Blog post (from readings) #17 (Due Monday, April 22): "Big Bird Flies Right" (PBS); "Introduction," Television and the Performing Arts, by Brian G. Rose. Post thoughts or questions about the reading to the class blog for discussion. What struck you as interesting? What did you learn that you think you might remember five years from now?

Blog post (from readings) #16 (Due Monday, April 15): Davies, Maire Messenger and Pearson, Roberta. “Star Trek - Network to Syndication;” Erickson, Hal. “Syndication in a 150-Year Nutshell.”  Post thoughts or questions about the reading to the class blog for discussion. What struck you as interesting? What did you learn that you think you might remember five years from now?

Blog post (from readings) #15: (Due Monday, April 8) Ch. 16 and 19 in The Master Switch. Post thoughts or questions about the reading to the class blog for discussion. What struck you as interesting? What did you learn that you think you might remember five years from now?

Blog post (from readings) #14: (Due Monday, April 1) Wu, Tim. Ch. 10 and 13 in The Master Switch. Post thoughts or questions about the reading to the class blog for discussion. What struck you as interesting? What did you learn that you think you might remember five years from now?

Graded writing assignment # 2 (Due Tuesday, April 2): Read and report on a book covering more than a decade in broadcasting history. (350-500 words; 4-5 secondary sources. Wikipedia and IMDB don’t count here.)

Blog post (from readings) #13: (Due Monday, March 11)
Leeman, Nicholas. “The Murrow Doctrine;” Campbell, W. Joseph. “Murrow vs. McCarthy: Timing Makes The Myth” and “Debunking the ‘Cronkite Moment. ” Post thoughts or questions about the reading to the class blog for discussion. What struck you as interesting? What did you learn that you think you might remember five years from now?

Blog post (from research) #12: (Due Monday, March 11)
There will be two or three boxes of organized HKS letters in the Maryland Room on the first floor of Hornbake Library held in reserve, starting Monday, March 4. 

You will need to get over to the Maryland Room, pick a file or two from these boxes, and search for a letter that interests you and that you think lends itself to further research.   

Find out some more about the issues addressed in the letter, the actual broadcast, and some kind of background. (250-350 words; 4-5 secondary sources).  

Please note that I am looking for more sophisticated work with each of these small assignments, especially evidence of deeper search for sources.

Blog post (from readings) #11: (Due Monday, March 4) 
Douglas, Susan J. "WWII & the Invention of Broadcast Journalism." Post thoughts or questions about the reading to the class blog for discussion. What struck you as interesting? What did you learn that you think you might remember five years from now?

Blog post (from readings) #10: (Due Monday, Feb 25)
Ch. 6 and 8 in The Master Switch. Post thoughts or questions about the reading to the class blog for discussion. What struck you as interesting? What did you learn that you think you might remember five years from now?

Blog post (from readings) #9: (Due Monday, Feb 18)
Ch. 5 in The Master Switch; excerpt from Sunday Nights at Seven: The Jack Benny Story.  Post thoughts or questions about the reading to the class blog for discussion. What struck you as interesting? What did you learn that you think you might remember five years from now?

Blog post (from research) #8: (Due Monday, Feb 18)
Choose a single folder from the vertical files from Special Collections in Mass Media & Culture – station files, subject files, transcripts, pamphlets. Whatever you pick, summarize it briefly (describe the contents of the folder), then do some research and try to give the subject some historical context  (250-350 words; 2-3 secondary sources).

Blog post (from readings) #7: (Due Monday, February 11) 
Ch. 2 and 4 in The Master Switch; Campbell, W. Joseph. “Fright Beyond Measure? The Myth of The War of the Worlds.” These should be posted to ELMS; if not, they will be sent via email. Post thoughts or questions about the reading to the class blog for discussion. What struck you as interesting? What did you learn that you think you might remember five years from now?

Blog post (from research) #6: (Due Monday, February 11)
Pick the photo file of a particular person in the Mass Media & Culture collection (someone you’ve read about or just a name at random), explore the contents (sometimes more than photos), do some research and write about that person or the event depicted. Be sure you’ve picked an interesting photo and describe it well. (250-350 words; 2-3 secondary sources. Include a copy of one of the photos.)

In today's class, we're finishing the documentary Empire of the Air. If you'd like to comment on the documentary during class, please feel free to do so here. I will be interested to read your comments.

SPRING SEMESTER 2013

Blog post (from readings) #5: Due Monday, February 4.
Hilmes, Michele. “Print Formats Come to Broadcasting;” Kompare, Derek. “Live vs. Recorded on Radio.”  These should be posted to ELMS; if not, they will be sent via email.

Post thoughts or questions about the reading to the class blog for discussion. What struck you as interesting? What did you learn that you think you might remember five years from now?

SPRING SEMESTER 2013

Blog post (from research) #4: Due Monday, February 4.

Listen to some vintage radio programs (find one online – see list at back of syllabus). 

Describe what you heard: not the story but the sound quality, the language, the voices, the format of the show. What intrigued you? What drove you nuts? 

Do some quick research and write about one in particular, or compare and contrast two of the same genre. (Approx. 250 words; 2-3 secondary sources). Wikipedia and IMDB are okay in this instance, but it's good to look beyond those references, too.

You can note the secondary sources used in your research by embedding the link as above. If you can't make that work or if you use an offline source you can cite it this way [1] at the end of your posting.

[1] http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/primary2.html

OR

[1] Dunning, John. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio

SPRING SEMESTER 2013

Tuesday, January 29 (Knight Hall)
We'll be watching a documentary by Ken Burns, Empire of the Air (Part 1), based on the book of the same name. This gets us through a lot of early history every quickly.

I know it can be difficult to sit in a darkened room for 40 minutes and not feel sleepy, but please do your best. If you have a laptop or other device and you want to bring it, you can blog about the documentary here. In other semesters, students have also used their computers to look up some of the individuals named in the documentary online, Wikipedia or elsewhere. Couldn't hurt.

If you do blog while we're watching, you might note the aspects of the documentary that strike you as important. You might also critique the documentary itself. What do you thing of Burns efforts to bring still photographs and old documents to live? What about his use of old film footage or music? 

SPRING SEMESTER 2013

Blog post (from research) #3: Find a television program from before 1990 online (see list of suggested web sites on your syllabus), watch an episode, and think about it. Describe what you saw. What's different from the kinds of shows you watch today? Write a short paragraph (or two) about what kinds of research questions you think you could pursue.

Don't, however, give me a plot summary.  These short writing assignments are intended to demonstrate your powers of observation as well as your powers of description.

ALSO: Note where you found the program. Make it a hyperlink in your text. It's pretty easy.

SPRING SEMESTER 2013

Blog post (from readings) #2: Wu, Tim. Introduction and Ch. 1 in The Master Switch. Post thoughts or questions about the reading to the class blog for discussion. What struck you as interesting? What did you learn that you think you might remember five years from now?

SPRING SEMESTER 2013

Blog post (from readings) #1: Before class begins, read excerpt from The Telephone Gambit. Does this reading give you a feeling of what historical research can do and how it can be useful to a journalist? What did you think of what you read?