OLD, NEW, OR NO NEWS?

Changing Technology, Changing Audience and Changing Journalism

University of Illinois at Chicago

       COMM 494 Call No. 25746 & 25747

       Spring 2007, Wednesdays, 5:30 – 8 p.m., BSB 1169

INSTRUCTION TEAM

John Cruickshank, Publisher, Chicago Sun-Times

       Office, 350 N. Orleans St. Ask assistant Cathy Wright for an appointment.

       (312) 321-2524 E-mail Web Site

Kevin G. Barnhurst, Professor & Head, Department of Communication

       Office, BSB 1148A. Hours, Wednesdays, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. or by appointment

       (312) 413-3231 E-mail Web Site

Steve Jones, Visiting Associate Dean, Social Science Division, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

       Office, BSB 1150A. Hours, by appointment

       (312) 996-3193 E-mail Web Site

DESCRIPTION

This seminar explores shaping and delivery of news and its consumption, comparing the older press to computer-based media. How do old and new media collaborate and compete in producing and distributing news? Do the same ethical standards apply? How do audience members exercise quality control as news consumers? Have new time cycles and constraints on news producers redefined news? The seminar attends to the changing values and interests of the audience and to how media producers understand consumers. As old media face declining audiences, the gap between media workers and consumers appears to have grown. What constitutes and causes that gap? How can the old media bridge it? Fundamental expectations about news — about who decides what occurrences become newsworthy — appear to have changed, altering the relationship of the audience to the structure of media production.

PURPOSES

• To understand how producers decide what is news, what goes into a news story, and what is newsworthy.

• To investigate the relationship between journalists and their audiences and their influence on each another.

• To understand the differences between old and new news media and explore the consequences of consuming news through different media.

READINGS

The in-depth readings are available on Blackboard Course Documents and also on electronic library eReserves.

ASSIGNMENTS

Complete eleven homework assignments. See the Calendar for descriptions and due dates and watch Blackboard for details. In addition, the midterm and final activities involve reporting the results of fieldwork.

GRADES

Course grades follow this formula: Participation (attendance, preparation on readings, contribution to group work, and involvement in class discussions), 20 percent; Assignments, 60 percent (Assignments 3 and 5–7 are each 8 percent and the others 4 percent); Midterm Activity, 12 percent; and Final Activity, 8 percent.

RULES

Deadlines. If you have an illness or emergency, please meet with the recording instructor (Barnhurst) as soon as possible to provide documentation and discuss a suitable adjustment in your assignments.

Attendance. Absences, tardiness, and leaving early from class or scheduled outside work appointments count against your grade. Missing more than three days of class, or arriving late to or departing early more than six times, or a combination of absences and partial absences, will result in a failing grade. Missing or arriving late for an appointment to work in the field or to meet with a community group member weighs the same as attendance at seminar meetings.

Exclusivity. Reports must be original work you complete for this course only. Turning in work that is the same or substantially the same as that completed for another course is a form of academic dishonesty and will result in a failing grade on the assignment.

Honesty. You must do your own work. Cite the ideas of others thoroughly and consistently, and provide page numbers for quotations. Students found to have plagiarized the work of others (used their words without giving proper credit), including material from the internet, will receive a failing grade for the course. Department policy is to report all incidents of academic misconduct to the Student Judicial Affairs office. Read the Guidelines Regarding Academic Integrity.

Accommodation. If you must miss class due to religious holidays or observances, please notify the recording instructor well ahead of time to make arrangements that will not disadvantage you in the course. Students with disabilities who require accommodations for access or participation in this course must register with the Office of Disability Services at (312) 413-2103 or –0123 (TTY).

CALENDAR

The following calendar indicates the activities planned for and assignments due at each meeting of the course. All dates are tentative and may be adjusted at any time.

Week 1. Wednesday 17 January 2007

Discussion Leaders. John Cruickshank, Steve Jones, Kevin Barnhurst

Subject. Introduction

Homework. Read the assignment due 7 February and complete the required training. Begin planning the group research project, which requires a team and a field site.

Week 2. Wednesday 24 January 2007

Discussion Leader. John Cruickshank

Subject. Overview of the Situation of News

Readings. Cruickshank, John. “New Twilight of the News.” A Speech Delivered to the City Club of Chicago, March 20, 2006.

Putnam, Robert D. “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital.” Journal of Democracy 6.1 (1995): 65–78.

(Optional). Barnhurst, Kevin G. “Defining the Problem: Media & the Informed Citizenry.” Media Democracy: How Young Citizens Experience News in the United States & Spain, pp. 3–15. Published dissertation. University of Amsterdam, 1997.

Week 3. Wednesday 31 January 2007

Discussion Leader. Steve Jones

Subject. What’s New About News (and New) Media

Readings. Pew Internet & American Life site (links on Blackboard)

Week 4. Wednesday 7 February 2007

Discussion Leader. Kevin Barnhurst

Subject. Journalism Research among the Natives

Readings. Rosaldo, Renato. “Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage.” Culture & Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis, pp. 1–21. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993.

Shea, Christopher. “Don’t Talk to the Humans: The Crackdown on Social Science Research.” Lingua Franca 10.6 (September 2000): 27–34.

Assignment 1. IRB Certification. Turn in a copy of an up-to-date certificate showing you have completed training in human subject protections. If you’re not yet certified (usually the case), you can take the initial training on line. If your certificate is expired, renew it by doing continuing education. Follow the appropriate links.

Week 5. Wednesday 14 February 2007

Discussion Leader. John Cruickshank

Subject. What Is News?

Readings. TBA. Check the Blackboard site.

Assignment 2. Daily Me. With two copies of the newspaper, clip the articles you would most likely read, and then paste them together into the order of priority (top to bottom and front to back for broadsheet, or front to middle and back to middle if you prefer tabloid size) that would serve you best as a reader. Bring the result to class for discussion.

Week 6. Wednesday 21 February 2007

Discussion Leader. Steve Jones

Subject. New Media, New Journalism?

Readings. Charles Cooper, “All the news that’s fit to blog,” News.com, November 11, 2005. Available online.

Bruno Giussani, “A new media tells different stories.” First Monday 2.4 (1999). Available online.

Kevin Barnhurst, “The great American newspaper.” American Scholar 60 (Winter 1991): 106–112.

Assignment 3. Content Analysis. See Blackboard for instructions.

Week 7. Wednesday 28 February 2007

Discussion Leader. Kevin Barnhurst

Subject. First Contact & Participation

Readings: Orwell, George. “Shooting an Elephant.” A Collection of Essays, pp. 154–62. Garden City: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1957.

Eliasoph, Nina. “The Mysterious Shrinking Circle of Concern” and “Method.” Avoiding Politics: How Americans Produce Apathy in Everyday Life, pp. 1–22, 269–79. Cambridge Cultural Social Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Assignment 4. Initial Field Experiences. Working with your assigned research team, select a local community (preferably non-profit) news organization, with clearance from the instructor, make initial contact and begin field work. Come prepared to discuss your initial experiences.

Week 8. Wednesday 7 March 2007

Discussion Leader. John Cruickshank

Subject. If Nobody Can Afford Reporters

Readings. Klinenberg, Eric. “Breaking the News.” Mother Jones, March/April 2007, pp. 45–51, 91–93.

       Others TBA. Check the Blackboard site.

Assignment 5. Editorial Meeting. In teams of two or three, schedule and attend a Sun-Times news meeting (see the contact information for Cruickshank in the syllabus). Write up your experience as field notes and come prepared to discuss the experience in class.

Week 9. Wednesday 14 March 2007

Discussion Leader. Steve Jones

Subject. News, Research & New Media

Readings. Mark Deuze, “The web and its journalisms: Considering the consequences of different types of news media online.” New Media & Society 5.2 (2003): 203–230.

Examine current academic and commercial research on journalism (and journalists). Go beyond the linked home pages.

Find a scholarly research article that asks an interesting question (or questions) and post a link to the course wiki. Or post a citation and bring a copy to class.

Assignment 6. Photographer. Individually cover an event as a photographer. Shoot a roll of film (disposable camera) or 24 exposures using your own digital camera. You must include close-in shots of at least 3 individuals. Avoid grip-n-grin or posed pictures. Do not stage or direct the scenes. Write up your experience as field notes, make prints or print-outs of the pictures, and come prepared to discuss it in class.

Week 10. Wednesday 21 March 2007

Discussion Leader. Kevin Barnhurst

Subject. Field Notes & Observation

Readings. O’Brien, Tim. “The Things They Carried.” In The American Short Story, pp. 688–704. Ed. Richard Ford. London: Granta Books, 1992.

Rosengarten, Theodore. “Preface.” All God’s Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw, pp. xiii–xxv. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974.

Midterm Activity. Individual Fieldwork Presentation. Compile your field notes from the work of the previous weeks, and give an individual presentation of what you observed in the field.

Week 11. Wednesday 4 April 2007

Discussion Leader. John Cruickshank

Subject. Economics of News Choices

Readings. TBA. Check the Blackboard site.

Assignment 7. Reporter. In teams of two or three, spend half a day covering a story (such as the Conrad Black trial). Write up your experience as field notes and come prepared to discuss the experience in class.

Week 12. Wednesday 11 April 2007

Discussion Leader. Steve Jones

Subject. Journalists & Audiences

Readings. Cohen, Elisia L. “Online journalism as market-driven journalism.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 46.4 (2002).

Kampinsky, Ellen, Shayne Bowman, and Chris Willis. “Amazoning the news.” Presentation at IFRA Newsroom Convergence Conference, Barcelona, May 10, 2001. Available online.

Lasica, J. D. “News that comes to you.” Online Journalism Review, January 23, 2003. Available online.

Assignment 8. Compare Geographic Media. Select two newspapers (or other media outlets) with different geographical target markets. Compare all the contents of the two and bring your notes for discussion.

Week 13. Wednesday 18 April 2007

Discussion Leader. Kevin Barnhurst

Subject. Interpretation & Outcomes

Readings. Darnton, Robert. “Workers Revolt: The Great Cat Massacre of the Rue Saint-Séverin.” The Great Cat Massacre, pp. 75–104. New York: Basic Books, 1984.

Assignment 9. Journal / Periodic assessment. For the week before this class, keep a journal of your own media use, in which you choose regular periods (such as hourly) and observe exactly what media if any you are using. Use a alarm-watch or computer reminder to make your observations. Along with the journal, bring to class the most notable or interesting artifact from one of your periodic assessments (such as the example of media you were using one of the times when the timer went off), for discussion.

Week 14. Wednesday 25 April 2007

Discussion Leader. John Cruickshank

Subject. Conclusions

Readings. TBA. Check the Blackboard site.

Assignment 10. Blackboard questions/thoughts. Post on Blackboard (as a new discussion thread) some final remaining question or thoughts about the course. Read all the posts and comment on at least one other student’s post. Bring to class your selection of the best question or thought (other than your own) for discussion.

Week 15. Wednesday 2 May 2007

Discussion Leader. Steve Jones

Subject. The Future of News

Readings. TBA. Check the Blackboard site.

Assignment 11. Presentation / News Forecast

Week 16. Wednesday 9 May 2007

Discussion Leader. Kevin Barnhurst

Final Activity. Group Fieldwork Presentation. Prepare and deliver a final group presentation of the results of field work.