COMM 150: Revised schedule of assignments

As we get deeper into the 10th edition of John Vivian's "Media of Mass Communications," I have come to realize its organization is substantially different from that of earlier editions.

The good news is that it makes a lot more sense this way. The bad news ...

Well, there isn't any bad news.

There's more good news, though, for those of you who bought used copies of earlier editions. I've been madly reading the 10th edition over the weekend, and Vivian's main points are pretty much the same as before. So are the concepts or themes he discusses, like concentration of ownership and what he calls "demassification" and I'd rather think of as smaller media targeting narrower audience segments as advertisers seek lower CPM.

(Don't know what "CPM" is? Read Vivian, any edition, and you'll find out soon enough. It's a key, key concept. (I'll give you a hint: The "M" is an abbreviation for a thousand. Remember your Roman numerals?)

Enough of that. Here's a revised schedule of assignments. I have also revised the Tentative Calendar in the syllabus posted Aug. 18 at http://mackerelwrapper.blogspot.com/2011/08/comm-150-syllabus-fall-2011.html. Like that calendar, these assignments are tentative. Paper topics, etc., will be assigned a week or two before the papers are due.

Revised Schedule:

First Week. Introduction to Class, syllabus, academic integrity, etc. Read Chapter 1, Mass Media Literacy; Chapter 2, Media Technology. Write: How much of what you know did you learn from mass media? How many of your attitudes, interests, tastes, etc., derive from mass media?

Second Week. Read Chapter 3, Books; Chapter 4, Newspapers; and Chapter 5, Magazines Media Economics

Third Week. Read Chapter 6, Sound Recording; and Chapter 7, Motion Pictures Continue Chapter 3 on economics.

Fourth Week. Read Chapter 8, Radio; and Chapter 9: Television Chapter 4, Ink on Paper.

Fifth Week. Read Chapter 10, Internet Chapter 5, Sound Media.

Sixth Week. Midterm over Chapters 1-10. Read Chapter 11, News; and Chapter 12, Public Relations Read Chapter 6, Motion [ie visual] Media.

Seventh Week. Read Chapter 14, Entertainment Chapter 7, New Media Landscapes; midterm essay exam .

Eighth Week. Read Chapter 15, Media Research 8, News.

Ninth Week. Read Chapter 16, Mass-Media Effects on Society 9, Entertainment.

10th Week. Read Chapter 17, Global Mass Media 10,Public Relations.

11th Week. Read Chapter 19, Mass Media and Governance 11, Advertising; and 12, Mass Audiences. Paper due on "mass media messages" and career prospects.

12th Week. Read Chapter 20, Mass Media Law 13, Mass Media Effects; 14, Media and Democracy; and 15, Globalization.

13th Week. Read Chapter 21, 16, Media Law; and 16, Ethics. Self-reflective essay due.

Final exam TBA.