We are all immersed in a complex and pervasive media culture, which makes it particularly difficult for us to recognize the complex relationship between media and society: how what we see is in some ways the product of our society and its particular political, economic, and cultural shape, and how what we see also shapes our understanding of ourselves, our community, and our world. This course builds on the insights of mass communication research to examine specifically this complex give-and-take. We will examine the production of culture inside of a powerfully concentrated media industry, the consumption of media inside of complex social contexts, and the shape of media technology and its impact on what we see and hear. Then we will investigate contemporary media culture in order to understand how mass media frames our experience the world out there and shapes our political process, and how mass media intersects with our understanding of ourselves and our participation in culture. We will work through the seeming contradiction that media is powerfully shaped by political and economic forces, and that we as viewers have a great deal of flexibility in how we make sense of the media we encounter. We will bring the lessons of media studies to the media culture that surrounds us, and also speculate whether any of the new technologies, genres, or industry arrangements require us to reconsider those lessons.

The most important assignment is to complete all of the reading assigned; comprehension of the arguments is crucial to your success in this course. Attendance is also required; attendance may be taken at my discretion. There will be three written assignments (20% of grade each) during the semester that will ask you to make specific inquiries into the media culture in your own lives. The final (40% of grade) will be a take-home exam in which you respond to short essay questions that bring together the major themes of the course. Further explanation of these assignments will be provided in class.

      Paper assignments:       PAPER 1       PAPER 2       PAPER 3       FINAL PAPER

One book is required for this course, available at the Cornell Bookstore; it is also available on reserve at Mann and Uris Libraries:

David Croteau and William Hoynes, Media / Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences (3rd ed.)

In addition, there are readings available online on the web and through e-reserve.

JAN 27: "mass media"

Raymond Williams, Keywords, "Media"
Walter Lippmann, "The World Outside and the Pictures in Our Heads"
(read only Ch 1)

MEDIA/SOCIETY, Ch. 1
Raymond Williams, Keywords, "Society"

Raymond Williams, Keywords, "Culture"
George Lipsitz, Time Passages, "Popular Culture: This Ain't No Sideshow"

C. Edwin Baker, Media, Markets, and Democracy, "Not Toasters: The Special Nature of Media Products"
Michael Schudson, "What's Unusual about Covering Politics as Usual"

MEDIA/SOCIETY, Ch. 2
Ken Auletta, "Leviathan" New Yorker, (Oct 29, 2001)
explore "Who Owns the Media?" FreePress.net

Eileen Meehan, "'Holy Commodity Fetish, Batman!' Political Economy of a Commercial Intertext"
Walt Disney Company, Annual Report 2004
(in "Introduction," read "Financial Highlights" and "Letter to Shareholders" [all 8pp.])

MEDIA/SOCIETY, Ch. 3

MEDIA/SOCIETY, Ch. 8

Ien Ang, "The Nature of the Audience"

Roger Silverstone, Why Study the Media?, "House and Home"
Lynn Spigel, "Media Homes: Then and Now"

Stuart Hall, "Encoding / Decoding"

MEDIA/SOCIETY, Ch. 9
Richard Dyer, "Making 'White' People White"

Roger Silverstone, Television and Everyday Life, "The Tele-technological System"
Peter Forman and Robert W. Saint John, "Creating Convergence" Scientific American (Nov 2000)

MEDIA/SOCIETY, Ch. 4
David Barstow and Robert Stein, "Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged TV News," New York Times (March 13, 2005)

Todd Gitlin, The Whole World Is Watching, "Certifying Leaders and Converting Leadership to Celebrity"

spring break

MAR 29: covering war -- Gulf I
paper due

Gary Woodward, "The Rules of the Game: The Military and the Press in the Persian Gulf War"

Greg Mitchell, "Exclusive: U.S. Military Document Outlines War Coverage" Editor & Publisher (February 14, 2003)
Sherry Ricchiardi, "Preparing for War" American Journalism Review (March 2003)
Nicholas Engestrom, "How TV News Scored the Invasion" Columbia Journalism Review (May/June 2003)

Ken Auletta, "Fortress Bush: How the White House Keeps the Press Under Control" New Yorker (Jan 19, 2004)

John Corner, "Documentary in a Post-Documentary Culture?"
David Edelstein, "Proper Propaganda" Slate (June 24, 2004)
Christopher Hitchens, "Unfairenheit 9/11" Slate (June 21, 2004)

Horace Newcomb and Paul Hirsch, "Television as a Cultural Forum"
Todd Gitlin, "Prime Time Ideology: The Hegemonic Process in Television Entertainment"

MEDIA/SOCIETY, Ch. 5

MEDIA/SOCIETY, Ch. 6

Joshua Gamson, "Diversity Follies" American Prospect (Jan 3, 2000)
Michael Bronski, "Invisible Exposure" Boston Phoenix (Jan 31 - Feb 7, 2002)
Helene A. Shugart, "Reinventing Privilege: The New (Gay) Man in Contemporary Popular Media"

Ted Magder, "The End of TV 101: Reality Programs, Formats, and the New Business of Television"
Justin Lewis, "The Meaning of Real Life"

David Buckingham, After the Death of Childhood, "Children Viewing Violence"
Ann Hulbert, "Tweens 'R' Us," New York Times (Nov 28, 2004)
Jon Gertner, "Hey Mom, Is It O.K. If These Guys Market Stuff to Us?" New York Times (Nov 28, 2004)

MEDIA/SOCIETY, Ch. 10

Bonnie Nardi and Vicki O'Day, Information Ecologies, "Information Ecologies"
Henry Jenkins, "Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars? Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture"
Jonah Peretti, "My Nike Media Adventure"

final paper due Thursday May 19th, 5:30pm