Communication 130: Mass Media and Society, Fall 2006
T-TH,
10:30-Noon, ASC Room 110
Professor Joseph Turow; Office Hours: Thursday,
Phone:
898 5842 * Email: JTUROW@ASC.UPENN.EDU
Teaching
Assistants: Dan Berger,
Communication 130: Mass Media and Society, Fall 2006
T-TH,
10:30-Noon, ASC Room 110
Professor Joseph Turow; Office Hours: Thursday,
Phone:
898 5842 * Email: JTUROW@ASC.UPENN.EDU
Teaching
Assistants: Dan Berger,
Welcome! The aim of this course is to help you
understand the roles and activities of mass media in society. The hope is that by the end of the
semester you will have a much better sense than you now do of the forces that
guide the books we read, movies we enjoy, television shows we watch and even
the toys we buy.
The course will be
comprised of two lectures a week, readings from the required textbook, one
paper, and 3 exams. The text, the
readings from the text, and the dates for papers and the first two exams are
noted below. The third exam will
be given during the final exam period.
The class has a home
page. It can be accessed at http://www.asc.upenn.edu/courses/comm130/index.html
On the home page you will
find this syllabus plus many other class materials. Especially useful, we hope, will be the
outlines to the Powerpoint slide lectures.
They will typically be placed on the site the evening before class. Print them and bring them to class so
that you can take notes on lecture material beyond the bullets on the slides.
Some Ground Rules:
ü Attendance
in class is imperative. Please
read the assigned material in advance of the date it is listed. The professor reserves the right to give
unannounced quizzes that will be factored into your final grade.
üAssignments must be handed in when they are
due. Only medical and University
excuses will be accepted.
üAssignments are to be done individually, unless
the professor notes otherwise.
Required
& John Vivian, The Media of Mass Communication 8th
edition (
The
Class Schedule:
Week 1: Introduction to the Course
a:
Understanding mass media and mass communication (9/7)
Week 2: a:
Understanding mass media and mass communication (9/12)
$ Vivian, chapters 1, 14,
b: Making Sense of Research (9/14)
$ 15, 16, 17
Week 3 a:
Making Sense of Media Forms (9/19)
$ Vivian, Chapters 10, 13
b: Making Sense of Media Forms (9/21)
$ Vivian, chapters 22, 23
Week 4: a:
The Business of Media (9/26)
b: Formal and Informal Controls on Media Content
(9/28)
$ Vivian, Chapters 19-21
Week 5: a:
Conglomerates & Cross-Media Activities
(10/3)
b:
Rise of print media industries (10/5)
$ Vivian, Chapter 2
Week 6: a:
Te contemporary book industry (10/10)
b:
The contemporary magazine industry (10/12)
$ Vivian, Chapter 3
Week
7: a: The contemporary newspaper industry (10/17)
$ Vivian, Chapter 4
b:
M Examination
1 on Weeks 1 through 6b 10/19)
Week 8: a:
NO CLASS—Fall Break (10/24)
b:
The Electronic Media
The rise of electronic media: sound recordings and
radio (10/26)
Week
9: a:
The contemporary recording industry (10/31)
$Vivian, Chapter 5
b:
a: The contemporary motion picture industry (11/2)
$ Vivian, Chapter 6
Week 10: a:
The contemporary radio industry (11/7)
$ Vivian, Chapter 7
b: The contemporary television industry (11/9)
$ Chapter 8
Week 11:
The rise of electronic media: movies and television
a: The contemporary television industry (11/14)
$ Vivian, Chapter 8
b:
M Examination
2 on Weeks 7a through 10b (11/16)
Week 12: a:
The contemporary television industry (11/21)
b:
NO CLASS-Thanksgiving (11/23)
Week 13: a:
The internet and software industries (11/28)
$ Vivian, Chapter 9
4Paper
Due
b:
The rise of advertising and PR ¨ The advertising industry (11/30)
$ Vivian, Chapter 11
Week 14: a:
The PR industry (12/5)
$ Vivian, Chapter 11
b:
Media and Integrated Marketing Communication (12/7)
$
Vivian, Chapter 12
M The third exam will be given during final
exam period. It will cover weeks
11-through 14.