Mass Media History II: Radio and Television

elective courses

Mass Media History I 4219-SD056

Students who completed Mass Media History I particularly welcome

Classroom

Second part of introduction to American media, this time radio and television. The course offers basic knowledge of the history of development of the two media vehicles necessary to comprehend their modern shape. Students who took the first part (American Media History I 4219-SD056) particularly welcome.

The second part of an introduction to American media, this time radio and television. The course offers basic knowledge of the history of development of the two media vehicles necessary to comprehend their modern shape. We will look at radio and television from the perspective of technology, culture, and politics. We will talk about their place and role in modern society, We will look at various radio and tv program formats and follow their evolution/reappearance over time. We will get acqauinted with main American media personalities and will get to know main legal regulations of broadcasting.

Bliss, Edward. Now the News: The Story of Broadcast Journalism. NY: Columbia University Press, 1991.

Crowley, David and Paul Heyer, Communication in History: Tchnology, Culture, Society. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2011.

Curran, James, and Michael Gurevitch, eds. Mass Media and Society. 2nd ed. New York: Arnold, 1997.

Emery, Edwin, and Michael Emery. The Press and America: An Interpretive History of the Mass Media. 9th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.

Gittlin, Todd. Watching Television: A Pantheon Guide to Popular Culture. New York, Pantheon Books, 1986.

Goldberg, Robert, and Gerald Jay. Anchors: Brokaw, Jennings, Rather and the Evening News. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group, 1990.

Gomery, Douglas. A History of Broadcasting in the United States, Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2008.

Goodwin, Andrew, and Garry Whannel. Understanding Television. NY: Routledge, 1990.

Hilmes, Michele and Jason Loviglio. Radio Reader: Essays in the Cultural History of Radio. NY: Rotledge, 2002.

Hilmes, Michele. Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922-1952. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997.

Horowitz, David, and Laurence Jarvik. Public Broadcasting and the Public Trust. LA: Center for the Study of Popular Culture. 1995.

Sloan, David Wm., and James D. Startt, eds. The Media in America: A History. 7th ed. Northport, Al: Vision Press, 2008.

Sobchack, Vivian, ed. The persistence of History: Cinema, Television and the Modern Event. NY: Routledge, 1996.

Tichi, Cecelia. Electronic Hearth: Creating an American Television Culture. NY: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Additionally articles from journals and other media sources on American media in historical perspective.

Knowledge:

*Students will be able to identify main stages in the development of American media.

*They will be acquainted with main concepts, structures and working of the media industry.

*Students will be able to identify, describe and define main media formats, place them within the framework of the media history and trace their development or demise.

Skills:

*Students will develop critical approach to discuss the media and grasp their further evolution.

*Having an understanding of the processes in the media world and various interdependencies, they will be able to formulate simple hypotheses about media development

*Students will attempt to work with primary media sources

*Students will try to communicate the results of their findingd in presentations

Competences:

*The course will also serve the purpose of media literacy equipping students with tools to grasp and understand modern media environment, concerning issues of ethics, objectivity, representation (stereotyping, omission), in their roles as media receivers/participants.

Students will be graded on account of their active participation in class discussions based on assigned readings (15 pt). They will contribute two written assignments (working on primary media sources) (2 x 20 pt) and get involved (in groups of 3-4) in a project crowned with a presentation about any phenomenon of interest on American radio or telvision nowadays (35 pt). Moreover, during a semester possible small in class exercises and/or quizes (10 pt.)

100-90/5, 89-85/4+, 84-78/4, 77-71/3+, 70-61/3, 60-0/2