MSTD 300 syllabus

Research
History of the Mass Media COMS 300

Information for Semester Research Project

Basic goal:

Select a research project that will contribute to the Revolutions in Communication web site and send it to the instructor before the end of the semester. If you like, it's possible that your papers will make a contribution to the Revolutions in Communication web site. (Note that I will not publish them without your permission).

Due Dates:

Last week of class or before

Rules:

Research must be entirely original. This is unfortunately easy to check, by the way.

Five pages minimum, ten pages maximum. MS Word or text file.

Topic areas from any period in media history before 1980. Anything after 1980 requires consultation with the instructor.

Consultation is a good idea. Contact the instructor with your idea and research plan.

Research must survey 10 original articles / videos / audio files from the contemporary* mass media.

Turn in original articles with your paper to.
bill.kovarik at gmail.com

* "Contemporary" here means writing or news articles from the time in question.Let's say you're working on the influence that Frederick Douglass (pictured above) had on the British, who were wondering whether to get involved in the US Civil War. So a 2010 Wikipedia article itself wouldnt be a contemporary media account, but it might point you to one.

You might also check the New York Times, the Times of London and other databases sources and find articles written by or about Douglass in the 1840s - 1850s.

Some of Douglass' writing is also found on web sites through a Google search. Again, we're not interested in the modern day web site, but if it has contemporary writing by Douglass or about Douglass, then it is useful for your research.

Possible topics:

Controversies or events -- Write about something that interests you in media history.

Example: Did the South really have African American troops in the Civil War? What did the Southern press of the 1860s say?

Example: Indecency in radio 1937 -- What was the FCC's reaction to the Mae West / Don Ameche "Garden of Eden" radio sketch?

Biographies: Write about a MEDIA figure. If it's a very popular media figure, like Joseph Pulitzer, narrow the topic and write about some event or incident in their lives.

Example: Joseph Pulitzer (too popular) but Joseph Pulitzer's Panama Canal libel suit with Teddy Roosevelt (narrow enough).

Country profiles: Write about any country's media history for the international section of the web site, except NOT the US, Britain, France or Germany. Scholarly sources are preferred here.

Example: History of the media in India or China.

Research papers should be written informally. They should consist of an overview, a discussion of your research, and a list of sources in bibliographic form. I like APA style but you can use Chicago or other styles of references as well.

No general biographies or theme papers will be accepted. For example, a general paper onslavery, the indian wars or the Battle of Bull Run would not be acceptable. But you could explore: How the Niles Register covered slavery; what the New York Times said about the indian wars in the 1870s; What northern and southern newspapers had to say about the Battle of Bull Run in 1861; How the New York Times covered the death of Joseph Pulitzer in 1910;

The papers should be about media figures or topics. They must analyze how the contemporary media covered the figure or topic. In orther words, the 10 required articles should all be from the same subject and time period in question, not the current (modern) time period.

Resources and approaches:

Process: Get familiar with the media related research databases at McConnell Library, such as those shown to the right. Also, there are microfilm versions of some of early newspapers such as the Pennsylvania Gazette and the Richmond Enqirer on microfilm. Browse. Find something interesting. Select a theme.

Next, search for other examples of the theme. You may compare coverage of the theme across time or between publications, but keep your time frame focused within the appropriate parameters.

Examples: How did Niles Register cover slavery? What kind of advertising is found in the New York Times before the Civil War as compared to the Richmond Enquirer, the Nation and other publications?

Turn in: Three to five page memo and ten articles you have found as attachments. Be sure your paper has sources cited and listed in a bibliography. A relaxed APA style is preferred.

Detailed Example: You are totally fascinated by the Don Ameche / Mae West controversy over their "Garden of Eden" radio broadcast of 1937. You find the actual broadcast on YouTube (source 1 - authentic contemporary event). You also find three scholarly references in a Wikipedia article about Mae West, such as an entry in the encyclopedia of broadcasting or encyclopedia of american radio. (sources 2-4). You look them up in the library or use the electronic online resource.

Also, you find five articles in the New York Times and Washington Post through ProQuest (sources 5 - 8). You expand the ProQuest search to include magazines but dont find anythying.

You do a JSTORE search to find scholarly articles, and the controversy is mentioned in one or two papers on radio censorship (so that's 9 and 10).

You save all the articles and references. They will need to be sent along with your 5 - 10 page research resport.

Note -- There are also a few articles about a short film made in Greensboro recreating the Garden of Eden broadcast. The film would count if it was on YouTube (its not). And the articles about the Greensboro film don't count because they are not from the contemporary (1930s) scene or explaining the contemporary history.

New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal -- This is a full text ProQuest database service goes back to when the newspapers were started in the mid 19th century. The hits come up in order of relevance or date and then when you pull up the article it loads in a separate pdf file. You have to "save as" under a new name to keep the articles in order on your own computer. Look under N in the database list.

Times of London: Under "T" in the database list.

The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective: November 1860 - April 1865

HarpWeek (Harpers Weekly) The Civil War Era and Reconstruction I & II (1857-1877)

Nation -- America's oldest continuously published weekly magazine since 1865

Niles Register - Cumulative Index, 1811-1849. Includes over 350,000 listings of people, places, and events

Other databases can be found through Google searches

No wikipedia articles or google term papers are acceptable for 10 contemporary articles. ONLY THE NEWS ARTICLES THEMSELVES or scholarly peer-reviewed articles can be used as the basis of your research.
Actually, I like Wikipedia. I use it all the time for my own research. What's really useful for serious research are the references at the bottom of the Wikipedia articles.

And you can find useful things through Google too. Frederick Douglass' articles and speeches are on Google, and you can use them because they are just modern publications of the contemporary record from that age.

Researching:

The idea is to focus on primary media sources. If you are only searching Google for these sources, you may be going in the wrong direction. Google usually has secondary or tertiary sources. The best databases are accessed through the RU library web page.
The idea is to focus on primary media sources.

The goal is for you to read, notice, critically think about, describe and compare these articles.

In other words, description, comparison, analysis, and reaction.

Describe the way in which the issue, event or person was covered, including what sources had to say, what facts are emphasized, what conclusions are drawn. Is there obvious or perhaps not so obvious bias?

Compare the articles. Perhaps they change over time, or from writer to writer, or perhaps you have articles from more than one newspaper. How are they different in their treatment of sources, facts, conclusions and biases?

Analyze the articles. What is the hidden agenda, if any? What values are served by printing the article -- the public interest or a private interest? Why was the article written?

What is your reaction? Did they do a good job or a bad job in reporting? Did they serve the public interest? Were the articles too shallow, just describing events, or did they connect the dots to let you see the whole field of opinion and action at the time?

Email the instructor with any questions

Unacceptable:
General themes are not acceptable, but what does that mean? Lets take Martin Luther King. A paper called "The life of Martin Luther King" would NOT be acceptable. This means it would not get any grade whatsoever. However, a paper called "How the Southern new media covered Dr. King changed between 1965 and 1968" would be great (although overly broad, perhaps). You need to be specific about the media coverage and the time frame. And you need to focus on the media itself, and not on the person or issue.

Turning in the final paper:

Three options for turning in your paper:

1. Via email attachment using the standard MS Word format. Be sure to use a file name without spaces and with the standard .doc suffix.
2. On paper or CD in my mailbox at the School of Communication

The paper should be called yourlastname.historypaper.doc

and sent with attachments via email with "COMS 300" in the subject line.
Please use COMS 300 in the subjet line. Dont just use the subject line "paper" or "my paper" I get a LOT of email and your paper could get lost in the shuffle.

	Research History of the Mass Media COMS 300 Information for Semester Research Project
Basic goal:	Select a research project that will contribute to the Revolutions in Communication web site and send it to the instructor before the end of the semester.	If you like, it's possible that your papers will make a contribution to the Revolutions in Communication web site. (Note that I will not publish them without your permission).
Due Dates:	Last week of class or before
Rules:	Research must be entirely original. This is unfortunately easy to check, by the way. Five pages minimum, ten pages maximum. MS Word or text file. Topic areas from any period in media history before 1980. Anything after 1980 requires consultation with the instructor. Consultation is a good idea. Contact the instructor with your idea and research plan. Research must survey 10 original articles / videos / audio files from the contemporary* mass media. Turn in original articles with your paper to. bill.kovarik at gmail.com	* "Contemporary" here means writing or news articles from the time in question.Let's say you're working on the influence that Frederick Douglass (pictured above) had on the British, who were wondering whether to get involved in the US Civil War. So a 2010 Wikipedia article itself wouldnt be a contemporary media account, but it might point you to one. You might also check the New York Times, the Times of London and other databases sources and find articles written by or about Douglass in the 1840s - 1850s. Some of Douglass' writing is also found on web sites through a Google search. Again, we're not interested in the modern day web site, but if it has contemporary writing by Douglass or about Douglass, then it is useful for your research.
Possible topics:	Controversies or events -- Write about something that interests you in media history. Example: Did the South really have African American troops in the Civil War? What did the Southern press of the 1860s say? Example: Indecency in radio 1937 -- What was the FCC's reaction to the Mae West / Don Ameche "Garden of Eden" radio sketch? Biographies: Write about a MEDIA figure. If it's a very popular media figure, like Joseph Pulitzer, narrow the topic and write about some event or incident in their lives. Example: Joseph Pulitzer (too popular) but Joseph Pulitzer's Panama Canal libel suit with Teddy Roosevelt (narrow enough). Country profiles: Write about any country's media history for the international section of the web site, except NOT the US, Britain, France or Germany. Scholarly sources are preferred here. Example: History of the media in India or China.	Research papers should be written informally. They should consist of an overview, a discussion of your research, and a list of sources in bibliographic form. I like APA style but you can use Chicago or other styles of references as well. No general biographies or theme papers will be accepted. For example, a general paper onslavery, the indian wars or the Battle of Bull Run would not be acceptable. But you could explore: How the Niles Register covered slavery; what the New York Times said about the indian wars in the 1870s; What northern and southern newspapers had to say about the Battle of Bull Run in 1861; How the New York Times covered the death of Joseph Pulitzer in 1910; The papers should be about media figures or topics. They must analyze how the contemporary media covered the figure or topic. In orther words, the 10 required articles should all be from the same subject and time period in question, not the current (modern) time period.
Resources and approaches:	Process: Get familiar with the media related research databases at McConnell Library, such as those shown to the right. Also, there are microfilm versions of some of early newspapers such as the Pennsylvania Gazette and the Richmond Enqirer on microfilm. Browse. Find something interesting. Select a theme. Next, search for other examples of the theme. You may compare coverage of the theme across time or between publications, but keep your time frame focused within the appropriate parameters. Examples: How did Niles Register cover slavery? What kind of advertising is found in the New York Times before the Civil War as compared to the Richmond Enquirer, the Nation and other publications? Turn in: Three to five page memo and ten articles you have found as attachments. Be sure your paper has sources cited and listed in a bibliography. A relaxed APA style is preferred. Detailed Example: You are totally fascinated by the Don Ameche / Mae West controversy over their "Garden of Eden" radio broadcast of 1937. You find the actual broadcast on YouTube (source 1 - authentic contemporary event). You also find three scholarly references in a Wikipedia article about Mae West, such as an entry in the encyclopedia of broadcasting or encyclopedia of american radio. (sources 2-4). You look them up in the library or use the electronic online resource. Also, you find five articles in the New York Times and Washington Post through ProQuest (sources 5 - 8). You expand the ProQuest search to include magazines but dont find anythying. You do a JSTORE search to find scholarly articles, and the controversy is mentioned in one or two papers on radio censorship (so that's 9 and 10). You save all the articles and references. They will need to be sent along with your 5 - 10 page research resport. Note -- There are also a few articles about a short film made in Greensboro recreating the Garden of Eden broadcast. The film would count if it was on YouTube (its not). And the articles about the Greensboro film don't count because they are not from the contemporary (1930s) scene or explaining the contemporary history.	New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal -- This is a full text ProQuest database service goes back to when the newspapers were started in the mid 19th century. The hits come up in order of relevance or date and then when you pull up the article it loads in a separate pdf file. You have to "save as" under a new name to keep the articles in order on your own computer. Look under N in the database list. Times of London: Under "T" in the database list. The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective: November 1860 - April 1865 HarpWeek (Harpers Weekly) The Civil War Era and Reconstruction I & II (1857-1877) Nation -- America's oldest continuously published weekly magazine since 1865 Niles Register - Cumulative Index, 1811-1849. Includes over 350,000 listings of people, places, and events Other databases can be found through Google searches
	No wikipedia articles or google term papers are acceptable for 10 contemporary articles. ONLY THE NEWS ARTICLES THEMSELVES or scholarly peer-reviewed articles can be used as the basis of your research.	Actually, I like Wikipedia. I use it all the time for my own research. What's really useful for serious research are the references at the bottom of the Wikipedia articles. And you can find useful things through Google too. Frederick Douglass' articles and speeches are on Google, and you can use them because they are just modern publications of the contemporary record from that age.
Researching:	The idea is to focus on primary media sources. If you are only searching Google for these sources, you may be going in the wrong direction. Google usually has secondary or tertiary sources. The best databases are accessed through the RU library web page.	The idea is to focus on primary media sources.
	The goal is for you to read, notice, critically think about, describe and compare these articles. In other words, description, comparison, analysis, and reaction. Describe the way in which the issue, event or person was covered, including what sources had to say, what facts are emphasized, what conclusions are drawn. Is there obvious or perhaps not so obvious bias? Compare the articles. Perhaps they change over time, or from writer to writer, or perhaps you have articles from more than one newspaper. How are they different in their treatment of sources, facts, conclusions and biases? Analyze the articles. What is the hidden agenda, if any? What values are served by printing the article -- the public interest or a private interest? Why was the article written? What is your reaction? Did they do a good job or a bad job in reporting? Did they serve the public interest? Were the articles too shallow, just describing events, or did they connect the dots to let you see the whole field of opinion and action at the time?	Email the instructor with any questions
Unacceptable:	General themes are not acceptable, but what does that mean? Lets take Martin Luther King. A paper called "The life of Martin Luther King" would NOT be acceptable. This means it would not get any grade whatsoever. However, a paper called "How the Southern new media covered Dr. King changed between 1965 and 1968" would be great (although overly broad, perhaps). You need to be specific about the media coverage and the time frame. And you need to focus on the media itself, and not on the person or issue.
Turning in the final paper:	Three options for turning in your paper: 1. Via email attachment using the standard MS Word format. Be sure to use a file name without spaces and with the standard .doc suffix. 2. On paper or CD in my mailbox at the School of Communication
	The paper should be called yourlastname.historypaper.doc and sent with attachments via email with "COMS 300" in the subject line.	Please use COMS 300 in the subjet line. Dont just use the subject line "paper" or "my paper" I get a LOT of email and your paper could get lost in the shuffle.