Anne-Marie Cusac
Assistant Professor
Roosevelt University
Communication
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| Office |
Chicago Campus |
Schaumburg Campus |
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505J
(Gage Bldg.)
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808c |
| Phone |
312-281-3225
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847-619-8592
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| Hours |
T 4-6, F 1-2, and by appointment |
S 12-1, and by appointment |
| E-mail |
acusac@roosevelt.edu |
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| Classes Taught |
Magazine Writing
Magazine Production
War and Media
Communication in the Information Age
Advanced Reporting Methods
News Reporting
Topic: Exploring InvestigationsClick here to browse my folders and files
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| Bio |
Anne-Marie Cusac, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, is. a George Polk Award-winning journalist. For ten years, she was an editor and investigative reporter for The Progressive magazine. Cusac won the George Polk Award for her article “Stunning Technology,” an investigation of the use of the stun belt in U.S. prisons. She has won the Project Censored Award three times—in 1997, for “Shock Value: U.S. Stun Devices Pose Human-Rights Risk,” in 1998, for “Nuclear Spoons: Hot Metal May Find its Way to Your Dinner Table,” and again in 2003 for “Brazen Bosses.” She has also been recognized with a second-place John Bartlow Martin Award, and a 2002 Milwaukee Press Club Award for magazine reporting.
Cusac is also the author of a book of poetry entitled The Mean Days (Tia Chucha, 2001). A second book of poems is forthcoming from Many Mountains Moving Press in 2007.
Cusac ‘s current project is Cruel and Unusual: Punishment in America, a book on contract, to be published by Yale University Press in the spring of 2009
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| 357/457 syllabus, spring 2009 |
Magazine Production
JOUR 357/457—Spring 2009
Saturday 9:30-12:15
Schaumburg Campus Room 508
David Weissman Anne-Marie Cusac
Department of Communication Department of Communication
Adjunct Professor Assistant Professor
Fireman99@ameritech.net acusac@roosevelt.edu
Office hours: S. 12:30-1:30, room 508 Schaumburg Office hours: Chicago, Gage Building room 505J: Tuesday, 4-6 p.m., Friday, 1-2 p.m.
Schaumburg, Room 808C: Saturday, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Phone: 312 281-3225 (Chicago Campus)
Course goals
1. To simulate the launch of a consumer or trade magazine.
2. To work as a team to develop a magazine concept,
mission statement and reader profile.
3. To define the magazine’s departments, develop story ideas,
research and write them.
4. To conduct market research and develop a circulation,
distribution and advertising strategy.
5. To lay out pages and design the magazine on a real print deadline.
The class staff
In week two, students will choose a magazine concept and take on various duties needed to produce the magazine. In addition to writing and producing stories, students will be busy with page layout and design, market research, circulation and distribution, and advertising strategy.
Some classes—especially the first few—will include lectures on the various aspects of magazine development. By week five, the bulk of lectures will have ended. We’ll meet not just as a class, but also as the staff of your new magazine. Each department head will give weekly briefings to the class on where things stand in his or her respective area.
The class dynamic
Unlike other classes, this is a group project. Not every idea will make it off the chalkboard, and some ideas you think are earth-shattering may get flat-out rejected. Don’t take it personally. The end result is what counts. You’re all in this together, and merging several personalities into one sharp, clear voice is no easy trick. Exercise patience and constructive criticism. Working smoothly with others is a skill that will serve you well the rest of your career.
The stories
All class members will write at least two (2) of the three types of magazine stories: columns, departments and features. The relatively low volume of stories means you’ll have more time to sharpen them, while working on other aspects of the magazine. All stories will be rewritten at least once. We’ll discuss story assignments in more detail during class.
Exit memos
Exit memos are designed to give next year’s students a sense of what your job on the magazine was really like. Take a look at last year’s exit memos to get a sense of how they handled deadlines with respect to the overall project. These can be written in groups and submitted by department: one each for advertising, circulation/market research, editorial, art, and production.
The book
The Magazine from Cover to Cover, second edition, by Sammye Johnson and Patricia Pijatel (Oxford University Press, 2007)
Professionalism
As senior- and graduate-level students, it’s time to look beyond the classroom and embrace the real-world experience of magazine work. Attitude goes a long way. Come to class prepared and on time. Bring enthusiasm and interest, a desire to lend constructive criticism and fresh ideas. That’s what the pros do. If you’re playing a key role in the advertising strategy or laying out pages and can’t make it to class, the whole project suffers. Your classmates are counting on you.
Deadlines
This is a real-world exercise. Stories filed past deadline can’t be typeset. If they can’t be typeset, there’s no magazine. Deadlines are in place for good reason. Late stories will be docked a full grade each class they are filed past deadline. No exceptions. Did I mention deadlines are important?
Artwork
All students will be responsible for submitting artwork with their stories. A digital camera is ideal, though 35mm prints are also fine. If you don’t have a camera or can’t borrow one, expect to purchase a disposable 35mm camera and pay for processing. The cost should be about $12-$15.
Production Notes
While five weeks will be set aside at the end of the semester for page layout and design, the process often proves much more tedious than anticipated. Students who take on production responsibilities will be expected to attend class for one extra hour before class, starting Week 11 (April 11).
Style and spelling
At this stage of the game, you should have at least a basic grasp of proper grammar and magazine style, according to The Chicago Manual of Style. You also should proofread what you write and double-check everything for accuracy before you turn stories in. Neatness counts.
Discussions, workshops, and presentations
We expect all members of the class to participate in discussions. Such participation is a significant portion of your grade.
Make certain that you are keeping up on the news. Good magazine editors and reporters rely on print, radio, online, and television news as sources for their own stories. Examples of news sources: The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, WGN radio, Public radio, BBC television or online edition, foreign newspapers in English such as the London Guardian or the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. . . . There are also online editions of many of these publications and broadcasts.
Class Policies
Absences
Please communicate with one of us as early as possible in advance of any planned absence. In case of emergency, you may contact us by e-mail on the day of class. Lateness and/or unexcused absences will result in a lower grade. We expect you to make up any work you miss. You should make preparations to obtain notes and other information that you miss in class from your fellow students.
Noise
Please turn off any pagers, music players, or cell phones during class.
Academic dishonesty
Plagiarism, invention of sources or information, and the borrowing of quotes without attribution will not be tolerated in this course, just as it is not tolerated in media careers. Please familiarize yourself with the Roosevelt University policy on plagiarism and academic dishonesty, which is attached to this syllabus. It is also available at: http://www.roosevelt.edu/plagiarism/default.htm.
Withdrawal
The last day to withdraw from the course with a grade of W is Monday, April 6.
Accommodation of students with disabilities
Students with disabilities or other conditions that require special accommodations should let me know or contact the Academic Success Center/Office of Disability Services at (312) 341-3810 as soon as possible.
Grades
Course grades will be distributed as follows:
• Written stories: 40 percent
• Duties related to producing the magazine: 30 percent
• Professionalism and participation: 30 percent
Quality Point Values Assigned to Grades
A 4.00
A - 3.67
B+ 3.33
B 3.00
B- 2.67
C+ 2.33
C 2.00
C- 1.67
D+ 1.33
D 1.00
D- 0.67
F 0
Definitions of grading scale for written stories
A: Stories are of publishable quality, with little or no editing
B: Stories are of acceptable quality, but require editing
C: Stories of average quality, but require editing and more reporting
D: Below-average stories that require major editing and re-reporting
F: Seriously flawed stories with factual errors, style problems and reporting holes
* Note: Graduate students will assume positions of authority on the magazine staff and will be graded on their leadership in addition to their other contributions to the magazine.
Magazine Production—Class Schedule
Week 1—Jan. 31
• Intro and syllabus read-thru
• Industry overview—the “three-legged stool”
• Magazine duties & responsibilities: who does what
• Concept development—the mission statement
• Audience development, profiles
• Types of magazine stories: departments, features, columns,
service packages
Assignment: For next week, read chapters 1, 5 and 6 of The Magazine from Cover to Cover.
Week 2—Feb. 7
• Class presentations
• Choose magazine concept
• Assign staff
Assignment: For next week, read chapters 2, 7, and 8 of The Magazine from Cover to Cover.
Week 3—Feb. 14
• Circulation: audits, lists and list brokers, subscription, single copy sales, paid vs. controlled circulation, direct mail
• The reachable universe—how to find readers
• Distribution—from printer to newsstand
Class work: • Brainstorm/assign story 1 (all)
• Identify competition
• Sharpen departments (all)
• Font, color scheme research begins (art/production)
• Circulation, market research begins (circ, mkt. research)
• Choose working title (all)
• Advertising research begins (ad)
Advertising meeting. For next week, bring in a sales pitch in writing and a magazine profile.
Assignment: For next week, read chapters 9, 10, and 11 of The Magazine from Cover to Cover.
Week 4—Feb. 21
Class work: • Brainstorm/assign story 2 (all)
• Sharpen mission statement, audience profile (edit, ad)
• Work on reachable universe (circ)
• Finalize departments (all)
• Work on story 2 (all)
Deadlines: • Advertising sales pitch, magazine profile (ad)
Week 5—Feb. 28
• The media kit—what’s in it, how it works
• Advertising, ad sales, guest speaker(s)
Deadlines: • Mission statement (first draft)
• Audience profile (first draft)
• Circulation mailing (first draft)
Class work: • Brainstorm/assign story 3 (all)
• Choose fonts, color scheme (art/design)
• Sharpen reachable universe, market research (circ)
• Work on stories (all)
Week 6—Mar. 7
• Editorial architecture of magazines: what goes where, and why
Deadlines: • Story 1 (first draft), with art
Class work: • Rewrites (ad, edit, circ)
• Work on story 2 (all)
• Begin selling ads (ad)
• Begin editing (edit)
Week 7—March 14
Deadlines: • Story 2 (first draft), with art
• Advertising media kit
• Mission statement (second draft)
• Audience profile (second draft)
• Circulation mailing (second draft)
Class work: • Sell advertisements (ad)
• Develop graphics, art for stories (art, prod)
Week 8—Spring Break, no class
Week 9—March 28
• Page layout and design
• Titles, cover lines
Deadlines: • Story 1 (second draft)
• Story 3 (first draft), with art
Class work: • Sell advertisements (ad)
• Rewrites (all)
Week 10—April 4: ALL ARTWORK, ADS DUE
Deadlines: • Story 2 (second draft)
• Reachable universe (circ)
• Mission statement (third draft)
• Audience profile (third draft)
• Circulation mailing (third draft)
Class work: • Rewrites (all)
Week 11—April 11
ALL FINAL DRAFTS DUE
PAGE LAYOUT BEGINS (ART/PRODUCTION)
• Production—preparing pages for the printer
• Production schedules
Class work: • Rewrites (all)
Week 12—April 18
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BEGINS (EDIT, AD, CIRC/MKT. RSRCH)
Class work: • Page layout and production
• Executive summary (edit, ad, circ/mkt. research)
Week 13—April 25
Class work: • Page layout and production
Week 14—May 2
Deadlines: • Executive summary
• Exit memos (all)
Class work: • Page layout and production
Week 15—May 9
• Final pages, to press
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| 201 syllabus, spring 2009 |
JOUR 201-01
Communication in the Information Age
Roosevelt University
Spring 2009
Tues. 6-8:30 p.m. Chicago Campus, Gage Building 207
Instructor: Anne-Marie Cusac, Department of Communication Assistant Professor
Phone: 847-619-8592 (Robin Campus, Schaumburg), 312 281-3225 (Chicago Campus)
e-mail: acusac@roosevelt.edu (I am easily available by e-mail.)
Office hours: Chicago, Gage Building room 505J: Tuesday, 4-6 p.m., Friday, 1-2 PM
Schaumburg, Room 808C: Saturday, 12-1 p.m.
And by appointment
Course description:
From the Catalog: Prerequisite course for journalism, public relations, and integrated communications (advertising) majors. Overview of print and broadcast journalism, public relations and advertising; emphasis on the role and effects of media in society. The transformation of mass communication resulting from the development, diffusion, and convergence of new technologies.
Prerequisites: ENG 102
“The Media” can seem familiar and strange, intimate and incomprehensible, particular and vast. Most of us encounter media messages and information numerous times per day, whether we seek such exposure or not, in radio communications, television, or the advertisements that line our roadways and pop up on our computer screens. From the invention of the book onward, advances in media have allowed for communications from one to many that would otherwise not have happened. In the electronic and digital ages, that movement of information has speeded up. We can now receive new information and ideas almost as events happen or at the moment a person hundreds (or thousands) of miles away thinks a thought. We can know the current weather in China, see images of a city block nearly anywhere in the world, and be aware of last night’s crimes in most U.S. cities. And, with the invention of the Internet, many more people (as in bloggers) can easily speak to mass audiences than could do so ten years ago. With the increase in speed has come an accumulation of information. Several centuries ago, a single human being could conceivably read much of what had been printed in English; however, a person with enough education, leisure time, and money to read those publications would have been rare. Today, thanks in good part to the proliferation of media, a much larger proportion of the populace can consume information through books and other printed matter, radio, television, and the Internet. However, the amount of available information is now vast and impossible for one person, or many, to monitor fully.
This course is a survey of media history and culture. It includes the mainstream press, but also the ethnic media the minority media, and the alternative media. And it is much more than media exposure. While you will become familiar with the huge realm of media, you will also become active media consumers and critics. Some of the questions we will return to throughout the course include:
How have the media changed or impacted your life?
How have changes in media altered society?
Can the media aid or damage a democratic republic, such as our own?
What is “information”?
Does more information make us better people?
Are some kinds of information better than other kinds, and if so, how would you rank them?
Do the worldwide web, television, printed publications, and radio really draw our world closer?
What are the dangers, and the benefits, of different media?
What media images do we receive? What roles do stereotypes play in those images?
Is every media voice easy to hear?
What does diversity in the media mean, today and in past decades?
What are alternative media voices, and why are they alternative?
How can one person deal wisely with so much information available every day?
Our class will receive regular visits from media professionals who can talk in detail about their work, their challenges, and their own questions.
Objectives
Students will:
1) Demonstrate knowledge of specific industry histories, cultures, vocabularies, current bodies of knowledge, and in some instances, theoretical foundations.
2) Identify the form and content characteristics of mass media messages.
3) Recognize and describe the impact of mass media messaging on public perceptions of reality.
4) Perform critical analysis of media practices as well as media-driven/supported cultural phenomena.
5) Recognize, describe and evaluate the ethics and social values demonstrated by, and depicted in, mass media messaging.
6) Identify the impact of mass communication on consumer behavior.
7) Identify the impact of mass communication on the democratic process.
8) Understand the First Amendment, its core principles and history, including significant legal constraints and decisions.
9) Demonstrate knowledge of the ways in which diverse populations, both in the United States and across the globe, have shaped and been affected by communications and their history.
10) Apply theoretical concepts to images and their presentation.
Text
Media & Culture, Richard Campbell, sixth edition, 2009 update (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006).
Class handouts.
Class Policies
Late work
Tardy work will lose an entire letter grade for every week that it is late.
Absences
Please communicate with me as early as possible in advance of any planned absence. In case of emergency, you may contact me by e-mail on the day of class. Lateness and/or unexcused absences will result in a lower grade. I expect you to make up any work you miss. You should make preparations to obtain notes and other information that you miss in class from your fellow students.
Noise
Please turn off any pagers or cell phones during class.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism, invention of sources or information, and the borrowing of quotes without attribution will not be tolerated in this course, just as such activities are not tolerated in media careers. Please familiarize yourself with the Roosevelt University policy on plagiarism and academic dishonesty, which is attached to this syllabus. It is also available at: http://www.roosevelt.edu/plagiarism/default.htm.
Preparing your assignments
Your assignments should be typewritten, double-spaced, and proofread. Please send me an electronic copy of your papers, in addition to the hard copy you turn in during class.
Grading
Three Short Written Assignments: 30%
One Longer Written Assignment: 20%
Mid-Term Exam: 15%
Final Exam: 20%
Attendance/participation: 15%
Standards
A work is well-written and carefully structured, coherent, and contains original observations and arguments. A work contains few spelling and grammatical problems and makes use of standard source attribution
B work shows troubles in one of the above areas.
C work exhibits weaknesses in more than one of the above areas to an extent that the problems decrease the quality of the work overall.
D work shows problems in all of the above areas, or its difficulties in one or more areas are so considerable that they bring the overall quality of the written project down to below the average for students at this level.
F work either has grave problems in all areas listed above or does not satisfy the assignment.
Quality Point Values Assigned to Grades
A 4.00
A - 3.67
B+ 3.33
B 3.00
B- 2.67
C+ 2.33
C 2.00
C- 1.67
D+ 1.33
D 1.00
D- 0.67
F 0
Exams
There will be one mid-term exam, one final exam and possibly several quizzes during the course. The exams will be open book and open notes.
Withdrawal
The last day to withdraw from the course with a grade of W is Monday, April 6.
Accommodation of students with disabilities
Students with disabilities or other conditions that require special accommodations should let me know or contact the Academic Success Center/Office of Disability Services at (312) 341-3810 as soon as possible.
Tentative Class Schedule (open to change depending on the availability of our visitors, etc.)
Week 1, January 27
Introduction and class expectations
"Empire of the Air," part one.
Assignments:
1. For next week, write a two page autobiography (not for grade), telling me about yourself, about what aspects of media and communications interest you most, and what you'd like to be doing ten years from now.
2. Find one example of American culture that has spread to other parts of the world; be prepared to talk about it next week, and be sure to note what your source is.
Reading: Chapters 1-2, pp.1-67
Week 2, February 3
Mass Communications: Why Criticize?
"Empire of the Air," part two.
Due: your autobiography
Assignments:
1. Media Watch Music Listening Assignment.
2. Find an example of popular music from the 1920s; note your source.
3. Make a preliminary decision about your paper topic.
Reading: ch. 3
MEDIA WATCH MUSIC LISTENING ASSIGNMENT [Due Feb. 17]
It is hoped that this assignment, and all of them in this course, will broaden your horizons.
For two weeks from today, listen to a piece of music to which you ordinarily wouldn't pay attention, research it, write a brief, 3-4 page paper about it, and be prepared to talk about it in class.
For instance, if your favorite music is hip-hop, try something classical. If it's jazz, try country. If it's country, try polka music.
Don't shortchange yourself: stop what you are doing and really listen to the music--DON'T LISTEN WHILE DRIVING. Unless the piece is something lengthy, listen to three or four selections. If you choose, for instance, the country music of Tammy Wynette, listen to three or four songs, not just one.
In your paper, be sure to engage all of the steps of the critical process: identify the piece, describe it, analyze it, interpret it, evaluate it, and how might you engage it? In addition, do some research on the music itself or the artist, and include at least one reference in your paper, properly foot-noted.
Roosevelt University has over 25,000 sound recordings in its audio library, from which you might choose.
Some suggestions from your instructor:
—Dvorak violin or cello concerto
--anything Mozart
--Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
--Béla Bartók, Hungarian Sketches or Romanian Folk Dances
--Maria Callas singing opera
--Collections of Scott Joplin, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Harry James, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holliday, or Dave Brubek
--Crooners like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett, Jo Stafford. Belters like Judy Garland or Barbara Streisand.
--collections of music from abroad, from South America or South Africa or Asia
There are millions of possibilities. This is an opportunity to try something different, to learn more about it--and to get credit for it!
Week 3, February 10
Popular Music and sound recording. “Merchants of Cool.”
Assignments: Find an example of a radio program from the 1930s; note your source.
Reading: chapter 4
Week 4, February 17
Discussion of your Media Watch Music Assignment. Radio.
Due: Media Watch Music Assignment.
Assignments: Media Watch Radio Assignment. Find an example of a movie from the 1940s; note your source.
Reading: ch. 7
MEDIA WATCH RADIO ASSIGNMENT [Due March 3]
Listen (and again don't do this while driving) to half an hour of news or talk radio (no music stations). The stations may be local like WBBM-AM, WGN-AM, WLS-AM or WBEZ-FM, or they may be from anywhere in the world broadcasting on the Internet (you might check out www.vtuner.com or the BBC Web site).
As you listen, take some notes about what you're hearing: what's the station, who's talking, what's the topic, who are the sponsors (if any) and what sort of audience do you think they're aiming at?
Again, write your 3-4 page paper, paying attention to identification, description, analysis (what elements of the broadcast caught your attention?), interpretation (what did it mean to you?), and evaluation (would you recommend the program or not?).
Again, do some research on the station or the host/hostess and properly footnote it.
Week 5, February 24
Movies and images
Assignments: Find an example of a television program from the 1950s or the 1960s; note your source.
Reading: Ch. 5 and 6
Week 6, March 3
Discussion of your Radio assignment. Television.
Due: Your radio assignment.
Assignments: Media Watch Video Assignment [Due March 31. Find an example of an important news story from the 1970s; note your source [Due March 24].
Reading: ch. 8 and 14.
MEDIA WATCH VIDEO ASSIGNMENT [Due March 31]
By now, you should know the routine.
This time, your assignment is to watch a classic movie or TV show, research it, and write papers like before.
If you choose movies, go to the American Film Institute's Web site (www.afi.com), click on the 100 Years Series on the right, and then click on the 100 Years 100 Movies button that will be on the next screen near the bottom. This is a list of the AFI's top 100 films. Choose one.
If you choose TV, you'll have to find a couple of episodes of a TV program from the 1950s or 1960s to watch (you might find these at the Museum of Broadcast Communication or Roosevelt's or a public library)
This time, let's also add the requirement that you begin your paper with a nice snappy lead that will interest the reader and keep him/her reading.
Week 7, March 10
Mid-term Exam, open-book, open notes.
March 17 Spring Break! No Class
Week 8, March 24
Newspapers, ethics and journalism
Assignments: Find an example of a best-seller from the 1970s or 1980s and research it.
Reading: ch. 9 and 10
Week 9, March 31
Discussion of your video assignments. Magazines in the Age of Specialization. Books and the Power of Print
Due: Your video assignment.
Assignments:
1. Your long written assignment.
2. Find an example of advertising from the 20th century, and research the company or the product.
Reading: ch. 11.
LONG MEDIA WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT [Due May 5]
This Media Watch assignment is similar to all the others, except that you get to choose the topic, and you get to write more extensively about it. Print, advertising, and public relations are all available, so choose what interests you.
Write up to 10 pages about it, and include at least three properly footnoted sources.
Week 10, April 7
Advertising and Commercial Culture
Reading: ch. 12
Week 11 April 14
Public Relations
Assignments: Find an example of a global media company.
Reading: chapter 13.
Week 12, April 21
Media and the global economy
Assignments: Finish your long writing project.
Reading: Ch. 16
Week 13, April 28
The First Amendment
Week 14, May 5
Due: Long writing projects.
Week 15, May 12
Final exam, open book, open notes
Bio:
Anne-Marie Cusac, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, is. a George Polk Award-winning journalist. For ten years, she was an editor and investigative reporter for The Progressive magazine. Cusac won the George Polk Award for her article “Stunning Technology,” an investigation of the use of the stun belt in U.S. prisons. She has won the Project Censored Award three times—in 1997, for “Shock Value: U.S. Stun Devices Pose Human-Rights Risk,” in 1998, for “Nuclear Spoons: Hot Metal May Find its Way to Your Dinner Table,” and again in 2003 for “Brazen Bosses.” She has also been recognized with a second-place John Bartlow Martin Award, and a 2002 Milwaukee Press Club Award for magazine reporting.
Cusac is also the author The Mean Days, a book of poems published by Tia Chucha Press in 2001. A second book of poems, entitled Silkie, was published by Many Mountains Moving Press in 2007.
Cusac’s Cruel and Unusual: Punishment in America, is forthcoming from Yale University Press in March 2009.
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| JOUR 390/450, spring 2009 |
JOUR 390/450-01
Special Topics: War and Media
Roosevelt University
Spring 2009
Fri. 9:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Chicago Campus, Gage Building 108
Instructor: Anne-Marie Cusac, Department of Communication Assistant Professor
Phone: 847-619-8592 (Robin Campus, Schaumburg), 312 281-3225 (Chicago Campus)
e-mail: acusac@roosevelt.edu (I am easily available by e-mail.)
Office hours: Chicago, Gage Building room 505J: Tuesday, 4-6 p.m., Friday, 1-2 PM
Schaumburg, Room 808C: Saturday, 12-1 p.m.
And by appointment
Course description:
From the Catalog: Course content varies by semester but always focuses on current issues and/or diversity, alternative media, and social justice as they relate to media.
This course explores the rich, varied, and sometimes troubled relationship between war and media. We will read deeply in the writings of war correspondents, both past and contemporary, as well as political pamphlets, investigative stories, and the alternative press. We will consider war photography, war ads, war propaganda, as well as television, radio, and film evocations of conflict. In doing so, we will cultivate an awareness of the many roles media can play in a time of war. We will explore this work as aware citizens and as reporters ourselves. We will attend to such common issues as: story complications, access to both the conflict and to powerful sources (and the compromises that can result from those), ethical and legal questions, and the role (or problem) of narrative and style in war reporting. Having developed an analytical strategy for considering the work of media in wartime, students will conduct their own reported stories on a current conflict. We will also have visits by guest speakers. Our guests will discuss their individual specialty areas, such as propaganda, document research, or photojournalism in relation to war and to media treatments of war.
Prerequisites:
Undergraduate students: JOUR 220 with a minimum grade of C and one additional 300-level course.
Graduate students: JOUR 405
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, you should have
1. An understanding of the range and history of media responses to war.
2. A greater understanding of how the media, the government and the military interact during war time, and how these interactions have changed since the time of the first war correspondents.
3. Increased familiarity with important genres in war media including on-site reporting, human-interest, investigative journalism, as well as persuasive pamphlets, analyses, and opinion pieces.
4. The ability to read media responses to war closely and critically, with an eye to craft, techniques, sources, formal considerations, aesthetics, objectivity, bias, access, and ethical concerns.
5. The ability to analyze critically the relationship between images and meanings in wartime ads, cartoons, photographs, propaganda, televised and film images, and other visual materials.
6. Knowledge of ethical and other challenges pertinent to War and Media. The ability to apply such principles to your own work.
7. The ability to write both a journalistic account of war from the home front and a critical paper analyzing important book-length or comparable works of wartime journalism or other media.
8. The capacity to understand and apply knowledge of the First Amendment and its legal and theoretical principles to the topic of war and media.
9. The ability to use high-quality critical, independent, and creative thought in relation to the topic of war and media.
Texts
• Phillip Knightley, The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero and Myth-Maker from the Crimea to Iraq, 3rd edition (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004).
• Selected online resources and photocopies
• Outside primary text research
• At least two book-length volumes, or their equivalent, chosen from the bibliography I will provide you or determined in consultation with me.
1. Written assignments
You will complete two major written assignments: a reported story and a critical analysis of two book-length works. You will do your reported project in several pieces, so that you have an understanding of my expectations.
Similarly, a shorter version of the paper, concentrating only one book, will prepare you to proceed to the longer comparison-contrast of two books in the second paper. I will expect you to incorporate the first paper into the second.
In addition, you will do biweekly brief analyses of primary text research for class.
2. Discussions, workshops, and presentations
Discussions of primary text examples of wartime media are critical to your development as journalists and critics of media. I expect all members of the class to participate in discussions. Such participation is a significant portion of your grade.
Each week, students will bring in examples of either historical primary text media or contemporary war media and will discuss their offerings with the class. I expect students to offer their perceptions of the news in relation to their developing stories.
Finally, during the last weeks of class, you will each be responsible for two presentations of the work in your ongoing projects: both the report and the critical paper. I will provide guidance on these projects during the semester.
3. Quizzes
There may be current events quizzes.
4. Revisions
You will turn in a substantial revision of your reported feature in the last week of class.
Good writing and revision are inseparable, and I expect you to revise your work for this class. You will also have the opportunity to revise your critical papers. You are welcome to submit a rewrite if you do so one week after you receive your grade. If significantly improved, your revision can lift your assignment grade by one letter.
5. Make certain that you are keeping up on the news. Good reporters rely on print, radio, online, and television news as sources for their own stories. Examples of news sources: The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, WGN radio, Public radio, BBC television or online edition, foreign newspapers in English such as the London Guardian of the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. . . . There are also online editions of many of these publications and broadcasts.
Make sure that you are also trolling the unexpected places for examples of wartime media. I will provide guidance in the first weeks of class on how to do this.
6. Graduate Students
If you are a graduate student, then, in addition to the course requirements listed above and below, you are responsible for an additional written project to be determined in consultation with me at the beginning of the semester.
In addition, graduate students will also be responsible for leading some discussions. Please come to my office hours or arrange to meet with me during the first three weeks of class in order to make plans for both your written and your oral projects.
Class Policies
Late work
Editors depend on reporters to submit their work on time. Given the importance of on-time writing to journalism, tardy work will lose an entire letter grade for every week that it is late.
Reported stories do sometimes run into troubles—sources who won’t talk, inaccessible documents, etc. If and when you hit such bumps in your project, you should get in touch with me as soon as possible, just as you would an editor.
Absences
Please communicate with me as early as possible in advance of any planned absence. In case of emergency, you may contact me by e-mail on the day of class. Lateness and/or unexcused absences will result in a lower grade. I expect you to make up any work you miss. You should make preparations to obtain notes and other information that you miss in class from your fellow students.
Noise
Please turn off any pagers or cell phones during class.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism, invention of sources or information, and the borrowing of quotes without attribution will not be tolerated in this course, just as such activities are not tolerated in media careers. Please familiarize yourself with the Roosevelt University policy on plagiarism and academic dishonesty, which is attached to this syllabus. It is also available at: http://www.roosevelt.edu/plagiarism/default.htm.
Preparing your assignments
Your assignments should be typewritten, double-spaced, and proofread. You should write your reported project in either A.P. or Chicago Manual style (please specify which) and your paper in APA style. Please send me an electronic copy of your papers, in addition to the hard copy you turn in during class.
Grading
Paper 1: 20 %
Paper 2: 20%
Reported story: 20%
Weekly assignments: 15%
Major presentations: 10%
Discussion and attendance: 15%
Quality Point Values Assigned to Grades
A 4.00
A - 3.67
B+ 3.33
B 3.00
B- 2.67
C+ 2.33
C 2.00
C- 1.67
D+ 1.33
D 1.00
D- 0.67
F 0
Standards
A work is well-written and carefully structured, coherent, and contains original observations and arguments. A work contains few spelling and grammatical problems and makes use of standard source attribution
B work shows troubles in one of the above areas.
C work exhibits weaknesses in more than one of the above areas to an extent that the problems decrease the quality of the work overall.
D work shows problems in all of the above areas, or its difficulties in one or more areas are so considerable that they bring the overall quality of the written project down to below the average for students at this level.
F work either has grave problems in all areas listed above or does not satisfy the assignment.
Withdrawal
The last day to withdraw from the course with a grade of W is Monday, April 6.
Accommodation of students with disabilities
Students with disabilities or other conditions that require special accommodations should let me know or contact the Academic Success Center/Office of Disability Services at (312) 341-3810 as soon as possible.
Tentative Class Schedule (open to change depending on the availability of our visitors, etc.)
Week 1, January 30
Introduction to the class and to “The Fog of War.” Reading “Custer’s Last Stand”
Assignments: Group 1 Primary text scavenger hunt; Group 2 current media
Reading: for next week, read The First Casualty, preface and Chapters 1 and 2
Week 2, February 6
The Beginning of the War Correspondent and War Photojournalism:
The Crimean War and the U.S. Civil War
Assignments: Group 2 Primary text scavenger hunt; Group 1 current media
Begin story research and bring in your lead next week
Choose your first book
Reading: for next week, read The First Casualty, chapters 3 and 4
Week 3, February 13
The “Golden Age” and the Boer War
Due: Your leads
Title of book for first analytical paper
Assignments: Group 1 Primary text scavenger hunt; Group 2 current media
Reading: for next week, read The First Casualty, chapters 5 and 6
Week 4, February 20
World War I
Assignments: Group 1 Primary text scavenger hunt; Group 2 current media
Your proposal for your reported story is due next week
Reading: for next week, read The First Casualty, chapters 7 and 8
Week 5, February 27
The Russian Revolution and the Second Italo–Abyssinian War
Due: Your proposal for your reported story
Assignments: Group 2 Primary text scavenger hunt; Group 1 current media
An outline of your reported story is due next week
Reading: for next week, read The First Casualty, chapters 9 and 10
Week 6, March 6
The Spanish Civil War and the beginning of World War II
Due: Outline of your reported story
Assignments: Paper #1 is due next week
Reading: for next week, read The First Casualty, chapters 11 and 12
Week 7, March 13
World War II
Brief Presentations from your papers
Due: Paper #1
Assignments: Group 1 Primary text scavenger hunt; Group 2 current media
A summary of your discoveries for the reported story is due next meeting (March 27).
Reading: for March 27, read The First Casualty, chapters 13 and 14
March 20 Spring Break! No Class
Week 8, March 27
World War II and the Korean War
Due: Summary of discoveries
Assignments: Group 2 Primary text scavenger hunt; Group 1 current media
Bring the title of the second book for your final paper next week
Any revisions of your first papers are due next week
Reading: for next week, read The First Casualty chapters 15 and 16
And, in the Pulitzer Prizes, read: 2004 winner in investigative reporting Michael D. Sallah, Mitch Weiss and Joe Mahr of The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
Week 9, April 3
The Algerian War and Vietnam
Due: title of second book for final paper
Revision of paper 1 (optional)
Assignments: Group 1 Primary text scavenger hunt; Group 2 current media
The lead paragraph to your reported article is due next week
Reading: for next week, read The First Casualty, chapters 17 and 18
And in the Pulitzer Prizes, read: 2003 winner in national reporting: Alan Miller and Kevin Sack of Los Angeles Times
Week 10, April 10
Vietnam and the Falklands Crisis
Due: The lead paragraph to your reported article
Assignments: Your reported article is due next week
Reading: for next week, read The First Casualty, chapters 19 and 20
Week 11 April 17
The Gulf War and the Balkans
Due: Your reported article
Assignments: Your second paper is due next week
Reading: for next week, read The First Casualty, chapter 21.
And, in the Pulitzer prizes, read:
the 2008 winner in Public Service, The Washington Post
the 2008 winner in International Reporting, The Washington Post
In The New Yorker, read:
Seymour Hersh, “Torture at Abu Ghraib” (http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/05/10/040510fa_fact)
Jane Mayer, “The Black Sites,” (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/13/070813fa_fact_mayer)
Jane Mayer, “The Memo” (http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/02/27/060227fa_fact)
Week 12, April 24
The Iraq War and Occupation
Presentations
Due: Your second paper
Assignments: Group 2 Primary text scavenger hunt; Group 1 current media
Week 13, May 1
Presentations
For next week: your revision of your reported story and any revisions of your papers are due next week.
Week 14, May 8
Presentations
Due: your revision of your reported story and any revisions of your papers
Bio:
Anne-Marie Cusac, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, is. a George Polk Award-winning journalist. For ten years, she was an editor and investigative reporter for The Progressive magazine. Cusac won the George Polk Award for her article “Stunning Technology,” an investigation of the use of the stun belt in U.S. prisons. She has won the Project Censored Award three times—in 1997, for “Shock Value: U.S. Stun Devices Pose Human-Rights Risk,” in 1998, for “Nuclear Spoons: Hot Metal May Find its Way to Your Dinner Table,” and again in 2003 for “Brazen Bosses.” She has also been recognized with a second-place John Bartlow Martin Award, and a 2002 Milwaukee Press Club Award for magazine reporting.
Cusac is also the author The Mean Days, a book of poems published by Tia Chucha Press in 2001. A second book of poems, entitled Silkie, was published by Many Mountains Moving Press in 2007.
Cusac’s Cruel and Unusual: Punishment in America, is forthcoming from Yale University Press in March 2009.
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Roosevelt University
Chicago 430 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605
Schaumburg
1400 N. Roosevelt Blvd, Schaumburg, IL 60173 |
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