COMM 3643: Media and Society
BURT 205
Monday and Wednesday, 3-4:15 p.m.
Spring 2011
Instructor: Dr. Patrick Meirick
Office: 223 Burton Hall
Office hours: M &W 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., and by appointment
Email: meirick@ou.edu
Office phone: 325-1574
What’s it about?
This course is about the role that the mass media play in our society as well as the role that our
society plays in the mass media. We will look at the message makers, the increasingly corporate
and global “culture industries.” We’ll look at the message receivers, the audiences who make up
the “mass” in mass media. We’ll look at the message channels, the changing technologies that
bring the messages to us. And we’ll look at the messages, the “texts” that tell us about the world
outside of our direct experience. What do media texts mean to us? What might they mean to
others? And what do these texts tell us about our society?
Readings
Readings for this course come mainly from the textbook, with other readings on electronic
reserve and/or D2L.
Main text:
 Media/Society: Industries, Images and Audiences (2011), by David Croteau, William
Hoynes, and Stefania Milan (4th edition).
Required readings on electronic reserve: Selections from…
 Questioning the Media: A Critical Introduction (1995), edited by John Dowling, Ali
Mohammadi and Annabelle Srebeny-Mohammadi.
 MediaMaking: Mass Media in a Popular Culture (1998), by Lawrence Grossberg, Ellen
Wartela and D. Charles Whitney.
 Communicating Unreality: Modern Media and the Reconstruction of Reality (2000) by
Gabriel Weimann.
 The Black Image in the White Mind (2000) by Robert Entman and Andrew Rojecki.
 Ads, Fads and Consumer Culture (2004) by Arthur Asa Berger.
The readings listed in the syllabus should be completed by the beginning of the week in which
they are assigned (except, of course, for the first week).
Course requirements
 Common courtesy: Please put away and silence all portable electronic devices. Please be on
time; once in your seat, please stay there until the class is over unless there is an emergency. Finally,
I hope to see lots of spirited class discussion, but 1) not while I’m talking, and 2) please keep it civil.
 Class attendance: Your first responsibility as a student in this class is to show up. Attendance
will be taken every class period. You can earn up to 70 points toward your grade just by coming to
class. Each unexcused absence after the first two will lower your attendance score by 10 points.
 Participation: Read the assigned chapters and take part in class discussions. To the extent that
you can contribute meaningfully during class, you will earn up to 50 points.
 Assignments and short papers: Three of these are sprinkled throughout the semester. Together,
they are worth 500 points.
 Readiness assessment quizzes: These very short quizzes will reward students who attend class
and who have completed the assigned reading. They will be given every week for which new
material is assigned. Each quiz is worth 15 points; the lowest score is dropped. If you have a
documented excuse for missing a quiz, I will give you your current average score for that quiz.
 Final paper: For this project, you will write a paper that examines an issue raised in the class in
greater depth (8-10 pages). You may choose to research a current controversy, examine how a group
is represented in a set of media texts, describe audience interpretations of a television show, analyze
the violent or sexual content of different programs … it’s up to you. A proposal with annotated
bibliography is due October 26; the paper itself is due the last week of class.
 Final exam. This will consist of material covered in readings and in class. The format will
include multiple choice, short answer and essay questions. The exam is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on
Monday, Dec. 12.
Grading criteria
Short papers: 25%
 Media diary, due Sept. 7
 “Ideology exposed,” Sept. 28
 Ad analysis, due Nov. 9
Showing up and being ready: 15%
 Attendance
 Participation
 Readiness assessments (aka quizzes)
(15 pts each, lowest dropped)
The term paper: 30%
 Term paper proposal, due Oct. 26
 Term paper, due Dec. 7 (or earlier)
Exams: 30%
 Midterm exam, Oct. 12
 Final exam, Monday, Dec. 12, 4:30 p.m.
Total
150 points
200 points
150 points
70 points
50 points
180 points
200 points
400 points
300 points
300 points
2,000 points
Late work/make-up quizzes and exams
Papers and assignments are due IN CLASS on the due date. Work turned in after the due date will
be marked down one grade (10%) per calendar day unless previous arrangements are made with the
instructor. Work turned in late but on the due date will be marked down half a grade, or 5%. Makeup exams will be allowed in the event of excused absences or prior arrangement with the instructor.
It is the policy of the University to excuse the absences of students that result from religious
observances and to provide without penalty for the rescheduling of examinations and additional
required classwork that may fall on religious holidays.
Extra credit
During the semester, there will be a number of opportunities to participate in research being
conducted in the Department of Communication. I will allow up to 3% (60 points) of extra credit
toward your final grade in COMM 3643 for your participation in this research. Credit will be
awarded on the basis of 1% (20 points) per hour of participation. I will decide how many points
each study will be worth and post that information along with each study announcement on D2L as
studies are announced.
Academic responsibility
It is each student’s responsibility to be familiar with the definitions, policies and procedures
concerning academic misconduct. The Student Handbook, which includes the Academic
Misconduct Code, is available at no charge from the Office of Student Affairs in the Oklahoma
Memorial Union. The following statement from “A Student’s Guide to Academic Integrity at
the University of Oklahoma” lays out the rules regarding plagiarism as clearly as anything I’ve
seen:
“Here is OU's basic assumption about writing: all written assignments show the student's
own understanding in the student's own words. That means all writing assignments, in class or
out, are assumed to be composed entirely of words generated (not simply found) by the student,
except where words written by someone else are specifically marked as such. Including other
people's words in your paper is helpful when you do it honestly and correctly. When you don't,
it's a form of academic misconduct called plagiarism. Within the academic community and
specifically at the University of Oklahoma, the following rules apply:
“1. IT IS PLAGIARISM TO COPY WORDS AND PRESENT THEM AS YOUR OWN
WRITING. It is the worst form of plagiarism to copy part or all of a paper from the Internet,
from a book, or from another source without indicating in any way that the words are someone
else's. To avoid this form of plagiarism, the paper must BOTH place the quoted material in
quotation marks AND use an acceptable form of documentation to indicate where the words
come from.
“2. IT IS PLAGIARISM TO COPY WORDS, EVEN IF YOU GIVE THE SOURCE,
UNLESS YOU ALSO INDICATE THAT THE COPIED WORDS ARE A DIRECT
QUOTATION. Simply documenting the source in a footnote or bibliography isn't good enough.
You must also indicate that the words themselves are quoted from someone else. To avoid this
form of plagiarism, put all quoted words in quotation marks or use equivalent punctuation.
“3. IT IS PLAGIARISM TO COPY WORDS AND THEN CHANGE THEM A LITTLE,
EVEN IF YOU GIVE THE SOURCE. Repeating someone else's writing in different words so
it's not a direct quotation is called "paraphrasing." Paraphrasing is fine when you indicate the
source and the new expression is actually your own. When it's not -- when the expression
remains substantially similar to the source as a whole or in one of its parts -- it's plagiarism.
“4. EVEN IF YOU EXPRESS THEM IN YOUR OWN WORDS, IT IS PLAGIARISM
TO PRESENT SOMEONE ELSE'S IDEAS AS YOUR OWN. It is plagiarism to present
someone else's original arguments, lines of reasoning, or factual discoveries as your own, even if
you put the material in your own words. To avoid this form of plagiarism, cite the source.”
(http://www.ou.edu/provost/integrity/)
If you plagiarize a paper, falsify data in a report or cheat on a test, you will get a zero for that
score, and I will notify the Campus Judicial Coordinator.
www.turnitin.com
Individual writing assignments for this class (other than the media diary) will be checked for
originality on www.turnitin.com. In addition to a hard copy of your work, you must submit an
electronic copy using the dropbox on Desire2Learn. If you want to check your own work for
originality on Turnitin, the class ID number is 4222527, and the password is media.
Reasonable Accommodation Policy
Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully
demonstrating his other abilities should contact me personally as soon as possible so we can
discuss accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate your educational
opportunities.
Schedule of class topics, readings and assignments
August
M 22
Introductions and overview of the course: Media in our lives
Have read:
http://www.screentime.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=21
http://www.tvsquad.com/2005/04/21/just-say-no-to-tv-turnoff-week/
W 24
Media and the Social World
Have read: Media/Society, Ch. 1
Do: In your media diary, keep track of your media diet.
M 29
Continue with media and the social world. (Quiz)
Part I: The message-makers
W 31
September
M 5
The media industry
Have read: Media/Society, Ch. 2 (Quiz)
Do: In your media diary, figure out where your media diet comes from.
Continue with the media industry
W 7
In-class video: PBS Frontline, “News War”
DUE: Short paper, “Media diary.”
M 12
Political influences on the media
Have read: Media/Society, Ch. 3. (Quiz)
W 14
Continue with political influences
M 19
Media organizations and professionals
Have read: Media/Society, Ch. 4. (Quiz)
W 21
Continue with organizations and professionals
Part II: The messages and images
M 26
Ideology: What we take for granted, and what we don’t
Have read: Media/Society, Ch. 5 (Quiz)
W 28
Continue with ideology
DUE: Short paper, “Ideology exposed.”
October
M 3
Social inequality: Group representations
Have read: Media/Society, Ch. 6 (Quiz)
W 5
Continue with group representations
M 10
Review for midterm exam
W 12
MIDTERM EXAM
M 17
Social inequality: Images of race (Quiz)
Have read: Entman and Rojecki, The Black Image in the White Mind, Ch. 11 (on
reserve)
W 19
Continue with images of race
Part III: Media influences and audiences
M 24
Media influence and the political world
Have read: Media/Society, Ch. 7 (Quiz)
W 26
Continue with media and politics
DUE: Proposal for term paper.
M 31
The media violence debate (Quiz)
Have read: Weimann, Communicating Unreality, Ch. 5 (on reserve)
W 2
Continue discussing media violence
November
M 7
Advertising: Audiences as consumers and markets (Quiz)
Have read: Berger, Ads, Fads and Consumer Culture, Ch. 4 (on reserve)
W 9
Continue with advertising.
DUE: Short paper, “Ad analysis.”
M 14
Audiences as meaning makers (Quiz)
Have read: Media/Society, Ch. 8 and MediaMaking, Ch 5. (on reserve)
W 16
Continue with audiences and meaning
M 21
Globalization: Audiences beyond the borders
Have read: Media/Society, Ch. 10 (Quiz)
W 23
NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING
M 28
Continue with globalization.
W 30
Media technology and social change: Is the medium the message? (Quiz)
Have read: Media/Society, Ch. 9 and Questioning the Media, Ch. 3 (on reserve)
M 5
Continue with media technology
W 7
Review for final exam
DUE: Term paper
FINAL EXAM: Monday, Dec. 12, 4:30-6:30 p.m.