Professor Michael Turney
Communication Department

Course concept
and content

Contemporary Mass Media explores the current role and impact of mass communication in the United States by tracing the evolution of mass media from primitive societies to the present and projects current trends into the future. It is essentially a consumer-awareness course for those who want to be more savvy members of a society bombarded by mass media messages. Its primary purpose is to help students be more thoughtful and discriminating users of the mass media.

The eight major mass media are analyzed in terms of their information, entertainment, persuasion, and socialization functions. However, the most critical concern is not how the media developed, how they work, or even how much they make, it’s the impact they have on those who use them and on society.

The course also provides a basic foundation for advanced courses in journalism and radio/television and is useful for anyone thinking about a career as a professional communicator.

Course objectives

After successfully completing this course students should be able to:

• explain the similarities and differences between interpersonal and mass communication;

• discuss the evolution and growth of the mass media in response to new technologies and in light of their social, economic, and political impact on society;

• describe the eight major mass media and explain how they operate;

• identify key media practitioners and major media organizations;

• explain the role advertising plays in supporting American mass media;

• describe how entertainment programs, publications, and recordings are produced;

• explain how events are reported as news and point out differences in which events various media choose to “cover” and how they report “the news” about them;

• explain the effects which researchers believe the media have on opinion and behavior;

• discuss the opportunities and challenges the mass media promise for the future;

• assess possible career options in the mass media or related communication fields.

Required text

The Media of Mass Communication (sixth edition)
by John Vivian
Boston: Allyn and Bacon; 2003.

Quizzes and exams

Four quizzes encourage attention to class discussions and keeping up with the assigned readings. They occur at the start of class on the dates specified and take about 15 minutes to complete. Each quiz is a single page of questions requiring short, factual answers about material covered in the class sessions and readings assigned since the last quiz. Each quiz will be letter graded and account for 10 percent of your final grade.

The mid-term and final exams are much broader in scope and magnitude than quizzes and include questions whose answers will range from a single word to short factual responses of 1-3 sentences to analytic essays of 1-3 pages in length. Some of the questions are objective and factual, such as listing the major mass media, but others require more thoughtful and analytic answers that explain how and why the media operate as they do. The mid-term will cover all class sessions and readings from the first half of the semester; the final exam covers all material from the second half of the semester. Each exam will be letter-graded and account for 20 percent of your final grade.

Assignments

Feedback assignments encourage class attendance, active participation, and thoughtful self-analysis of your own media usage. They usually ask for your reaction or opinion and some require you to apply concepts discussed in class or in the readings to current media practices. They can be as short as a single question that's answered in 2-3 minutes of class time or as long as listening to and analyzing 2-3 hours of radio programming. Most feedback assignments require short, individually written responses, but some may involve small-group exercises and oral responses. Many will be spontaneous and completed in class, but some will be assigned as homework and completed outside of class. The number of assignments will depend upon the circumstances that arise during the semester, but there will probably be 12-15.

Instead of letter-grades, individual feedback assignments earn points which accumulate throughout the semester. The points earned for each assignment are based on its complexity and length in addition to the quality of the response. Each student's earned feedback points will accumulate until mid-term when they'll be converted to a single letter-grade for the first half of the semester. A separate total will be accumulated from mid-term until the end of the semester when it's converted to a letter-grade for the second half of the semester. Each half-semester letter-grade accounts for 15 percent of your final grade.