MSTD 300 syllabus

Research
History of the Mass Media

Information for Semester Research Project

Select a main research project and present it to the class during the relevant time period in the semester.

Due Dates:

TBA

Resources and approaches:

Research papers must be entirely original and focus on an analysis of news coverage by examining primary sources. The idea is to read newspaper articles about your topic at the time the articles were written.

For instance, you might report on: 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.

No general biographies or theme papers will be accepted. For example, a general paper on Pulitzer, slavery, the indian wars or the Battle of Bull Run would not be acceptable.

All papers must involve events prior to 1980.

The papers need not be about media figures or topics, but must be an analysis of 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. No wikipedia articles or google term papers are acceptable as part of these 10 contemporary articles. ONLY THE NEWS ARTICLES THEMSELVES are to be used as the basis of your research.

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.

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.

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

Researching:

The idea is to focus on primary media sources. If you are searching Google for these reports, you are already going in the wrong direction. Google usually has secondary or tertiary sources. The databases you want are all attached to the library web page. Google has nothing that would help you here.

Secondly, all your writing must be entirely original and revolve around the attached newspaper articles. I dont care what anyone else says about the subject. This is about the newspapers and your comments only.
The idea is to focus on primary media sources.

Third, the goal is for you to read, notice, compare and contrast and then write me a memo. There is no formal style for the memo, just your name, the date, the time period / report number and what you have found.

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

Describe the way in which the issue was covered, including what sources are preferred (and which may not be preferred), 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?

Fourth, the paper will be graded on adherence to these guidelines and on your ability to think about and analyze news coverage.

Email the instructor with any questions or feel free to raise questions in class.

Themes:
General papers 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 New York Times coverage of Dr. King changed between 1955 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. Why is this? General papers often involve secondary sources. Rehashing old stuff is not what good history is all about. History should be a way to seek the truth, not repeat conventional wisdom.

Turning in the final paper:

Three options for turning in your paper:

1. Preferred: 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 in the Dept. of Media Studies, Porterfield Hall.
3. On paperor CD in class.

The paper should be called yourlastname.historypaper.doc

and sent as an attachment to an email with "MSTD 300" in the subject line.

	Research History of the Mass Media Information for Semester Research Project
	Select a main research project and present it to the class during the relevant time period in the semester.
Due Dates:	TBA
Resources and approaches:	Research papers must be entirely original and focus on an analysis of news coverage by examining primary sources. The idea is to read newspaper articles about your topic at the time the articles were written. For instance, you might report on: 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. No general biographies or theme papers will be accepted. For example, a general paper on Pulitzer, slavery, the indian wars or the Battle of Bull Run would not be acceptable. All papers must involve events prior to 1980. The papers need not be about media figures or topics, but must be an analysis of 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. No wikipedia articles or google term papers are acceptable as part of these 10 contemporary articles. ONLY THE NEWS ARTICLES THEMSELVES are to be used as the basis of your research. 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.	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. 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
Researching:	The idea is to focus on primary media sources. If you are searching Google for these reports, you are already going in the wrong direction. Google usually has secondary or tertiary sources. The databases you want are all attached to the library web page. Google has nothing that would help you here. Secondly, all your writing must be entirely original and revolve around the attached newspaper articles. I dont care what anyone else says about the subject. This is about the newspapers and your comments only.	The idea is to focus on primary media sources.
	Third, the goal is for you to read, notice, compare and contrast and then write me a memo. There is no formal style for the memo, just your name, the date, the time period / report number and what you have found. In other words, description, comparison, analysis, and reaction. Describe the way in which the issue was covered, including what sources are preferred (and which may not be preferred), 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? Fourth, the paper will be graded on adherence to these guidelines and on your ability to think about and analyze news coverage.	Email the instructor with any questions or feel free to raise questions in class.
Themes:	General papers 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 New York Times coverage of Dr. King changed between 1955 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.	Why is this? General papers often involve secondary sources. Rehashing old stuff is not what good history is all about. History should be a way to seek the truth, not repeat conventional wisdom.
Turning in the final paper:	Three options for turning in your paper: 1. Preferred: 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 in the Dept. of Media Studies, Porterfield Hall. 3. On paperor CD in class.	The paper should be called yourlastname.historypaper.doc and sent as an attachment to an email with "MSTD 300" in the subject line.