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Journalism 101/Communications 200

Introduction to Mass Communication and Society
M/W 9:30AM-10:45AM, Room 701
Office: I dont know.
Contact: mrancourt@swccd.edu

Mike Rancourt, PhD

Office Hours: M/W 12-1PM and by appointment

Course Description
Surveys the mass media institutions, functions, interrelationships, and effects on society. Provides a building block
in the general education of the non-major student and as the introduction to the discipline of study for the
communication/journalism major. (Same as COMM 200.) [D; CSU; UC].
Required Texts
Dominick, Joseph R. The Dynamics of Mass Communication. 11th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010.ISBN:
9780073378886 (Download Ch1 from the publisher for free here: http://tinyurl.com/jour101)
Additional texts will be provided as PDF and/or paper copies.
Course Objectives
1.

Student will identify and analyze historical trends in broadcast and print media, particularly as they
accompany technological change.
2. Student will identify, analyze, and critique the following media, based on their structures and functions
with respect to audiences: newspapers, magazines, books, radio, television, recorded music, music videos
and motion pictures.
3. Student will analyze audiences through demographic characteristics and preferences to ascertain
specialization or fragmentation of mass media markets.
4. Student will identify and evaluate the functional techniques of advertising and public relations in the mass
media environment.
5. Student will identify and distinguish ethical codes and laws as they relate to mass media, analyzing the
basis of the ethical guidelines and the political foundation for law.
6. Student will identity and analyze the major owners and controllers of American mass median and their
relationship to American society.
7. Student will identify techniques of research about mass media and identify the major theories that analyze
media related behavior.
8. Student will analyze the relationship of international mass media to American ideals.
9. Student will evaluate the future of mass media through analysis of technology that stimulates media and
audience behavior changes.
10. Student will access the societal value of mass media careers through contrast and comparison of the merits
of a variety of media tasks

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Grades
This class uses Contract Grading. That means each student will choose the assignments they want to do at the
beginning of the semester (based on detailed discussions, overviews, and prompts provided in the first three class
meetings).
A To contract for a final grade of an A, students will have no more than two unexcused absences and
will complete the two minor assignments (Communication Biography and End-of-Semester Reflection)
and six major assignments of their choosing from a list of thirteen options (see below).
B To contract for a final grade of an B, students will have no more than three unexcused absences and
will complete the two minor assignments (Communication Biography and End-of-Semester Reflection)
and four major assignments of their choosing from a list of thirteen options (see below).
C To contract for a final grade of an C, students will have no more than four unexcused absences and
will complete the two minor assignments (Communication Biography and End-of-Semester Reflection)
and three major assignments of their choosing from a list of thirteen options (see below).
However, as will discussed further in the next class meeting, failure to fulfill all the obligations of the selected
contract will result in lowering of grades. For example, A student who contracts for an A but only completes five
major assignments will have their grade reduced by a full letter (down to a B). If the student also misses more than
two classes, their grade will be reduced by 1/3 of a letter grade for each extra day missed (B- for one extra absence,
C+ for two, C for three, etc).
Assignments
Students will be asked to complete two minor assignments and between three and six major assignments selected
from a list of fourteen options (see below). These will range from creative to critical/cultural to explorative
assignments covering concepts introduced in the course readings. Students will only receive credit for an
assignment toward the fulfillment of their grading contract if they produce college-level work the standards of
which are clearly defined in the grading contract (well thought-out, well organized, well edited, well formatted, and
well developed). Students will have opportunity to revise assignments to meet these criteria.
This is the list of assignments from which to choose:
1.
2.
3.
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5.
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8.
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13.
14.

Audience and Positioning Analysis (September 16th)

Ideology and the Media Analysis (September 23rd)
Media Ownership and Organization Analysis (September 30th)
Print and Digital News Media Comparison (October 7th)
Audience Fragmentation Exploration (October 21st)
Blogger Watchdog Analysis (October 28th)
Mock Advertising Campaign (November 4th, in-class presentation November 6th)
Advertising Diary (November 13th)
Advertising Images and Society Project (November 18th)
Spin a Scandal (November 25th)
Framing Analysis (December 2nd)
Evaluate a Scandals Spin (December 9th)
Weekly Blog Posts (8 due total, the last is due December 11th)
Peer-to-peer and Creative Commons Exploration (December 11th)

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Policies

I encourage students to use their laptops and such to take notes in class. I mean, its 2013, for Petes sake!
Please view this class as a community. That means, it is the task of all members of the community to take
care of themselves and each other. I am not a police officer. It is not my job to make sure you stay in
line. I am not in the business of telling people what to do or disciplining anyone. What I am getting at is
this: if someone or something is causing a distraction or disturbance in class, dont wait for me to solve the
problem like I am some hard-nosed authority figure. If someone is distracting you, ask them nicely to stop
doing so. The flip side of this is that everybody should try to be aware that what they are doing might be
distracting to others. Dont take it personally if somebody asks you to stop distracting them. Do your best
to trust that they are doing so in good faith, not because they are mean but because they are trying to
concentrate.
Blackboard will be used to share documents (including turning in written assignments) and communicate
with members of the class. For this reason, and others, students should have access to a computer
connected to the internet. Fortunately, there are many computer labs open to students on campus.
Attendance does count as part of the grade in the course, so it will be taken at the beginning of each class.
If you are late and miss attendance, you must see me after class or run the risk of being marked absent.
Students with disabilities who may need academic accommodations should discuss options with me during
the first two weeks of class and provide documentation of support from the office of Disability Support
Services. They are located in the Cesar Chavez Student Services Center (Building 1400) and can be
reached at (619) 482-6512 or by email at DSS@swccd.edu.
Plagiarism is a serious offense and essentially is using another writers work without giving proper credit
to the original writer. It is cheating! This includes specific words as well as ideas and thoughts embodied
in those words. Plagiarism will result in automatic failure of the class, will be reported to the Dean, and
may result in expulsion from the school. For real.

Schedule
WEEK 1
1.
2.

August 19th Introductions to the course and each other.

August 21st Broad course overview (with outlines), grading contract negotiations.

WEEK 2
3.

4.

August 26th Read Ch 1 Communication: Mass and other Forms (key concepts: source, encoding,
message, channels, decoding, receiver, feedback, noise, interpersonal communication, machine-assisted
interpersonal, mass communication, mass media, convergence, social media), 2-27. Download Ch1 from
the publisher for free here: http://tinyurl.com/jour101
GRADING CONTRACTS DUE.
August 28th Read Ch 3 Historical and Cultural Context (key concepts: technological determinism,
photojournalism, digital technology, media [print, photography, cinema, radio, television, internet]). 50-74

WEEK 3
September 2nd NO CLASS, Labor Day
5.

September 4th Read Ch 19 on Social Effects of Mass Communication (key concepts: survey, panel study,
experiment, field experiment, resonance, agenda-setting effect, framing, prosocial behavior, reinforcement)
442-464.
Communication Biography Due

WEEK 4

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6.

7.

September 9th Read Ch 2 Perspectives on Mass Communication (key concepts: critical/cultural

approach, socialization, culture, polysemy, ideology, hegemony), 28-49. See also supplemental text on
polysemy and active audiences by Croteau, Hoynes, and Milan (Ch 8 Active Audiences and the
Construction of Meaning).
September 11th Read (handout) Croteau, Hoynes, and Milan Ch 5 Media and Ideology (key concepts:
dominant ideology, culture wars, normalization, hegemony, television and reality) 153-177.

WEEK 5
8.
9.

September 16th Film screening: Shaft.

Audience and Positioning Analysis Due (Optional)
September 18th Discussion of Shaft and ideology.

WEEK 6
15. September 23rd Economics and the media. Read selections from (handout) Croteau, Hoynes, and Milan
on Media Ownership (key concepts: conglomeration, integration, content diversity, homogenization, profit)
31-59
Ideology and the Media Analysis Due (Optional)
10. September 25th Media: Ch 4 Newspapers (key concepts: political press, penny press, yellow journalism,
jazz journalism, tabloids, newshole, circulation) 80-107.
WEEK 7
16. September 30th Media: Ch 5 Magazines (key concepts: Muckrakers, paid circulation, controlled
circulation, rate base, primary audience, pass-along audience) 108-129.
Media Ownership and Organization Analysis Due (Optional)
17. October 2nd Media: Ch 7 Radio (key concepts: Network, Radio Act of 1927, Federal Communications
Commission, Communications Act of 1934, payola, nonduplication rule, Telecommunications Act of 1996,
Internet-only radio station, AM, FM, format, Arbitron, PPM, share of the audience) 148-175.
WEEK 8
11. October 7th Media: Ch 8 Sound Recording (key concepts: Phonograph, graphophone, gramophone,
nickelodeons, disintermediation, rack jobbers, one-stops, Billboard) 176-199.
Print and Digital News Media Comparison Due (Optional)
12. October 9th Media: Ch 9 Motion Pictures (key concepts: phi phenomenon, persistence of vision,
Kinetoscope, Motion Picture Patents Company, block booking, focus group, pay-per-view) 200-227.
WEEK 9
13. October 14th Media: Ch 10 Broadcast Television (key concepts: Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, time
shifting, commercial television, noncommercial television, independents, pilot, digital video recorder,
rating, share of the audience) 228-257.
14. October 16th Media: Ch 11 Cable, Satellite, and Internet Television (key concepts: multiple system
operators, direct-broadcast satellites, voice-over-Internet protocol, buffering, distribution system, carriage
fee, video-on-demand, geosynchronous satellite, microcasting) 258-277.
WEEK 10
15. October 21st Media: Ch 12 The Internet and the World Wide Web (key concepts: hypertext, browsers,
protocol, newsgroups, World Wide Web, broadband, WiFi, Web 2.0, Evernet) 278-299.

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Audience Fragmentation Exploration Due (optional)
16. October 23rd Professions: Ch 13 News Gathering and Reporting (key concepts: Timeliness, proximity,
prominence, consequence, human interest, hyperlocal, backpack journalist, computer-assisted reporting,
hard news, soft news, investigative reports) 302-320.
WEEK 11
18. October 28th Professions: Ch 15 Advertising (key concepts: target audience, consumer advertising,
primary demand ad, selective demand ad, direct action ad, indirect action ad, advertising agency, viral
advertising, decoupling, full-service agency, media buying service, copy, campaign, positioning, rough
layout, comprehensive layout, storyboard, formative research, message research) 340-363.
Blogger Watchdog Analysis Due (Optional)
17. October 30th Read the advertising selection from (handout) Croteau, Hoynes, and Milan (key concepts:
consumer culture, targeting, personal problems, covert advertisement, lifestyles, globalization)177-183.
WEEK 12
19. November 4th Film Screening: Killing us Softly.
Mock Advertising Campaign Due (Optional)
18. November 6th Advertising presentations and discussion of Killing us Softly.
WEEK 13
November 11th NO CLASS, Veterans Day
20. November 13th Professions: Ch 14 Public Relations (key concepts: Publicity, publics, information
gathering, strategic planning, tactical planning, management by objectives) 323-339
Advertising Diary Due (Optional)
WEEK 14
19. November 18th Read the section in (handout) Croteau, Hoynes, and Milan on media and politics 227-230
(handout) and (handout) Schills introduction on the advance man (key concepts: media event, advance,
narrative, publicity) vii-xx.
Advertising Images and Society Project Due (Optional)
20. November 20th Read the section on framing in the media (handout) by Entman (key concepts: framing,
schema, indexing, cascading, activation, salience) 1-22.
WEEK 15
21. November 25th Framing the fall of Saddam Hussein video and image viewing and discussion.
Spin a Scandal Due (Optional)
21. November 27th Ch 16 Formal Controls: Laws, Rules, Regulations (key concepts: Freedom of
Information Act, USA Patriot Act, defamation, libel, slander, libel per se, libel per quod, Hicklin Rule,
Internet neutrality, Fairness Doctrine, Telecommunications Act of 1996) 366-397.
WEEK 16
1.

December 2nd Read (handout) Introduction by Bollier (key concepts: copyright, commons/creative
commons, fair use, peer production [and related terms], GPL, remix) 1-20. You may also want to look
at (optional, handout) Introduction by Lessig on Remix and copyright (key concepts: remix, copyright,
peer-to-peer, open source) 1-19.
Framing Analysis Due (Optional)

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22. December 4th Ch 17 Ethics and other informal controls (key concepts: golden mean, categorical
imperative, utility, veil of ignorance, self-determination, MPAA rating system, operating policies,
editorial policies, ombudsperson) 398-417.
WEEK 17
23. December 9th Ch 18 International and Comparative Media Systems (key concepts: authoritarian theory,
libertarian theory, social responsibility theory, communist theory, developmental theory, developmental
journalism, free marketplace of ideas) 420-441.
Evaluate a Scandals Spin Due (Optional)
24. December 11th Final discussion and wrap-up.
Final (8th) Weekly Blog Post Due (optional)
End-of-course Reflection Due