Mass Communications

1.    Acquire, carefully read and compare issues of Time Magazine and The Week for the same week or the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times for the same day.
a.    What stories are common to both?
b.    Are there differences or biases in the way the two magazines cover the same story?
c.    What stories are not in common?
d.    Analyze and compare the advertising in each magazine.
e.    How do the two publications compare in terms of editorial philosophy and intent?

2.    View one hour of the Fox News Sean Hannity show and compare to the Rachael Madow show on MSNBC for the same day.
a.    Compare the stories they cover.
b.    Compare the graphics, pace of presentation and other format issues.
c.    Is there evidence of bias in either broadcast? How does it manifest itself?

3.    Compare a conservative and liberal leaning news website. Go to Huffington Post : liberal leaning (huffingtonpost.com) and the Drudge Report: conservative (drudgereport.com)
a.    What stories are common to both?
b.    Choose two stories that are common to both and analyze how they differ.
c.    Characterize the stories that are not common to both.
d.    Compare the graphic layout and treatment.
e.    Compare the advertisers

4.    Oscar season is just beginning. Choose one of the likely nominated films, view it and answer the questions below
•    Guardians of the Galaxy
•    Birdman
•    Interstellar
•    Saint Vincent
•    Gone Girl
a.    Give a brief plot description
b.    What is it about this film that has made or will make it succeed or fail?
c.    Who is the target audience for the film? And what makes you think so?
d.    Is the film original or is it a recycled concept? Is it well done or poorly done? Make the argument for your point of view.

Does media reflect society or shape it? Consider at least three different mediums: web, tv, newspaper, movies, radio. This is not about the technology, so ignore smart phones, email, PDA’s, and the like. Focus on messages we get everyday in ads, stories, movies, tv programs, and on radio such as talk shows. You MUST discuss this in terms of the THREE markets and focus on the audiences role in reflecting society to in allowing media to shape society.
You MAY consider whether media are unifying or divisive forces; whether they foster diversity or stereotypes, engender class envy…the choices are wide open.

Why do the media and consumers adopt their respective roles?

400 word minimum and ALL WORKS CITED WITH WORKS CITED PAGE SEPARATE.