Topics in Journalism: Disruption, Truth, and the Future of News
WRCT 261
Spring 2012
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
CSPL 129 |
| Certificates: Writing |
This course explores how the Internet is at once a powerful tool and a disruptive force for American journalism. How has the Web transformed the ethic of objective news and the idea of the reporter as an honest broker? How did other historical upheavals in technology and distribution of mass information change the mission of journalists? What will future media institutions look like, and what are the implications for the civic conversation? We will consider these questions with case studies of the present and past, including the rise of the penny press and yellow journalism in the 19th century, the underground antiwar newspapers of the 1960s and cable TV news in the 1990s. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Interpretation, Writing |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Course readings will include:
Walter Lippman, PUBLIC OPINION (Wilder 2010)
Michael Schudson, DISCOVERING THE NEWS: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS (Basic Books 1978)
Ida B. Wells, CRUSADE FOR JUSTICE: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF IDA B. WELLS (University of Chicago 1970)
Eugene Roberts & Hank Klibanoff, THE RACE BEAT: THE PRESS, THE CIVIL RIGHTS STRUGGLE AND THE AWAKENING OF A NATION (Vintage 2007)
John McMilian, SMOKING TYPEWRITERS: THE SIXTIES UNDERGROUND PRESS AND THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE MEDIA IN AMERICA (Oxford Univ. 2011)
David Folkenflik, ed., PAGE ONE: INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES AND THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM (Public Affairs 2011)
Elliot King, ed., FREE FOR ALL: THE INTERNET'S TRANSFORMATION OF JOURNALISM (Northwestern Univ. 2010)
Tom Rachman, THE IMPERFECTIONIST (Dial Press 2011)
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Examinations and Assignments:
Assignments will include short weekly response essays, one short paper, and one research project. The long project may be written in a journalistic format. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
To apply, students should submit a statement explaining why they are interested in the course. Please send your statement by email to Prof. A. Greene (agreene@wesleyan.edu), who is not teaching the course but is handling POI arrangements. Deadline for applications: November 4, 2011 at 5pm.
Prof. Roberts will arrive on campus in the Spring 2012. |
| Instructor(s): Roberts,Lawrence P. Times: .M..... 01:10PM-04:00PM; Location: ALLB113; |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 12 | Permission of instructor approval will be granted by the instructor during pre-registration through the Electronic Portfolio. Click "Add to My Courses" and "To request a POI electronically, click here" to submit your request. |
| Web Resources: Syllabus |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 4 | 1st Ranked: 1 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 3 |
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