INTRO TO MEDIA STUDIESSENIOR LANGUAGE ARTS

SPRING 2012

YOUR DAILY MEDIA TOTAL?

• Total up your number of screen-time hours from an average day (TV, movies, cell phones, computer, video games, kindle, ipad, online newspapers/magazines, websites, etc).

• How long do you think you can go without any screen-time?

• Total the number of hours you spend with any other media in an average day (books, newspapers, magazines, music, iPods, etc).

• Add the two numbers.

• How long do you think you could go without any media use/interaction?

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MASS MEDIA

“What exactly is the nature of our relationship with media? And could we sustain our social ties and our democratic practices for very long if we were unable to connect to each other through mediated words, sounds, and images?”

(Campbell, Martin, & Fabos, 2011)

THE MEDIA STORYTELLERS

At their WORST, the media’s appetite for telling and selling stories leads them to exploit or misrepresent tragedy.

• Exploit or misrepresent events or people • Hurtle from one event to another• Lose their critical distance

At their BEST, our media reflect and sustain the values and traditions of a vital democracy.

• Help us understand events and trends • Engage and entertain

MASS MEDIA DEFINED

Mass media are industries that create and distribute the following to large numbers of people:

• Songs, novels, newspapers, movies, Internet services, TV shows, magazines, other products

DEBATES OVER MASS MEDIA

People have always debated media’s merits and dangers.

• Ancient Greeks argued over whether exposure to plays would corrupt youth.

• Leaders at the turn of the 20th century feared that “low culture” forms like vaudeville shows would undermine American values.

• Modern people fear that media violence spawns real violence or media conglomerates unduly influence attitudes and behaviors.

CAN A VIDEO GAME LEAD TO MURDER?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/04/60minutes/main678261.shtml

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=678389n

REFLECTION

• List all the mass media products you use or buy...ex. facebook, music from iTunes, any of the Google products, TV shows, movies, etc.

• To what extent is the mass media a part of your daily life? (1-2 paragraphs)

YEAR OVERVIEW

Commercial Media

• Advertising, product placement, 21st cent. advertising

Information/Communication Media

• Traditional vs. new media, social media, interpersonal communication

Entertainment Media

• Film analysis, music industry, evolution of television programming

DID YOU KNOW 4.0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8