples of “oozing occurrences” andthe absence of a rush to cover them: !Yemma, “Crisis of the Week,” BG, 2/5/95, A1, A5; !Sea,“The Radiation Story No One Would Touch,” CJR, March-April 1994, 37-40; !Barisonek, “NewYork Times Offers Excuses for Radiation Tests,” Extra!, May/June 1994, 20; !Bailie, “GrowingUp as a Nuclear Guinea Pig,” NYT, 7/22/90, one page; !“Secrets from the Reagan Years,” NW,10/30/95, 6 (consider the placement and space Newsweek gave to this rather significant“correction” regarding the invasion of Grenada); !“Dirty-Water Studies,” Time, 6/12/95, 15(analyze this story–in the context of the entire page–in relation to Schudson’s concepts);!Jardine, “East Timor: Media Turned Their Backs on Genocide,” Extra!, Nov/Dec 1993, 23-24(It took another six years after this article was written for the U.S. mainstream news media to giveany significant coverage to the East Timor tragedy. Later in the course we’ll explore possibleexplanations for this “slowness” and for why certain aspects of the “East Timor story” were rarelyreported even in 1999.); !Ingalis & Kolhatkar, “The Propaganda of Silence,” Extra!, Nov/Dec2006, 18-21; !Bachko, “Laurel: Rocky Mountain News,” CJR, Nov/Dec 2008, 17; !Worksheet:“Pack Journalism,” 1-2; !“Preview of Exam Two,” 1-4 (rear of manual).

OPTIONAL READING: "[Bb] “Pack Journalism” transcript ; "Bartlett & Steele, “Corporate Welfare: PartsII to IV,” Time, 11/16, 11/23, & 11/30/98 (see web link for previous class); "Fagin & Lavelle,“Poison Politics,” Public I, 6/99, 1-6.

13. WED OCT 15 2014“When?” cont’dEXAM TWO (on “What?” and “When?”) BRING: #2 pencils with erasers and a blue or black pen(If we are running behind, Exam Two may be moved to Common Exam slot or to Monday after break.)REQUIRED READING (5 pages +review): !Starkman, “The Great Story,” CJR, Jan/Feb 2014, 39-43

(work to grasp his basic “access journalism” vs. “accountability” journalism model); !Review thissection’s readings and Bb review postings in preparation for Exam Two.

* * * F A L L B R E A K * * *NEWSPAPER READING: In reading The New York Times and attending to other news media inpreparation for our upcoming sessions, pay attention to how places are presented (“Where?”). How manystories, for example, have dramatic “settings”? To what extent is the public invited to “experience” eventsas opposed to being informed about “policy”? In how many and in what types of news stories are citizensencouraged to go to some place and “act” in some way? What sort of images of the world and placesare presented (in terms of opposing camps, alignments, them vs. us, etc.)?


14. MON OCT 20 2014“Where?” (EXAM NOTE: If we are running behind, EXAM TWO may be scheduled on this day.)IN-CLASS VIDEO: ='< Nightline: “What’s [and “Where’s] Not News?” (8/30/88) (28:00) (T)REQUIRED READING (34 pages): !M&S: Hallin, “Cartography, Community, and the Cold War,” in

M&S, 109-134; !Sanit, “Stand and Deliver,” CJR, July/Aug 1992, 15-16; How would Hallindescribe the difference between the following two accounts of the same massacre? !Sack,“Gunman Slays 9 at Brokerages in Atlanta” (excerpt), NYT, 7/30/99, A1; !Barstow, “In an OfficeBuilding, Scene of Chaos, Blood and Death” (excerpt), NYT, 7/30/99, A1; Consider what use of“setting” Hallin would observe in the following article: !Kleinfield & Buckley, “Wall StreetOccupiers, Protesting Till Whenever,” NYT, 9/30/11, 4 pages; Read the next article as anexample of use of “place as setting” and consider alternative ways to “report” this “news” usingother forms of writing. !Kunen, “Two Families Fight to Make Ford Pay,” People, 10/88, 88-94;!Try to fill in at least one example on the “Journalism of Experience vs. Journalism of Analysis”Worksheet, 1-2; !Video Worksheet: “What’s Not News,” 1-2 [bring to class].

BRING “WHERE?” CLIPPINGS (alone or with 1-2 partners): At least one example of “place asauthority” in its most explicit form and at least one example of “place as actionable information”in a news story.

[NOTE: We will return to Hallin and “Where?” after we take a detour through narrative (“Why?” and“How?”). That detour should help clarify Hallin’s arguments, particularly those on “World Views.”]

III. PART THREE: TELLING THE “STORY” (Explaining “W HY?” and “HOW?”)

NEWSPAPER READING: With respect to “Language” and “Narratives” (“How?” and “Why?), payattention to the words chosen to describe people and events. Do the words fit into particular themes?What are alternative words that could be used? Try to notice the different ways that facts are woventogether into narrative themes. (A simple definition of a “narrative” is that it contains an active verb: “Theeconomy is booming,” “The world is a battleground between good and evil,” “The inner cities are warzones,” etc.). How often do the narratives presented in the news pre-exist the “events” that are beingreported on? What are alternative narratives into which the reported facts could be woven? Drawing onthe “What?” and “When?” sections of the course, what “facts” and occurrences that are typically absentfrom mainstream news might suggest alternative narratives?

15. WED OCT 22 2014News Narratives: Language & Themes (“Inner-City War Zones,” “Cults vs. Religions,”

“Terrorists” vs. “Freedom Fighters,” “Drug-Dealing Despots,” and “Marxist-LeninistRegimes”)

REQUIRED READING (32 pages): !Gordon, “Operation Euphemism,” NYT, 5/26/99, A31; !M&S:Romano, in M&S, last two lines of p. 67 to break on p. 72; !“Images of 1990” Time, one-pagead; !Marquis, “U.S. Declares ‘Rogue Nations’ Are Now ‘States of Concern,’” NYT, 6/20/00, A8;!M&S: Manoff, “Writing the News (By Telling the ‘Sto ry’),” 197-212 (to first paragraphbreak) (Note that Manoff uses storytelling techniques–about the “leaked letter”–to expose, by theend, the storytelling techniques of the news media. Follow the story closely!); !Hancock, “WolfPack: The Press and the Central Park Jogger,” CJR, Jan/Feb 2003, 38-42 (This is a fascinating– and disturbing – case study, the subject of a 2012 documentary film and a major 2014 update,worthy of your attention to its specific details! See exam preview question on it.)

BRING “WHERE?” CLIPPINGS (alone or with 1-2 partners): At least one news example of “place assetting” (in its most dramatic form – as used in Kunen reading above) and at least one exampleof “place as subject.”

15A. REQUIRED OUT-OF-CLASS VIDEO (in Horton 112, Dimond Library’s Multimedia Center, & online)CASE STUDY: What’s the “Story” with the Waco Wackos ?VIDEO: ='< “Waco: Rules of Engagement” (condensed or full version) (1998) (MM) (T) (87:00 or 136:00)


Full version available on YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4scgRAJxWc. For your analysissection of the S-A-R Paper on this independent documentary, focus particularly on courseconcepts, such as: the routines followed by mainstream journalists, their relationships withsources, dominant cultural values and “familiar tales,” and the types of “stories” about Waco thatwould tend to (and not tend to) emerge through the mainstream media as a result. See alsoTuchman’s notion of the “aura of representation,” in my 2-page summary for the next class. Somewould argue that this controversial video–a favorite of the political “right”–presents an analogy tothe critiques made mostly by the political “left” about the justifications for the 2003 war with Iraq.

REQUIRED READING (17 pages): !Newsweek & Time covers, 5/3/93, one page; !Rooney, “Waco,Texas,” one page; !Stone, “Sifting Waco’s Ashes,” 1-16 (essential reading for S-A-R!); !Re-readthe “Wolf Pack” article assigned for the most recent class for parallel issues.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING: ='< NBC archived news broadcasts about the Waco siege:http://www.nbcnews.com/id/30645716/vp/33329711#33329711.

16. MON OCT 27 2014News Narratives, cont’dIN-CLASS VIDEOS: ='< The So-Called “Subway Vigilante” and othersREQUIRED READING (31 pages): !Raphael, “Inventing a Past for America” (book excerpt) 2004, 4

pages; !M&S: Manoff, “Writing the News (By Telling the ‘Sto ry’),” 212-229 ; !Hammer, “Philand Roger and Me,” NW, 3/30/98, 40 (take note of the instances in which Hammer uses “ironicjuxtapositions,” as Manoff describes the technique in the Hands Across America example, toundermine Moore’s credibility); !Altheide, “The Angle,” 73-77; In next three news articles, notethe different “narratives” that are used to shape the “story” about the same event: !Nichols, “FirstLady to U.S. Troops: ‘Thank you,’” USAT, 3/26/96, 8A; !O’Connor, “Response by G.I.’s Mixedas Hillary Clinton Visits,” NYT, 3/26/96, A10; !Peyser & Brant, “A Chelsea Morning,” NW, 4/8/96,35; !Meyrowitz, “Summary of Tuchman’s Concept of ‘Aura of Representation’ in TV News,” 1-2.

17. WED OCT 29 2014News Narratives , cont’dCase Study: Telling it Right or Wrong – AFLAC vs. A BC NEWSIN-CLASS VIDEO: ='< ABC Closeup Series and Outtakes (T)BRING: !Student manual with Worksheets on AFLAC v. ABC (to be analyzed in class)REQUIRED READING (22 pages): !Altheide, “News Perspective,” 97-112; !“Clarification: Richard

Jewell,” Time, 8/25/97, 12 (If you were Jewell, would you be satisfied with this as an “apology”and “correction” of the story? In 2005, another person, Eric Rudolph was convicted for thebombing; Jewell died in 2007 at the age of 44. The headline of the NYT obituary called Jewell“Hero of Atlanta Attack.”); !Males, “More Dangerous Than Anyone Thought,” Extra!, Sept/Oct2006, 29-30; !Funt, “Television News: Seeing Isn’t Believing,” Sat Rev, 11/80, 30-32; !Graber,“Seeing is Remembering,” JoC, 1990, one page.

OPTIONAL READING: "Altheide, “Editing,” 85-95; "Altheide, “Local & National News,” 125-128;"Campbell, “Securing the Middle Ground: Reporter Formulas in 60 Minutes,” CSMC, 4(4), Dec1987, 325-350.

BRING “NARRATIVE” CLIPPINGS (alone or with 1-2 partners): At least one example of the use of“ironic juxtaposition,” as described by Manoff in the Hands Across America example (or of areporter’s refusal to give in to the temptation to use irony, where it could easily have been used)OR at least one example of what Manoff calls the “eruption” of a second story through the originalstory OR an example of a journalist’s unusual juxtaposition of elements to construct a narrativeOR your own creation or modification of a news story to illustrate one of these.

OPTIONAL “AFTER READING”: "Tuchman, “Representation and the News Narrative,” 104-132;"Altheide, “The Angle,” 77-84; "Meyrowitz, “AFLAC vs. ABC: Testimony Exhibits” (ask me aboutthem, if you are interested); "[Bb] Meyrowitz, “AFLAC vs. ABC: Overall Messages.”

18. MON NOV 3 2014News Narratives, cont’dExam Three PreviewREQUIRED READING (15 pages +Exam Info & review of all prior readings for this section): !Altheide,


“Rethinking TV News,” 186-187; !Marion, “10 Tips on Shooting Videos the News Can Use,” TVGuide, 12/8/90, 36-37 (What does this article tell us about the degree of innovation oridiosyncrasy that is welcome in news footage?); !Feder, “The Devil in the Details,” CJR,May/June 2008, 18-20; !Barrett, “Dog-Bites-Dog Journalism,” Time, 10/30/89, 87; !Kalter, “LocalNews Broadcasts: Doesn’t Anyone Care About Holding Them Accountable?,” TV Guide, 5/21/88,35-36 (note info on number of newspaper and TV ombudsmen); !Cox, “Why Don’t MoreNewspapers Hire Ombudsmen?,” ONO, 1998, two pages. (Ombudsmen are also called “publiceditors” or the “readers’ editors.” After years of resistance, a number of major news organizations,including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and NPR have recently createdombudsmen positions. Yet the total at U.S. newspapers is only a few dozen! For updates, see<www.newsombudsmen.org/>); !“News Councils: The Case for...and Against,” CJR, March/April,1997, 38-39; !“Music as a Weapon? No Joke,” Extra!, Jan 2014, 3; !Khalek, “Seeing What TheyWant to See in Malala,” Extra!, Dec 2013, 4 (note that Malala has now won the 2014 Nobel PeacePrize); !“Preview of Exam Three,” 1-4; !Review this section’s readings in preparation for ExamThree.

OPTIONAL READING (BONUS): "“Why?” and “How?”: Carey, “The Dark Continent of AmericanJournalism,” in M&S, 146-158.

HAND IN PAPER: Typed, 4-8 page Summary-Analysis-Reaction paper on “Waco: Rules ofEngagement” (accepted by 4 P.M. following day, without penalty).

TUES NOV 4 2014 – PLEASE VOTE!

19. WED NOV 5 2014EXAM THREE (on “Where?” & “News Narratives” through readings & discussions prior to exam)BRING: #2 pencils with erasers and a blue or black pen(If we are running behind, this exam may be moved to a day or evening Common Exam slot.)REQUIRED READING (10 pages +review): !Meyrowitz, “Bonus Narrative Switch Assignment

Instructions,” 1-2, and “Narrative Switch Examples,” 1-8 (at rear of manual; read these even if youdo not plan to do the assignment, as they will help you on Exam Three, Exam Four, and the FinalExam).

L NOTE: The upcoming course readings, worksheets, etc . are in VOLUME TWO of the Course Manual. N

20. MON NOV 10 2014World ViewsREQUIRED READING (31 pages): !“Foreign Problems for Johnson” (map), NYT, 11/24/63, one page;

!“Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” one page (Can you tell anything about how well theserights are respected in individual countries by looking at the previous map?); !“Small World,”Harper’s, Jan 2002, 92; !Hallin, “Cartography, Community, and the Cold War,” in M&S, 134-145 (note that the study questions and worksheets for this final part of Hallin are at the beginningthe Worksheet section of Vol. 2 of the manual); Contrast the narrative techniques, use of settings,and implicit images of the U.S. in the following two stories about the same Baghdad bombing:!Dunham, “Saddam Strike Plane Told: ‘This is the Big One,’” Reuters, 4/8/03, one page;!Shadid, “Death, Fear Grief at Baghdad Bomb Site...,” WP, 4/9/03, one page; !Risen, “How aPlot Convulsed Iran in ‘53 (and in ‘79), NYT, 4/16/00, A1, 16-17; !“For Iran, Dark Pages ofHistory,” NYT, 4/22/00, one page (4 letters to the editor) (Given all the current talk about apossible U.S. war with Iran because of how threatening they are to “us,” this unusual NYT articleand the responses to it are worth a close reading!); !Worksheets: “Hallin’s World Views” & “Iranand the U.S.: World Views,” 1, 2, & 3; !“Global Blinders,” CJR, Nov/Dec 2001, 110-111; !Sanit,“The New Unreality: When TV Reporters Don’t Report,” CJR, May/June 1992, 17-18; !“HardNumbers: Overseas Bureaus,” CJR, Jan/Feb 2002, 53; !“Newspapers’ Overseas Press Corps,AJR, June 2000, 62-63 (note how few overseas correspondents there were even before recentrounds of extensive budget cuts and firings); !Altschull, Agents of Power, “Preface,” ix-xi.


OPTIONAL LISTENING (BONUS): =< “Massacre: The East Timor Story” (56:00) (MM)BRING: Initial conversion of each “Iran Worksheet” into each of Hallin’s three world views (by crossing

out some lines and highlighting and “enhancing” others). (I’ve provided two copies of eachworksheet so that you can use one for home preparation and one during class discussion.Additional copies are on Bb under Worksheets.)

AFTER-CLASS READING: !Meyrowitz, “Optional Application Paper Instructions,” 1-4.

20A. REQUIRED OUT-OF-CLASS VIDEO (online and in Horton 112 & Library’s Multimedia Center)Case Study (“World Views”): Is There a “Secret Gove rnment” in the U.S.? VIDEO: ='< Bill Moyers’ “The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis,” (1987) (87:00) (MM) (T)

[At this moment, this full video – often considered the best documentary ever shown on PublicTelevision – is online at (with full opening song at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Yzk-vtErQE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28K2CO-khdY). Watch and listen to it closely foryour required Summary-Reaction paper. The “analysis” section, focusing on the conceptual linksto news media, is optional for this video.]

REQUIRED READING (20 pages +WS): !“Bill Moyers,” in Winshop, Television, 1988, 248, 253-259;!Rosenbaum, “Iran-Contra Panels Find Fault, but Not in the System,” NYT, 11/22/87, E4;!Spencer, “Lawrence Walsh’s Last Battle” (excerpt), NYT, 7/4/93, two pages; !Robinson, “WhatDidn’t We Do to Get Rid of Castro?,” USNews, 10/26/98, 41; !Meyrowitz, “Allende, Pinochet, andthe CIA in Chile,” 2008, 1-4; !Amster-Burton, “Happy Birthday, CIA,” Extra!, Nov/Dec 1997, 21-22; !“Fiscal Year 2007 Federal Budget Proposal” (one page chart); !“US Military Spending vs.The World, 2008,” 2 pages; !Kennan, “Staff Paper,” 1948 (one-page excerpt from once top-secret document); !Butler, “Speech on U.S. Interventionism,” 1933 (one-page excerpt) (Can youfind many references to the Kennan document or the General Butler speech in mainstreamjournalistic analyses of U.S. policies abroad? Which “world view” might the public become moreaware of if these statements were cited more frequently?); !Video Worksheet: “Processing theWork of the ‘Secret Government,’” 1-4.

OPTIONAL “AFTER READING”: "[Bb] Moyers, The Secret Government, transcript (or book form: pp.xi-61, 87-119); "Meyrowitz, “The History of Television,” (Ch. 4 of Power, Pleasure, Patterns: AConceptual History of the Mass Media, 2009 or later edition); "Herman, “Diversity of News:‘Marginalizing’ the Opposition,” JOC, Summer 1985, 135-146; "Achbar (ed.), ManufacturingConsent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (companion volume to the film of the same name).

21. WED NOV 12 2014War News (drawing on all previous sections of the course)IN-CLASS VIDEOS: ='< “War Made Easy” excerpts (2007), plus others.REQUIRED READING (29 pages): !Meyrowitz, “False War Stories in the Mainstream Media,” 1-2;

!Altschull, “The Seven Laws of Journalism,” one page; !Naureckas, “The Bombs the TimesForgot,” Extra!, Sep/Oct 1996, 21; !Altheide, “Postjournalism,” 1991,1-6; !Ehrenreich, “WarriorCulture,” Time, 10/15/90, 100 (and marines ad from TNH); !Kennedy, “The British See ThingsDifferently,” CJR, March/April 2002, 48-49 (excerpt); !Mian, “Remote-Controlled Reporting onRemote-Controlled War,” Extra!, Oct 2011, 9-10; !Parini, “Noam Chomsky, All-American,” BG,1/22/95, 43; !Chomsky, “The Bounds of Thinkable Thought,” Progressive, Oct. 1985, 28-31(please read this brief article very carefully, because even though it’s very plainly written, it maystretch your own bounds of thought!); !Herman & Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent, 1988,“Preface,” xi-xv; !“KAL 007 & Iran Air 655,” Extra!, July/Aug 1988, 1, 6-7; !“U.S. Role MissingFrom East Timor Coverage,” Extra! Update, 10/99, 1.

OPTIONAL READING: "Boylan, “Declarations of Independence,” CJR, Nov/Dec 1986, 30-45;"Kornbluh, “Crack, the Contras, and the CIA: The Storm Over ‘Dark Alliance,’” CJR, Jan/Feb1997, 33-39; "“Iran Air 655,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_655.

BRING IN (alone or with 1-2 partners): At least one news example from the mainstream press thatsupports or contradicts (or does both, in different parts) Herman and Chomsky’s “propagandamodel,” as outlined in one of the background readings for “The Secret Government” video. (Theexamples can be about the countries mentioned in Chomsky’s “thinkable thought” article, or fromtheir co-authored Manufacturing Consent, or about any other relevant countries. If possible, drawon “facts” as learned here or in other courses, presented in books, alternative press articles, or


web sites to document that your example supports or contradicts the “propaganda model.” Yourexamples and analysis may be drawn from your Optional Application Paper, in progress.)

22. MON NOV 17 2014War News , cont’d [Complete these assigned readings & video viewings in time for Exam Three]Case Study: U.S Wars with Iraq & AfghanistanIN-CLASS VIDEO: ='< “After the War” (1991) (excerpts) (out-of-class if we are behind schedule)IN-CLASS VIDEO: ='< “Greetings from Missile Street” (2001) (MM) (06:00 excerpts)REQUIRED READING (38 pages): !Apple, “Iraqis Mass on Saudi Frontier,” & Friedman, “Battle for theSaudi Soul,” NYT, 8/4/90, p. A1 (just glance at these for the basic “story” presented); !Baker, “Iraqgate:The Big One That (Almost) Got Away,” CJR, March/April 1993, one-page excerpt; !Lieberman, “FakeNews,” TV Guide, 2/22/92, 10-11, 13-14, 16, 26; and then on same page as previous reading: !Strong,“Portions of the Gulf War Were Brought to You by...the Folks at Hill and Knowlton,” TV Guide, 22 Feb.1992, 11-13; !Steele, “TV’s Talking Headaches,” CJR, July/August 1992, 49-52; (Note that theinformation in the next 5 short readings was all available before the war to any journalist or citizen whospent a few hours of research to track it down) !Nagy, “The Secret Behind the Sanctions,” Progressive,9/22/01, 22-25 (this article won a Project Censored award in 2003 as one of the most important newsstories of 2001 and 2002 to be largely ignored by the corporate media–which remains true to this day);!Meyrowitz, “Reasons Iraqis May Not View U.S./British Forces as ‘Liberators,’” (compiled before the war)2003, 1-2; !Meyrowitz, “It’s All a Web of Lies,” 2-page chart of pre-war “corrections”; !Meyrowitz, “Webof Lies,” In These Times, 9/1/03, 18-20; !Bookman, “The President’s Real Goal in Iraq,” AJC, 9/29/02,1-7 (Winner of Project Censored’s first place for the most important under-reported story in the U.S. newsmedia in 2002 and 2003. Take note of what this reporter did to research his pre-war story that is simple,yet strikingly different from the reporting of most other U.S. mainstream journalists on the buildup to thewar with Iraq.); !Exoo, “The Final Stretch,” 2010, 144-150 (excerpt from The Pen & the Sword);!Chernus, “Iraq: Let a Thousand Stories Bloom,” CommonDreams.org, 4/12/03, 1-2; !Photo, Durham,NH, 2003, “Beep to Bomb Saddam,” one page.REQUIRED VIEWING: Meyrowitz, “Where’s the Line between War News & War Propaganda,” 2011

(87:00) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZpeCiQCk_s. Or attend an updated live presentationon Tuesday, November 25, 6:30 pm, in Horton 125, as noted below.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING: ='< “Independent Media in a Time of War” (29:30) (MM) (T)<www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7kcuJwnESM>; ='< “Collateral Murder“ (leaked video on thekilling of two Reuters photographers) (17:47) (MM) <www.collateralmurder.com/>; ='< Meyrowitz,“Where’s the Line Between War News and War Propaganda,” (87:00) (MM); ='< “RethinkAfghanistan,” <http://rethinkafghanistan.com/videos.php>.

OPTIONAL READING: "Naureckas, “Media on the March: Journalism in the Gulf,” Extra!, Nov/Dec 1990,1, 3-5, 7-9; "Sharkey, “Collective Amnesia” (on press restrictions during invasion of Panama andthe Gulf War), AJR, Oct 2000, 20-33; "[Bb] “War Made Easy” transcript, 1-33.

HAND IN PAPER: Typed 2½ -5 page Summary-Reaction paper (Analysis section is optional for thisvideo) for “The Secret Government” (accepted by next day at 4 P.M., without penalty).

23. WED NOV 19 2014(NOTE: If we open this and the next session to the campus community and public, as is planned, the

regular class time will be followed by an extra and optional 30-minute open discussion, to allowfor additional comments from our visitors. Usually, guests include those with experience in LatinAmerica. These are important, intense sessions; don’t miss them, and pay close attention.)

World Views , cont’dCase Study (“World Views”): The U.S. in Latin Ameri ca – Contrasting NarrativesIN-CLASS VIDEOS: ='< VariousREQUIRED READING (17+ pages): !Re-read the background readings for “The Secret Government”

and “War News” for this class; !Keen & Haynes, “The Geographical Background of LatinAmerican History,” xvii-xx; !Meyrowitz, “The Columbus Effect,” 1-6; !Lowen, “The‘Requirement,’” one page; !Navarro, “Guatemala Study Accuses the Army and Cites U.S. Role”and “The Atrocity Findings...” NYT, 2/26/99, A1, A8; !“U.S. Military Interventions in Latin America,1822-present,” one page; !Wall, “The Media’s Failing: News as Entertainment,” The ChristianCentury, March 1990, 292-293; !Hewitt & Kramer, “Last Rights: A Crusading Widow Wins an


Admission Her Husband Was Slain,” People, 4/10/95, 51-52; !Map of Latin America and theCaribbean; !Possible additional readings, to be announced.

OPTIONAL READING: "Doyle, “The Atrocity Files: Deciphering the Archives of Guatemala’s Dirty War,”Harper’s, Dec 2007, 52-64, <www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/guatemala/police/harpers.pdf>. "Bargent,“Chiquita Republic,” ITT, Jan 013, 21, 23-25 <www.inthesetimes.com/article/14294/>.

23A. REQUIRED OUT-OF-CLASS VIDEO (in Horton 112 and Dimond Library’s Multimedia Room)Case Study: Were We Told the Truth about the U.S. I nvasion of Panama?VIDEO: ='< “The Panama Deception” (1992, Academy Award Winner, 1993) (91:00) (MM) (T) (WS)

(Warning: Contains some very graphic scenes). See schedule for S-A-Reaction paper due date.See the worksheet on the video and make certain to include in your summary the documentary’schallenges to the officially claimed reasons for the invasion and what the documentary claimswere the primary and secondary reasons.

REQUIRED READING (5 pages +WS): !Video Worksheet, “The Panama Deception,” 1-2; !Davidson,“Lessons in Amnesia,” NYTBR, 1989; !“Manuel Noriega,” Wikipedia, 2005, 1-4 (see onlineversion for links to many related articles).

OPTIONAL READING: "[Bb] Panama Deception transcript.

24. MON NOV 24 2014World Views , cont’dCase Study (“World Views”): The U.S. in Latin Ameri ca – Contrasting Narratives , cont’dIN-CLASS VIDEOS: ='< Various, including “School of Assassins” (1995 Academy Award Nominee)

(18:00) (MM) (T) and “Making the News Fit” (28:00) (MM) (T) (WARNING: These videos containsome graphic scenes of violence. Please BRING the Making News Fit Worksheet. )

REQUIRED READING (19 pages +WS & Exam Info): !Cockburn, “Remember El Salvador?,” TheNation, 6/1/85, 662-663 (note the date of this article; contrast with NYT’s “discovery” of the “fullstory”–eight years later! See Krauss, 1993 below); !Gruson, “In El Salvador, Extremism OnceAgain Rules the Day,” NYT, 11/19/89; Next 3 articles on same manual page: !Hughes, “JesuitMassacre...” (start), FDD, 11/18/89; !Spielman, “UN Report...,” FDD, 11/18/89; !Hijiya, “In ElSalvador, Deadly Ironies,” NYT, 11/19/89; !McGurl-Knight, “Salvadoran Dead Remembered:UNH Vigil...,” FDD, 11/22/89; !Masland et al., “The Dead Tell Their Tales,” NW, 11/2/92, 66;!Hoyt, “The Mozote Massacre,” CJR, Jan/Feb 1993, 31-34; !Smyth, “‘Official Sources,’ ‘WesternDiplomats,’ and Other Voices from the Mission,” CJR, Jan/Feb 1993, 35; !Krauss, “How U.S.Actions Helped Hide Salvador Human Rights Abuses,” NYT, 3/21/93, 1, 10; !North, “SalvadorVotes, Media Yawn,” Extra!, May 2009, 12; !McDermott, “Former Guerilla Party FMLN WinsPresidency,” Telegraph, 3/16/09, one page; !Haugaard, “Torture 101,” ITT, 10/14/96, 14-16;!Video Worksheet: “Making the News Fit,” 1-2; !“Preview of Exam Four,” 1-6.

OPTIONAL LISTENING: =<Stockwell, “The Secret Wars of the CIA,” 2 one-hour tapes; =<Chomsky, “TheMedia as Propaganda,” one-hour tape; =< (BONUS) Chomsky, lecture three of five-part MasseyLecture Series, “Media, Propaganda, and Democracy,” one-hour. (An expanded version of thislecture is printed in Chomsky’s Necessary Illusions, Chapter Three: “The Bounds of theExpressible,” pp. 45-73.)

OPTIONAL “AFTER READING”: "[Bb] “Making the News Fit” transcript; "Danner, “The Truth of ElMozote,” New Yorker, 12/6/93, 50ff; "School of the Americas Watch website: <www.soaw.org>(a net search on “School of the Americas” will yield arguments on all sides).

OPTIONAL “AFTER VIEWING”: ='< “School of the Americas: A Partnership in Democracy” (15:00) (adefense of the school); ='< “School of the Americas: An Insider Speaks Out” (16:00); “A Waveof Peace: Pilgrimage to the School of the Americas Vigil” (49:00) viewable online at:www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu7xlv4pnT8 (see many related SOA videos at the same site).

OPTIONAL READING (BONUS): "Sample application papers on Blackboard.HAND IN: Proposal for OPTIONAL Application Paper , alone or with others (one-week grace period).

RECOMMENDED OPTIONAL VIDEO RENTALS: ='< “Salvador,” ='< “Total Recall,” ='< “Avatar”: OliverStone’s 1986 “Salvador” is based on true incidents and “oddly” recounts incidents the US news mediatook years longer to “discover.” The 1990 film “Total Recall” (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger) and the


2009 “Avatar” are futuristic fantasies. These recommended movies are likely to help you with the “gestaltshifts” required to master the material for Exam Four. Warning: All three films contain some scenes ofgraphic violence.)

24A. TUES NOV 25 2014, 6:30-8:00 pm, Horton 125**[NOTE: This lecture will be followed by an optional open-ended discussion, 8:00-8:30 p.m.]** CASE STUDY: WHERE IS THE LINE BETWEEN “WAR NEWS” & “WAR PROPAGANDA”?OR Watch: Meyrowitz, “Where’s the Line between War News & War Propaganda,” 2011 (87:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZpeCiQCk_s.

IV. PART FOUR: NEWS BIAS CONTROVERSIES

NEWSPAPER READING: After completing the various “Bias Controversies” readings (including the biasworksheet) and watching the bias videos, try to find examples that support or contradict the presentedclaims and look for other forms of bias. Also, in terms of the controversy over whether the press is“conservative/right wing” or “liberal/left wing” or “middle-of-the-road,” think back to the earlier parts of thesemester to ask questions about what types of sources (Who?) and topics (What?) and timing (When?)and narratives (How? and Why?) would be likely choices to match a conservative, liberal, or centristpolitical agenda. Reflect carefully on the bias worksheet in the manual.

* * * Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014 – Friday Schedule * * *Thursday Nov. 27 & Friday Nov. 28, 2014 – Thanksgiv ing Holiday, no classes

25. MON DEC 1 2014(EXAM NOTE: Depending on our progress, it’s possible that this will be EXAM FOUR day. If so, it’s

also possible that parts of the exam will be given as overnight take-home essays.)News Bias: Overview of ControversiesPersonal Bias, Political Bias, Power Bias, Cynicism Bias, Journalistic Consensus Bias,

Ethnocentric Bias, Sexist Bias, Religious Bias, Bia s of the Status Quo, NewsPerspective Bias, News and the Construction of Gend er Reality, News and theConstruction of Political Reality, TV News & The Bi as of the Visual Gestalt

IN-CLASS VIDEO: ='< “The Myth of the Liberal Media” (1997) (60:00) (out-of-class if we are behind)REQUIRED READING (37 pages +WS): NOTE: In order to keep the readings about Latin America in

one section, these “Bias” readings begin in the next sub-section of the manual, after the 21pages of readings for the next out-of-class video about Hugo Chavez andVenezuela.!Plunkett, “US TV News Too Liberal, Say Americans,” Guardian, 10/8/03, 2pages; !Golberg, Bias (excerpt), 2001, 128-133; !Nichols & McChesney, “The Rise ofEstablishment Journalism,” Extra!, Nov 2013, two-page excerpt; !Cohen, “Propaganda fromthe Middle of the Road: The Centrist Ideology of the News Media,” Extra!, Oct/Nov 1989, 12-14; !Scherer, “In Review: Framing the Flag,” CJR, March/April 2002, 10; !Cohen, “Media andthe Election,” CD, 11/22/04, 1-4; !Pozner, “Cosmetic Coverage (and side box),” Extra!,March/April 2001, 8-10; !“Women’s Way,” CJR, Nov/Dec 2001, 112-113;!“Secular LiberalMedia?,” Extra!, March/April 1999, 27; !Husseini, “Fundamental Misunderstandings About aGrowing Faith,” Extra!, July/Aug 1995, 13,15; !Naureckas, “The Oklahoma City Bombing:The Jihad that Wasn’t,” Extra!, July/Aug 1995, 6-10, 20; !Jackson, “Film Rejection HighlightsPBS Bias,” Extra!, Jan/Feb 1998, 6-8; !Evans, “Covering Third Parties,” CSM, 10/20/88, 14;!Jackson, “Labor Has a Party – Press Sends Regrets,” Extra! Sep/Oct, 1996, 8-9;!Meyrowitz, “The Press Rejects a Candidate,” CJR, March/April 1992, 46-48; !Worksheet:“Assessing ‘Political Bias’ of Mainstream News Media” (plus lyrics to Ochs’ “Love Me, I’m aLiberal”), 1-2; !Video Worksheet: “Myth of the Liberal Media,” 1-2 (to bring to class).

OPTIONAL READING: "Gans, “Are U.S. Journalists Dangerously Liberal?,” CJR, Nov/Dec 1985,29-33 (plus response and counter-response); "Altheide, “News Bias,” 17-28; "Tuchman,“The Women’s Movement,” 133-155; "Cohen, “TV’s Political Spectrum” and “A Program-by-


Program Guide to TV’s Political Spectrum,” Extra!, July/Aug 1990, 1; 6-10 (available online at<fair.org/extra>); "Meyrowitz, “Visible and Invisible Candidates: A Case Study in ‘CompetingLogics’ of Campaign Coverage,” Political Communication, Vol. 11(2), 1994, 145-164.

HAND IN PAPER: Typed, 4-8 page Summary-Analysis-Reaction paper on “The Panama Deception”(accepted by next day at 4 P.M., without penalty)

26. WED DEC 3 2014EXAM FOUR (on “World Views” and “War News” and selected “Bias Controversies” materials)BRING: #2 pencils with erasers and a blue or black pen(If we are running behind, this exam may be moved to a day or evening Common Exam slot.)REQUIRED READING (3 pages +review for exam): !Parenti, “Methods of Media Manipulation,”

Humanist, Jul/Aug 1997, 5-7.

26A REQUIRED OUT-OF-CLASS VIDEO (in Horton 112, Multimedia Center, and online)Case Study: Inside the Coup Against Venezuelan Pre sident Hugo ChavezVIDEO: ='< “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” (2003) (74:00) (MM) (This award-winning

documentary is also known as “Chavez: Inside the Coup.” Low-resolution versions at:<www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZajyVas4Jg> or <www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id--ZFtjR5c>. Seedue date below for Summary-Analysis-Reaction paper. The “Analysis” section of your papershould reflect your analysis of the documentary and the required readings, below. Also, when yourefer to “news media” in the paper, make sure you clearly indicate whether you are referring tothe Venezuelan news media and/or the U.S. news media.)

REQUIRED READING (21 pages; NOTE: these readings are at the end of the prior World View section):(Contrast the “story” told about Chavez by Gunson and Gurwitz in Newsweek and The ArizonaStar with the story told by others, including British journalists Pilger and Palast and human-rightsactivist Benjamin.) !Pilger, “Hugo Chavez Has Won Two Elections,” New Statesman, 3/11/02,2 pages (How did British journalist Pilger know about the impending coup when the mainstreamU.S. media were supposedly caught by surprise?); !Palast, “Hugo Chavez is Crazy!,” Alternet,6/25/03, 3 pages; !Gunson, “‘A Totalitarian Regime,’” NW (intern’l), 3/15/04, 2 pages; !Gurwitz,“Democracy in Venezuela Crumbling,” AZ Daily Star, 3/20/04, 2 pages; !Benjamin, “Why HugoChavez Won a Landslide Victory,” Global Exchange, Fall 2004, 2; !Jones & Tayler, “U.S. KeptQuiet on Chávez Plot,” Newsday, 11/24/04, 2 pages; !Weissman, “How Uncle Santa DiddlesDems from Ukraine to Venezuela,” Truthout, 12/24/04, 3 pages; !Bhatt, “Fear of a VenezuelanExample,” Extra!, Dec 2012, 12-13; !Rendall, “Democracy & Double Standards,” Extra!, Dec2012, 13-14; !Bhatt, “The New York Times on Venezuela and Honduras: A Case Study ofJournalistic Misconduct,” NACLA, Spring 2013, 67-69; !“Proven Conventional Oil Reserves,”Fortune, 11/12/01, 84, one-page chart (note the link between US interests in Iraq ANDVenezuela!).

OPTIONAL READING: "Dinges, “Soul Search,” CJR, July/Aug 2005, 52-58 (on Venezuelan journalismfollowing the coup reversal);"Rendell, Ward, & Hall, “Human Rights Coverage ServingWashington’s Needs,” Extra!, Feb 2009, 7-10 (contrast of coverage of Colombia and Venezuela);"Check Bb for possible other postings of articles on Hugo Chavez and Venezuela (and send melinks to examples that you find elsewhere).

OPTIONAL VIEWING: "John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, on DemocracyNow!, 2/15/06, <www.democracynow.org/shows/2006/2/15> (T).

27. MON DEC 8 2014News and Commercial BiasIN-CLASS VIDEO: ='< “Fear & Favor in the Newsroom” (1996) (56:00) (MM) (T) (Will be moved to out-

of-class viewing, if we are behind schedule.) Please bring the Fear & Favor Worksheet.REQUIRED READING (32 pages +WS): (Note that although you will be responsible for the overall

arguments in these readings and the types of examples presented, I will NOT test you on whicharticle presented which specific arguments or examples.) !Soley, “Corporate Censorship and theLimits of Free Speech,” Extra! March/April 1999, 19-21; !Steinem, “Sex, Lies, & Advertising,”Ms., July/Aug 1990, one page of excerpts; !Zachary, “Many Journalists See a GrowingReluctance to Criticize Advertisers,” WSJ, 2/6/92, 1, 9; !Alter, “A Call for Chinese Walls,” NW,


8/14/95, 31; !Baker, “The Squeeze,” CJR, Sep/Oct 1997, 30-34, 36; !Alter, “The Cave onTobacco Road,” NW, 9/4/95, 29; !Zoglin, “Stay Tuned for the Hype,” Time, 5/24/93, 74;!Gordon, “Mystery Milk, Journalistic Debacle,” Extra!, Jan/Feb 2001, 29-30; !“Concentration ofPower,” Nov/Dec 2001,126-127; !Hickey, “Money Lust,” CJR, July/Aug ‘98,1-4; !Coen, “Over1,000 March Against Corporate Media,” 12/00, 1; !“The Interconnected World of the CableOligopoly,” Extra!, Nov/Dec 1995, 14-15 (there is now so much more concentration andoverlapping of ownership that it is difficult to diagram, but this earlier, easier to read – though nowoutdated – chart makes the general point); !Hansell, “News-Ad Issues Arise in New Media,”NYT, 12/8/97, D12; !Meyrowitz, “Do News Media Owners and Advertisers Influence the News?,”1-4 (focus on the overall pattern here); !Murphy, “Single-Payer & Interlocking Directorates,Extra!, Aug 2009, 7-8; !Worksheet: “Fear & Favor in the Newsroom,” 1-6 (bring to class).

AFTER-CLASS READING (2 pages): !“Court Orders Akre-Wilson Must Pay...,” NGIN, 3/7/03, 1-2. OPTIONAL READING: Note local NH focus of the next two readings: "[Bb] Pope, “Mega-Media

Mergers=Power,” Herald, 9/2/01, F1, F4; "[Bb] Pope, “Newspapers Face New Bottom Line,”Herald, 9/9/01, F1, F4; "Steinem, “Sex, Lies, & Advertising,” Ms., July/Aug. 1990, 18-28;"McChesney, “The Global Media Giants: The Nine Firms That Dominate the World,” Extra!,Nov/Dec 1997, 11-18; "Blumenthal, “Wooly Times on the Web,” CJR, Sep/Oct 1997, 34-35;"Aufderheide, “Missing Link in Global Links,” CJR, May/June 1988, 41-42; "Altheide,“Commercialism,” 29-39; "Corliss, “Does This Film Seem Familiar,” Time, 11/21/88, 144;"Morton, “This Is Not an Advertorial,” WJR, June 1988, 12; "Williams, Television: Technologyand Cultural Form, 100-105; "“Darts & Laurels” (on tobacco-related stories), CJR, Jan/Feb 1995,19-2; "Aufderheide, “A Funny Thing is Happening to TV’s Public Forum,” CJR, Nov/Dec 1991,60-63; "Gross, “Some Cracks Show up on the Facade of TV’s This Old House,” People, 4/9/90,103, 105-106; "Weis & Burke, “Media Content and Tobacco Advertising,” JOC, Autumn 1986,59-69; "Jackson & Hart, “Fear & Favor 2000” (first annual report; check out the more recent onesas well at <www.fair.org>), Extra!, May/June 2001, 15-22; Pompilio, “A Porous Wall,” AJR,June/July 2009, 32ff.

OPTIONAL RECOMMENDED WEEKEND VIDEO RENTALS: ='< “The Insider” (1999) (drama basedon “60 Minutes” tobacco-story debacle); ='< “Inside Job” (2010) (Academy Award Winner, BestDocumentary, on the roots of the global economic meltdown).

28. WED DEC 10 2014Review and Integration : Beyond Bounded Debates Where Do We Go From Here?How to Continue Analyzing the NewsIN-CLASS VIDEOS: ='< Multiple short clips from variety of genres that summarize class conceptsREQUIRED READING (29 pages): !Zoglin, “More Programs, Less News,” Time, 12/17/90, 77 (note how

the date of this article suggests that recent Internet trends are not the only cause of mainstreamnews decline); !“The Arrival of Shouting Heads,” CJR, Nov/Dec 2001, 122-123; !Hickey, “FCC:Ready, Set, Consolidate,” CJR, July/Aug 2003, 5; !Hickey, “Radio Daze: The Canary Died,” CJR,March/April 2003, 29; !Hart, “New York Times, NPR, Recount Anti-War Protests,” Extra! Update,12/02, 1; !Naureckas, “Journalism Under Arrest,” Extra!, Jan. 2012, 7-8; NOTE: The remainderof the readings for this day concern alternatives to traditional mainstream reporting !Alter, “TwoReporters You Don’t Want on Your Tail,” NW, 4/24/89, 71; !Bartlett & Steele, “Pushing forAnswers,” CJR, March/April 1992, 31-32 (read closely to note how the public’s reaction disprovesa common claim about journalistic coverage decisions!); !Deterline, “Alternative Media: GoingBeyond Police Sources to Uncover Police Abuse,” Extra! July/Aug 1993, 23; !Weinberg,“Innocent?,” CJR, May/June 1999, 30-33; !“Thunder in Illinois,” CJR, March/April 2003, 7;!“Civic Journalism” (one-page ad); !Maguire, “Campaign Coverage Needs Great Debate,” BH,11/1/98, 36; !Lew, “Radio’s Renegade,” NYT, 12/8/97, D12; !Grunwald, “Air War in the MileHigh City,” BG, 3/9/98, A1, A9; !Stepp, “Journalism with Passion and Spirit,” AJR, Nov 2001, 69;!Rosen, “Terms of Authority,” CJR, Sept/Oct 2003, 35-37; !Meyrowitz, “Limits of MainstreamJournalism,” 2-page chart; !Seelye, “Citizen Journalism Project Gains a Voice in the Campaign,”NYT, 7/25/08, one page; !Steinberg, “Washington Post Rethinks Its Coverage of War Debate,”NYT, 8/13/04, 2 pages; !“Let There Be Light,” CJR, Jan/Feb 2009, 4 (regrettably, the ObamaAdministration’s record on openness vs. secrecy has been very weak, and it has set a record for


prosecuting leakers and whistleblowers); !Rowley & Dzakovic, “Wikileaks and 9/11: What if?,”LAT, 10/15/10, 2 pages.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING: ='< “Saving American Journalism,”www.pbs.org/now/shows/603/(1/15/10) with Nichols & McChesney (25:37) (T)

OPTIONAL READING: "Tuchman, “Reproduction of the Status Quo,” 209-217; "“Radio for PeaceInternational Programming Guide,” 1996; "Fulton, “A Tour of Our Uncertain Future,” CJR,March/April 1996, 19-26; "Simon & Napolitano, “We’re All Nerds Now,” CJR March/April 1999,19-28; "Hoyt, “Are You Now or Will You Ever Be, A Civic Journalist?,” CJR, Sept/Oct, 1995;"Cox, “Imagine: 37 Young Journalists and the Newspaper of Their Dreams,” CJR, Jan/Feb 2003,18-24; "Fisher, “Low Power to the People,” AJR, Oct 2000, 43- 48; "Use <www.google.com>to search for sites related to current status of “low-power radio”; "Downie & Schudson, “TheReconstruction of American Journalism,” CJR, Oct 2009 (search on title at <www.cjr.og>.

BRING ALTERNATIVE NEWS EXAMPLES (alone or with 1-2 partners): At least two news example(s)from alternative publications and/or alternative news sites (see Bb) on the net that you feelprovide significant information and/or narratives not typically provided by mainstream newssources in the U.S. (These can be drawn from your optional application paper research.)

HAND IN PAPER: Typed, 4-8 page Summary-Analysis-Reaction paper on “The Revolution Will Not BeTelevised” (accepted by 4 P.M. on following day, without penalty).

28A. REQUIRED OUT-OF-CLASS VIDEO (in Horton 112, Library Multimedia Room, or online)Case Study: Phantom WMDs–Getting the Story Right an d Getting It WrongVIDEO: ='< “Buying the War” (2007) (87:00) (MM) (T); high-quality version available online in chapters

at: <http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/btw/watch.html> (For you S-R paper, and optionalAnalysis section, focus on the differences in reporting practices that led major news organizationsto report mostly lies and distortions about Iraqi WMDs and ties to al-Qaeda, while some reporterseasily saw through the propaganda. A good review for the Final Exam!)

REQUIRED READING (20 pages): !Barstow, “Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand,” NYT,4/20/08, 14 pages (note that this extraordinary exposé was, unfortunately, published years afterit would have made a major difference, and months after the “Buying the War” documentary wasbroadcast; comments on this report in the “Reaction” part of your S-R paper would beappropriate!); !Hart, “Transmission Accomplished,” Extra!, May/June 2007, 11-13; !“We WereAll Wrong,” NW, 2/9/04 (cover); (Will the same patterns shape the next war?) !Hart, “On Iran,an Unsmoking Nongun,” Jan 2012, 12-14; !Preview of Final Exam, 1-3.

OPTIONAL READING: "“Buying the War” Transcript on Bb or at web site above.

* * * *

L READING DAY: MONDAY, DEC 15 to 6 pm N

If students are interested, I may be able to schedule a self-directed BONUS “Best Outtakes”video session (among other review options) with video segments we did not get to see in

class that review major course concepts for the Final Exam.

FRIDAY DEC 12 2014HAND IN (alone or with 1-2 peers): OPTIONAL full set of annotated sample clippings, per

manual checklist (accepted the next day by 4 pm without penalty) for up to 5% BONUScredit. This exercise should offer a good review of many course concepts.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014 – 6:00-8:00 PM, Horton 12 6D

FINAL EXAM (Cumulative) (Check email for possible essays to complete in advance)BRING: #2 pencils with erasers and a blue or black penREQUIRED READING (4 pages): !Meyrowitz, “How to Continue Analyzing the News,” 2 pages;


!Meyrowitz, “More Tips for Critically Analyzing the News,” one page; !Meyrowitz, “AlternativeNews Sites,” one page (see Bb copy for hot links).

HAND IN PAPER: Typed 2½ -5 page Summary-Reaction (S-R) paper (the Analysis section is optionalfor this video) on “Buying the War” (will be accepted until 4 P.M. next day without penalty).

HAND IN: Class Participation Self-Evaluation form (if you want to offer input on my evaluation of yourparticipation grade and/or provide feedback on others’ participation and/or make generalsuggestions regarding participation.)

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2014HAND IN (alone or with 1-2 partners): OPTIONAL“NARR ATIVE SWITCH” ASSIGNMENT (accepted

by 4 PM next day without penalty).

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2014HAND IN (alone, or with 1-3 others): OPTIONAL APPLI CATION PAPER (accepted by next day, 4PM

without penalty).

Notes on any schedule changes :See also the 2014 calendar (at rear of manual)

Have a good holiday and semester break!(See the course bibliography for suggested after-course reading.)

If you would like to be on an e-mail list for occasional updates on issues and events (including specialTV programs and movies) related to analysis of news, please send me a very brief e-mail with that

request after the semester is over. I also welcome hearing from you in the future with news examplesthat support or contradict course concepts, your own experiences with the news media (from the

inside or outside), and any suggestions for course material or future course revisions. You are alsowelcome to come back and sit in on future semesters of this course at any time.

* * *

Professor Joshua MeyrowitzDepartment of CommunicationHorton Social Science Center

20 Academic WayUniversity of New Hampshire

Durham NH 03824 USA1-603-862-3031

<[email protected]>

{ANSYL D 11-16-14 AN_F14 / 17 November 2014 4:47 am printout / © Joshua Meyrowitz 2014}

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