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Communications 150 
Introduction to Mass Communications
Springfield College in Illinois
Any Semester 2004*

[Television] is not a tool by which the networks conspire to dumb us down. TV is a tool by which the networks give us exactly what we want. That's a far more depressing thought. -- "The Vent," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 19, 1999.

Communications 150 meets from 1 to 1:50 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday (MWF) in Dawson 22. Instructor is Pete Ellertsen, Becker Library L-16, telephone 525-1420x519. e-mail: ellertsen@sci.edu. Office hours TBA. Home: 545 Feldkamp, Springfield, IL 62704. tel. 793-2587.

I. Course Description. Introduction to Mass Communications. (3 credit hours) introduces students to the basic concepts of mass communications. The course fosters an understanding of the nature, functions and responsibilities of communication media in our society; presents concepts and principles of journalism, both oral and written; and prepares students to be intelligent consumers of mass media, including newspapers, books, television, radio and the Internet.

II. Textbooks. John Vivian, The Media of Mass Communication (6th ed). Readings on the World Wide Web as indicated below. A copy of The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual is on reserve at the circulation desk in Becker Library. You can find useful summaries of AP style, which we will use in all written work for COM 150, on the Web at "Guide to AP Style," by Michael S. Sweeney, Utah State, at http://www.usu.edu/communic/faculty/sweeney/ap.htm.

III. Mission statement. The mission of Springfield College in Illinois is to provide students the best liberal arts education in the Ursuline tradition of a nurturing faith-based environment. We prepare students for a life of learning, leadership and service in a diverse world.

IV. Goals, objectives and outcomes.

A. Goals.

• Students will understand the nature, functions and responsibilities of communication media, including print and broadcast journalism.
• Students will become intelligent consumers of mass media.

B. Objectives. The following Common Student Learning Objectives (CSLOs) adopted Dec. 9, 2004, are addressed:

• Content Knowledge (Lifelong Learning) CK-1. Know and apply the central concepts of the subject matter.
• Communication Skills (Lifelong Learning and Leadership) CS-1. Communicate effectively in oral and written forms.
• Problem Solving Skills (Lifelong Learning and Leadership) PS-2. Seek information and develop an in-depth knowledge base, grounded in research.
• Social Responsibility (Service and Leadership) SR-3. Develop good citizenship.
• Global Perspectives (Diversity) GP-1. Recognize the importance of diversity of opinion, abilities and cultures.

C. Course Based Student Learning Objectives. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to demonstrate their mastery of the following learning outcomes, addressing the following CLSOs (in parentheses):

• CBSLO-1. To define the functions of the mass media in the United States (CK-1, SR-3, GP-1).
• CBSLO-2. To describe the various mass media, including books, newspapers, radio, motion pictures, television and the Internet as technologies of communication (CK-1, CS-1).
• CBSLO-3. To articulate the complexity of practices in the industries that make up the media, as well as the trend toward concentration of ownership (CK-1, CS-1).
• CBSLO-4. To apply critical methods to the study of mass communication. (CK-1, PS-2).
• CBSLO-5. To evaluate the importance of traditional and nontraditional mass communications media (CK-1, GP-1).

V. Teaching Methods. Small group and whole classroom discussion (including participation in Message Board forum linked to my faculty webpage), in-class research and writing assignments, occasional lectures by the instructor to introduce points of discussion. Students will monitor a media website and submit journals analyzing how principles covered in the textbook are reflected in practice; questions will be posted to the class' electronic Message Board eliciting response in the journals to specific issues raised in the text or by events of the day, as well. Students must read all assignments prior to class; the instructor will cover points in class that are not directly mentioned in the readings, and students will be required to connect this material to principles in the text in the course of class discussion.

VI. Course Requirements.

A. Attendance Policy. Attendance is mandatory. To avoid class disruption, students in COM 150 must be on time. If a student misses class, is the student's responsibility to get class notes, assignments, etc., from classmates. Missed in-class work, by its very nature, cannot be made up. If you must be absent for good cause, I will whenever possible try to give you an opportunity to do equivalent work. But on some assignments, I simply will be unable to do so; we will follow news events closely, and many newspapers do not archive their stories. You cannot count on finding the stories we discuss in class later. Absences, in short, will hurt your grade.

B. Reading Assignments. Please see the Tentative Calendar below. In addition to the readings outlined below, you will choose a magazine, newspaper or broadcast Web site, monitor it regularly and be ready to discuss your observations in class or on the Message Board.

C. Written Assignments.

• Students are required to post to the message board journal observations on the newspaper or broadcast news site you monitor. When news events occur that relate to principles we are studying, I will post pertinent information and questions to the message board. (CBSLO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• Students are required to write an eight- to 12-page documented term paper on some aspect of the mass media's impact on society and to summarize your research in a three- to five-minute informal oral presentation. (CBLSO 1, 3, 4)
• Both the midterm and final exam will be a combination of essay questions, in which students will discuss broad trends related to overarching course goals and objectives; and shorter (25-point) essay questions in which students will define terms and tell their significance. Reflective questions, in which students speak to changes in their knowledge and understanding of media issues at the beginning and end of the course, may be embedded in the test format. The final exam will be cumulative, covering the entire semester. (CBLSO 1, 2, 3, 5)

Note to students: If you are considering a major in English, communications or the social sciences, you will want to keep copies of your written work for COM 150. Senior institutions are likely to ask you to maintain a portfolio of work relating to your major, and they may require one for admission.

VII. Means of evaluation of outcomes. Your final grade will be based on assignments weighted as follows:

• Class participation, journals and message board - 25 percent
• Term paper - 25 percent (paper 20 percent, presentation 5 percent)
• Midterm - 15 percent
• Final exam - 35 percent

SCI's grade scale is as follows: A = 100-90. B = 89-80. C = 79-70. D = 69-60. E = 59-0.

Plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined as follows: "The deliberate and knowing presentation of another person's original ideas or creative expressions as one's own. Generally, plagiarism is immoral but not illegal. If the expression's creator gives unrestricted permission for its use and the user claims the expression as original, the user commits plagiarism but does not violate copyright laws. If the original expression is copied without permission, the plagiarist may violate copyright laws, even if credit goes to the creator. And if the plagiarism results in material gain, it may be deemed a passing-off activity that violates the Lanham Act." Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed. (2004), p. 1187. [The Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C., is the federal law regulating trademarks.] Also useful to establish guidelines for delineating plagiarism is Diana Hacker's definition: "Three different acts are considered plagiarism: (1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, (2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words." (A Writer's Reference, by Diana Hacker, Bedford St. Martin's Press, 2003, page 331.) Some instances of plagiarism may, in fact, be violations of copyright law and subject to prosecution. The SCI Student Handbook lists plagiarism as a serious breach of conduct standards and will result in disciplinary action.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to several recent instances of plagiarism, I can no longer accept student papers that are not responsive to the assignment, i.e. that do not meet the following criteria: (1) the paper must be on the assigned topic; and (2) the paper must follow the instructions in the assignment sheet as to formulation of a thesis statement and factual support given to that thesis statement. No exceptions will be made, and papers that are not responsive to the assignment will be returned to the student ungraded; in all such cases, a grade of zero (0) will be recorded for the paper in question. If a preponderance of evidence demonstrates that the paper was intentionally plagiarized, I will fail the offending student in the course.

VIII. Course Outline and Calendar. The course outline is as follows:

A. Overview and preview: The roles of mass media in society
1. Gatekeepers and mass communities
2. Private businesses serving a public purpose
3. Ethical and governmental constraints

B. The Print Media
1. History
2. Book publishing
3. Newspapers
4. Magazines

C. Electronic Media
1. The recording industry
2. Radio
3. Motion pictures
4. Television
5. The Internet

D. Commercial speech and communication
1. Advertising
2. Public Relations

E. Current trends
1. Fragmentation, audience segmentation
2. Conglomerates and cross-media acquisition
3. Mass media and cultural issues
4. Stakeholders in the public sector

IX. Americans with Disabilities Act. Please Note: Springfield College in Illinois provides individuals with disabilities reasonable accommodations to participate in educational programs, actives and services. Students with disabilities requiring accommodations to participate in class activities or meet course requirements should contact the instructor as early as possible.

X. Assessment. Goals, objectives, and learning outcomes that will be assessed in the class are stated in this syllabus in Sections IV and VI. Instructor will use background knowledge probes, one-minute papers, reflective essays and/or other Classroom Assessment Techniques as deemed necessary in order to provide continuous improvement of instruction. Students are required to take part in all assessment measures.

XI. Illinois Articulation Initiative. COM 150 COM 221 has been approved by the Illinois Articulation Initiative as meeting the criteria stipulated for iTransfer Course MC911 (as follows).

MC 911: Introduction to Mass Communication (3 semester credits) Provides an overview of the nature, functions, and responsibilities of the mass communication industries in a global environment with an emphasis on the media's role in American society. On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the reciprocal influence of the media and contemporary society;
• apply communication theories to analyze the influence of mass communication systems on American society;
• analyze representative research in mass communication;
• trace the historical development of various media forms;
• distinguish media functions-information, persuasion, entertainment, and transmission of culture;
• comprehend methods of media organization, finance, and regulation in a global environment;
• describe usage and impact of the various media; and
• critically analyze legal and ethical media issues.

For more information, please visit the iTransfer website at http://www.itransfer.org/IAI/.

The schedule of assignments in the calendar below is tentative, and departures from it will be announced at the class meeting prior to the change -- or via the Message Board linked to my faculty page. In addition, revisions to the syllabus will be posted to the electronic copy linked to my faculty page at www.sci.edu/classes/ellertsen/com150syl as necessary. Students who miss class are responsible for keeping up with rescheduled assignments.

Read Vivian, Chapter 1 "Mass Media" (1-25); Chapter 19, "Mass Media Law" (453-74). and Chapter 20, "Ethics and the Mass Media" (477-95).

Read Vivian, Chapters 2 "Media: Books" (27-49); and Chapter 3 "Magazines" (51-71); and "Newspapers" (73-99).

Read Vivian, Chapters 5 "Media: Recordings" (101-25); and Chapter 6 "Movies" (127-51).

Read Vivian, Chapters 7 "Media: Radio" (153-79); and Chapter 8 "Television" (181-214).

Read Vivian, Chapter 9 "Media: The Web" (217-245). We will also discuss synergy and cross-platform media strategies, and seek examples on the World Wide Web. Your midterm test, a take-home essay exam, will be assigned this week and due next week.

Read Vivian, Chapter 10 "Messages: News" (247-73). Midterm due Thursday.

Read Vivian, Chapter 11 "Messages: Public Relations" (275-97).

Read Vivian, Chapter 12 "Messages: Advertising" (299-323).

Read Vivian, Chapter 13, "Messages and Media Research" (325-45).

Read Vivian, Chapter 14 "Mass Media Issues: Mass Communication" (347-63).

Read Vivian, Chapter 15 "Issues: Media Effects" (365-91).

Read Vivian, Chapter 16 "Mass Media and Society" (393-407).

Read Vivian, Chapter 17 "Global Mass Media" (409-29). Research paper due.

Read Vivian, Chapter 18 "Mass Media and Governance" 431-51.

PLEASE NOTE: March 30 is Assessment Day. Mandatory testing for all sophomores. GRADUATION REQUIREMENT.

Final Examination schedule TBA.