Professor Wattier's POL344 Course Syllabus

Professor Wattier's JMC/POL 344 Course Syllabus

Department: Government, Law, and International Affairs

Course Number: POL/JMC 344 Credit Hours: 3 Semester: Spring 2008

I. Title: Press and Politics

II. Instructor: Mark J. Wattier

Office: FH-5A-9

Telephone: 270-809-2695 (office) or 270-217-4734 (cell)

E-mail: Mark.Wattier@MurrayState.Edu

Office hours:

9:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. Tu-Th
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. W
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. W
by appointment on other weekdays

III. Class location and meeting times: 2:00 - 3:15, FH-509 Tu-Th

IV. Catalog description: The role of newspapers, television and radio in the American national political process.

V. Purpose: POL 344 is a course on the politics of newsmaking in America. Its purpose is to help citizens understand the politics of newsmaking.

VI. Course objectives: This course has several specific learning objectives.

To provide you knowledge of the basic aspects of the newsmaking process in America;
To provide you knowledge of how politicians and newsmakers cooperate and compete with one another to make political news;
To provide you knowledge of the consequences of the newsmaking process for other democratic processes;
To provide you skills with which to analyze the news and the newsmakers.

VII. Course outline

1/15: Course Introduction

1/15 & 17: All the President's Men (film)

Please visit the following Watergate sites:

Watergate: Washington Post's 25th Anniversary

Movie Review: All the President's Men

Deep Throat Revealed

Walter Cronkite, The Watergate Affair, Part 1 and The Watergate Affair, Part 2

Wikipedia: Watergate Scandal

I. The Newsmaking Process (1/22 & 24)

Read: Lippmann, Public Opinion, chaps. 1, 23, & 24

Chap 1: "The World Outside and the Pictures in Our Heads" [PDF]

Chap 23: "The Nature of News" [PDF]

Chap 24: "News, Truth, and a Conclusion" [PDF]

Suggested Readings:

Blue Smoke and Mears [HTML]

Evaluation of Edison/Mitofsky Election System 2004 [PDF]

The Great Expectations game. U.S. News & World Report, January 17, 2000, 20-21.

Visit:

Commission on Presidential Debates

The Bush-Kerry Debate Memo 2004[pdf]and the Debate Rules 2004 image [pdf]

Debating Our Destiny for a PBS documentary on 40 years of presidential debates

Online NewsHour: Debate Lessons, September 28 2004 based, in part, on material from Debating Our Destiny

Cartoon on Al Gore's "verbal" and "nonverbal" body language in the first 2000 presidential debate

American Experience: Seabiscuit includes the match race with War Admiral. Listen to the call of the race at Races on the Radio.

Laura Hillenbrand, Seabiscuit: An American Legend the book on which the movie is based. Visit this Seabiscuit site for an overview authored by Hillenbrand.

Seabiscuit, the official movie web page.

Howard Kurtz's Ad Watch and The Living Room Candidate (campaign ads online) and Ad Wars 2004 (Ad buys in 2004) and Willie Horton ad (also on Living Room Candidate, 1988) by an independent Republican group and CMAG, the Campaign Media Analysis Group.

The Theodore H. White Lecture sponsored by The Joan Shorenstein Center, Harvard University

Kentucky Derby

2004 MSNBC Newsweek Front Page for the election special

Frontline: Choice 2004 provides political biographies of Democratic and Republican presidential candidates (full program online)

Mitofsky International for the "Father of Exit Polling"

Exit Polls for the U. S. House of Representatives, 1982 - 2006

XI. Citizens and the News (5/15 & 17)

Read: Bennett, "Citizens and the News," chap. 3

5/22 & 24: Making the Message (Documentary)

XII. The Future of Citizen Information(5/29)

Read: Bennett, "All the News That Fits Democracy," chap. 8

XIII. Crisis News Coverage (5/1)

Read: Graber's stages of crisis news coverage (handout)

Visit:

History Channel: Four Days in November

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (Dallas, TX)

The Zapruder Film--wikipedia.org

Image of an Assassination: A New Look at the Zapruder Film

PBS Online NewsHour: Zapruder Film, July14, 1998

ABC News Presents The Kennedy Assassination--Beyond Conspiracy

5/1: Book Report Due

5/7: Third Examination (Units IX - XIII, starting at 1:30 p.m.)

VIII. Instructional activities: We shall study press and politics in multiple ways, including but not limited to lectures, class discussions, reports, assigned readings, films, and web sites.

IX. Field and clinical experiences: None.

X. Resources: Course resources include an instructor with over twenty years experience, excellent reading and viewing materials, and students ready, willing, and able to have fun while learning.

XI. Grading procedures: The course grade is based on the following point system--

Class Attendance 30 points
First Examination 100 points
Second Examination 100 points
Third Examination 200 points
Book Report 100 points

The grading scale is--

476 to 530 points is an A
423 to 475 points is a B
370 to 422 points is a C
317 to 369 points is a D
000 to 316 points is an E

Examinations:

This course has three in-class, essay examinations. Each examination will cover only the assigned reading and lecture material for each unit of the course. In other words, the tests are not comprehensive, although each test will cover its unit comprehensively. Each examination will have three major sections: (1) concept identification, (2) conceptual distinctions, and (3) an analytical essay. In short, these are answer-creation examinations, not answer-recognition examinations; I fundamentally agree with Wayne C. Johnson, Vice President for Wordlwide University Relations at Hewlett-Packard, who opined, "This isn't a multiple-choice world." The first and second examinations are each worth 100 points; the third examination, because it covers more material, is worth 200 points.

Make-up examinations:

Each student is expected to take examinations on the scheduled day. If an examination is not taken on the scheduled day, a make-up examination will be scheduled on another date. If both opportunities to take an examination are missed, a score of 0 (zero) will be assigned.

Book Report

A book report that summarizes the key arguments presented by McCombs in Setting the Agenda is due Thursday, May 1, in class. The department has adopted the Style Manual for Political Science for formal papers, effective Fall 2005. It, therefore, is highly recommended that all political science majors and minors use this style manual for their book reports. The paper should be your own work (see Statement on Plagiarism) and be well written (see The Write Stuff). Late papers will be penalized 15 points each day they are late. The book report is worth 100 points.

Class participation

Impressive class participation as bonus points: Prior to each class read each assignment carefully and, to the best of your ability, be prepared to discuss the assignment in class. By class participation I mean both asking and answering questions grounded in each lecture topic. I sincerely welcome and wish to encourage your participation in class discussions. Class participation counts as bonus points; it can only help your grade. Class attendance is surely a necessary condition for class participation; however, class attendance without participation does not earn class participation credit. You may earn 5 points for each impressive act of class participation. An "impressive" act is one that demonstrates careful study of the assigned reading material. "Impressive, most impressive," young Skywalker!

XII. Attendance policy:

Students are expected to attend class. Students are expected to affix their signatures to a sign-in sheet. If you miss a class for a reason covered by MuSU's attendance policy (see 2007-2009 Undergraduate Bulletin, pp. 9-10), please write a note that clearly explains the absence on the next day's sign-in sheet. One point is earned for each day except some selected days could be worth as much as 5 points (e.g., post-examination class periods or pre-and-post spring break class periods). Attendance is worth a minimum of 30 points.

XIII. Textbook: The textbook is News: The Politics of Illusion (7e), by W. Lance Bennett. The book for the report is Setting the Agenda, by Maxwell McCombs. Other reading assignments will be available in PDF format.

XIV. Prerequisites: None.

XV. Academic Honesty policy: The Academic Honesty policy, as adopted by the Board of Regents, February 14, 1975, is incorporated into this syllabus (see 2007-2009 Undergraduate Bulletin, p. 9).

XVI. Students with Disabilities: Students with bona fide disabilities should inform me privately and appropriate arrangements will be made.

XVII. Cell Phones: Please turn off cell phones when class begins.