‫בס"ד‬
Faculty of Social Science
Media and Society: Framing social issues
63-230-18
Lecturer: Shani Horowitz-Rozen
School year: 2015 Year: 1st year
Semester: 2 (Thursday, 16:00-18:00)
Credits: 1 annual credit
nd
Office Hours: Thursday, 13:30-14:30
Office: Building 109, room 2
Office phone: 03-7384303
Email: shanihz@gmail.com
A. Course objectives and purposes:
This course will provide the students with knowledge and understanding how to analyze media
coverage of both international and Israeli central social issues. The course will introduce the
students to key theories and models in current communication research relevant for the
understanding of the social role of the media in liberal-democratic states. Application of these
theories will extend the discussion to relevant updated case studies and events. The course seeks
to deepen the understanding of the roles and functions of the media in the social and civil sphere,
via coverage analysis of contemporary acute social problems.
B. Course Topics: Major Parts
1. Media and society: Definition, theories and models.
2. Media coverage of social issues: Theories and premises.
3. Media coverage of social issues: examining contemporary case studies.
C. Course Pedagogical Tools
The class lectures will include slide presentations, video clips, as well as discussions based on
thought-provoking questions and homework readings.
D. Course Requirements and Final Grading*
1. Participation and attendance: 10%.
* No more than 3 discrete session absences are permitted for the entire course.
2. Reading the requested material for each class.
3. Paper – (10-12 pages). The paper will examine the relationship between media coverage of a
social issue and NPOs and other professional’s work, trying to solve the problem. Specific
guidelines will be announced in class: 50%.
4. Final, end-of-course exam -- including lecture material, section discussions and bibliography:
40%.
* Students must receive a minimum grade of 60 in each requirement to pass the course.
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E. Course Program
Lecture topics and readings
The readings with an asterisk* are optional
Media coverage of social issues: Definitions, theories and models
Lecture 1: Introduction
Kellner, D. (2004). The media and social problems. in G. Ritzer, (Ed.). Handbook of social
problems. (pp. 209-225). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
N/A
Lecture 2: Thinking about social problems: What defines a social problem?
Harris, S.R. (2013). Studying the construction of social problems. in Best, J., & Harris, S.R. (Eds.).
Making sense of social problems: New images, new issues. (pp. 1-10). Boulder, CO: Lynne
Rienner Publications.
N/A
Best, J. (Ed.). (1995). Images of issues: Typifying contemporary social problems, (2nd Ed.). (ch. 1,
pp. 3-10). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Reserved under IMA (284015)
Kitsuse, J.I., & Spector, M. (2010). The definition of social problems. in Rubingston, E., &
Weinberg, M. (Eds.). The study of social problems: Seven perspectives (7th Ed.). (pp. TBA).
New York: Oxford University Press.
302 RUB s (420546) – 1971 edition
302.542 RUB s2 (61237) – 2nd edition, 1977
Loseke, D.R. (2010). How to Successfully Construct a Social Problem. In Rubingston, E., &
Weinberg, M. (Eds.). The study of social problems: Seven perspectives (7th Ed.). (pp. TBA).
New York: Oxford University Press.
302 RUB s (420546) – 1971 edition
302.542 RUB s2 (61237) – 2nd edition, 1977
Media and society: Theories and premises
Lecture 3: Media coverage of social problems: Theoretical aspects (Agenda setting;
framing; priming)
Entman, R. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of
communication, 43, 51-58.
Ejournal (155002)
Iyengar, S. (1991). Is anyone responsible? How television frames political issues. (pp. TBA).
Chicago: University of Chicago press.
302.2345 IYE i (186430)
Gilliam, F.D., Aubrun, A., Grady, J., & Bostrom, M. (2005). Framing public issues. (pp. TBA).
Washington: Frameworks Institute.
N/A
Scheufele, A.D., & Tewksbury, D. (2007). Framing, agenda setting and priming: The evolution of
three models of media effects models. Journal of communication, 57, 9-20.
Ejournal (155002)
McCombs, M.E. & Shaw, D.L. (1993). The evolution of agenda-setting research: Twenty-five years
in the marketplace of ideas. Journal of communication, 43, 2, 58-67.
Ejournal (155002)
2
*Lehman – Wilzig, S. & Seletzky, M. (2010). Hard news, soft news, 'general' news: The necessity
and utility of an intermediate classification. Journalism, 11, 1, 97-56.
Ejournal (1106357)
*Lecheler, S., de Vreese, C., & Slothuus, R. (2009). Issue importance as a moderator of framing
effects. Communication research, 36, 3, 400-425.
Ejournal (141113)
*Lecheler, S., & de Vreese, C. (2013). What a difference a day makes? The effects of repetitive
and competitive news framing over time. Communication research, 40, 2, 147-175.
Ejournal (141113)
Lecture 4: Media coverage of social problems: Theoretical aspects (Media’s social
responsibility; mobilization; consumerism)
McQuail, D. (2010). McQuail’s mass communication theory. (6TH ed). (Ch. 7, pp. 161-188; Ch. 12,
pp. TBA). Oxford: Sage Publications.
Reserved under MAC-QUA (456931) – 4th edition, 2000
Reserved under MAC-QUA m6 (2382804) – 6th edition, 2010
Peterson, T. (1956). The social responsibility theory of the press. in F.S. Siebert, T. Peterson, & W.
Schramm, (Eds.). Four theories of the press. (pp. 73-103). Urbana: University of Illinois.
070.1 SIE f (227772)
Nerone, J.C. (2011). Social responsibility theory. in R. Y. Shapiro, & L. R. Jacobs (Eds.). The
Oxford handbook of American public opinion and the media. (pp. 183-193). New York: Oxford
University Press Inc.
Reserved under OXF 2011 (1215396)
McQuail, D. (2013). Journalism and society. (Ch. 2, pp. 27-32, 37-46). London: Sage.
N/A
Thorson, E. (2005). Mobilizing citizen participation. In G. Overholser, & K.H. Jamieson, (Eds.), The
Institutions of American Democracy: The Press (pp. 203-220). NY: Oxford University Press.
N/A
Lecture 5: Media coverage of social issues: Thinking about the public good
Egan, P.J. (2011). Public opinion, the media and social issues. in R.Y. Shapiro, & L. Jacobs (Eds.).
The Oxford handbook of American public opinion and the media. (pp. 622-638). New York: The
Oxford University Press Inc.
Reserved under OXF 2011 (1215396)
Wade, L. (2011). Journalism, advocacy and the social construction of consensus. Media, culture &
society, 33, 8, 1166-1184.
Ejournal (125702)
Sotirovic, M. (2003). How individuals explain social problems: The influence of media use. Journal
of communication, 53, 1, 122-137.
Ejournal (155002)
Kensicki, L.J. (2004). No cure for what ails us: The media-constructed disconnect between societal
problems and possible solutions. Journalism and mass communication quarterly, 81, 1, 53-73.
Journal + Ejournal (119581)
Gamson, W.A., Croteau, D., Hoynes, W. & Sasson, T. (1992). Media images and the social
construction of reality. Annual review of sociology, 18, 373-393.
Journal + Ejournal (130006)
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Lecture 6: Personification of the social problem: The identifiable victim theory
Kogut, T., & Ritov, I. (2005). The “identified victim” effect: An identified group, or just a single
individual? Journal of behavioural decision making, 18, 3, 157-167.
Ejournal (459242)
Kogut, T., & Ritov, I. (2007). One of us: Outstanding willingness to help save a single identified
compatriot. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 104, 2, 150-157.
Ejournal (129324)
*Cryder, C., & Loewenstein, G. (2011). The critical link between tangibility and generosity. in D.
Oppenheimer, & C.Y. Olivola, (Eds.). The science of giving: Experimental approaches to the
study of charity. (pp. 237-215). NY: Psychology Press.
N/A
*Smith, W.R., Faro, D., & Burson, K. (2013). More for the many: The impact of entitativity on
charitable giving. Journal of consumer research, 39, 5, 961-976.
Ejournal (117353)
*Dunn, J.L. (2008). Accounting for victimization: Social constructionist perspectives. Sociology
compass, 2, 5, 1601-1620.
Ejournal (2359321)
Media and society: examining contemporary case studies
Lecture 7: Violence
Potter, G.W., & Kappeler, V.E. (2006). Introduction. in G.W. Potter, & V.E. Kappeler (Eds.).
Constructing crime: Perspectives on making news and social problems. (pp. 1-24). LongGrove, Ill: Waveland Press.
N/A
Sacco, V.F. (2006). Media constructions of crime. in G.W. Potter, & V.E. Kappeler (Eds.).
Constructing crime: Perspectives on making news and social problems. (pp. 37-52). LongGrove, Ill: Waveland Press.
N/A
Lofquist, W.S. (2006). Constructing "crime": Media coverage of individual and organizational
wrongdoing. In G.W. Potter, & V.E. Kappeler (Eds.). Constructing crime: Perspectives on
making news and social problems. (pp. 241-260). Long-Grove, Ill: Waveland Press.
N/A
*Hove, T., Hye-Jin, P., Isaacson, T., & Cole, R.T. (2013). Newspaper portrayals of child abuse:
Frequency of coverage and frames of the issue. Mass communication and society, 16, 1, 89108.
N/A
Lecture 8: Economic disparities: Poverty
Larsen, C.A., & Dejgaard, T.E. (2013). The institutional logic of images of the poor and welfare
recipients: A comparative study of British, Swedish and Danish newspapers. Journal of
European social policy, 23, 3, 287-299.
Ejournal (1183118)
Kendall, D. (2005). Framing class: Media representation of wealth and poverty in America. (Ch. 1,
pp.1-20). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
N/A
Entman, R. (1995). Television, democratic theory and the visual construction of poverty. Research
in political sociology, 7, 4, 139-160.
N/A
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Iyengar, S. (1990). Framing responsibility for political issues: The case of poverty. Political
behavior, 12, 1, 19-40.
Journal in the Psychology library + Ejournal (131629)
Clawson, R.A., & Trice, R. (2000). Poverty as we know it: Media portrayals of the poor. Public
opinion quarterly, 64, 53-64.
Ejournal (132267)
Bullock, H.E., Fraser-Wyche, K., & Williams, W.R. (2001). Media images of the poor. Journal of
social issues, 57, 2, 229-246.
Journal + Ejournal (119176)
Lectures 9-10: Economic disparities: Celebrity culture and consumerism
Markham, T. (2014). Celebrity advocacy and public engagement: The divergent uses of celebrity.
International journal of cultural studies, (Online First).
Ejournal (1183131)
Driessens, O., Joye, S., & Biltereyst, D. (2012). The X-factor of charity: A critical analysis of
celebrities' involvement in the 2010 Flemish and Dutch Haiti relief shows. Media, Culture &
Society, 34, 6, 709-725.
Ejournal (125702)
Ferris, K.O. (2007). The sociology of celebrity. Sociology compass, 1, 1, 371-384.
Ejournal (2359321)
Einstein, M. (2012). Compassion, Inc.: How corporate America blurs the line between what we buy,
who we are, and those we help. (pp. 26-29, 37-68). Berkeley & LA: University of California
Press.
N/A
Mooney-Nickel, P., & Eikenberry, A.M. (2009). A critique of the discourse of marketized
philanthropy. American behavioral scientist, 52, 7, 974-989.
Ejournal (117811)
*Scott, M. (2014). The role of celebrities in mediating distant suffering. International journal of
cultural studies, (Online First).
Ejournal (1183131)
TV construction of consumerism, health, citizenship and family values
Extreme makeover (2003-2012). [Television series]. USA: Endemol USA.
McMurria, J. (2008). Desperate Citizens and Good Samaritans: Neoliberalism and Makeover
Reality TV. Television & new media, 9, 4, 305-332.
Ejournal (1103968)
Winslow, L. (2010). Comforting the Comfortable: Extreme Makeover Home Edition's Ideological
Conquest. Critical studies in mass communication, 27, 3, 267-290.
N/A
(No writer). (27 March, 2006). ABC's "extreme" exploitation. Retrieved from:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/abcs-extreme-exploitation.
(No writer). (27 March, 2006). The 'extreme makeover: Home edition' tragedy wishlist. Retrieved
from: http://gawker.com/163321/the-extreme-makeover-home-edition-tragedy-wishlist
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Mooallen, J. (Nov/Dec. 2007). Schlock and Awwww: Commercializing Altruism. Mother Jones.
Retrieved from: http://www.motherjones.com/media/2007/11/schlock-and-awwwwcommercializing-altruism
Lecture 11: Health issues
Noar, S.M. (2006). 10-year retrospective of research in health mass media campaigns: Where do
we go from here?. Journal of health communication, 11, 21-42.
Available via Google scholar
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/7231844_A_10year_retrospective_of_research_in_health_mass_media_campaigns_where_do_we_go_from_her
e/file/e0b4952ae663799a17.pdf
Noar, S.M., Palmgreen, P., Chabot, M., Dobransky, N., & Zimmerman, R.S. (2009). A 10-year
systematic review of HIV/AIDS mass communication campaigns: Have we made progress?
Journal of health communication, 14, 15-42.
Available via Google scholar
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/23960414_A_10year_systematic_review_of_HIVAIDS_mass_communication_campaigns_Have_we_made_progre
ss/file/3deec527e896a22f73.pdf
Soffer, M., & Ajzenstadt, M. (2010). Stigma and otherness in the Israeli media’s mirror
representations of illness. Qualitative health research, 20, 8, 1033-1049.
Ejournal (581453)
*Ayers, J.W., Althouse, B.M., Noar, S.M., & Cohen, J.E. (2014). Do celebrity cancer diagnoses
promote primary cancer prevention? Preventive medicine, 58, 81-84.
Ejournal (581453)
Lecture 12: Covering minorities in Israel
Lemish, D. (2014). The whore and the other: Israeli press images of female immigrants from the
former USSR. in Caspi, D., & Elias, N. (Eds.). Ethnic minorities and media in the holy land. (pp.
13-26). Edgware, Middlesex, UK: Vallentine-Mitchell.
N/A
First, A. (2014). A new century and still the enemy: The portrayal of Arabs in Israeli TV news during
2000-11. in Caspi, D., & Elias, N. (Eds.). Ethnic minorities and media in the holy land. (pp. 4358). Edgware, Middlesex, UK: Vallentine-Mitchell.
N/A
Ellias, N. (2008). Coming home: Media and returning diaspora in Israel and Germany. (Ch.1:
media and returning diaspora in Israel, pp. TBA.). NY: SUNY Press.
N/A
Adoni, H., Caspi, D. & Cohen, A. (2006). Media, minorities and hybrid identities: The Arab and
Russian communities in Israel. (The Arab community: ch. 3-5, Russian immigrants: 6-8).
Cresskill, Hampton, Press.
E302.23 ADO m (1116240)
Avraham, E. (2003). Press, politics, and the coverage of minorities in divided societies: The case of
Arab citizens in Israel. The international journal of press/politics, 8, 4, 26-47.
Ejournal (1215240)
Tsfati, Y. (2007). Hostile media perceptions, presumed media influence, and minority alienation:
The case of Arabs in Israel. Journal of communication, 57, 4, 632-651.
Ejournal (155002)
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*Ben Hay-Segev, Y., & Squires, C. (2014). Race and television through the eyes of Israeli Mizrahi
audience: An ethnography of television. In Caspi, D., & Elias, N. (Eds.). Ethnic minorities and
media in the holy land, pp. 201-218.
N/A
Lecture 13: Summary and review for final exam
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