George W. Bush

 Materials and Instructions for Presentations and Papers

Presentations:  Please choose one of the topics below for both your presentation and your final paper.  Your presentation should be designed to demonstrate that you have researched the topic sufficiently to lead an informative discussion.  You may use PowerPoint slides, take the class on a tour of useful websites, or utilize other multimedia tools, but you are not required to incoporate any technology into your talk.  Your main objective should be to show that you have learned enough about the topic to ask and answer significant questions about it.  We will work out a schedule so that students working on the same topic can make their presentations during the same class session.   Please be prepared to submit a polished thesis statement, along with citation information for at least one additional source, on the date assigned for your presentation.

Papers:  Using the research that you conducted for your presentation, you must write a five-page summary and analysis of your chosen topic.  (See note below on creating a web page.) The hyperlinks included below will take you to various newspaper and magazine articles, but you must also find at least one additional article on your topic and include information from that source.  You can select the additional article from the UMASS library archives or from somewhere else on the Internet, but you must provide working hyperlinks to all of the materials that you use.

Since you will not be able to cover all aspects of these complicated stories in such a brief essay, you should first summarize the main events or most significant dimensions and then either comment on the way the story was handled in the press or analyze a specific media-related aspect of the topic.  Be sure to include names, dates, and other concrete details throughout your essay.  In commenting on media coverage or historical developments, always cite specific examples and support your conclusions with solid evidence.  Do not assume any knowledge of the story on the part of your reader.  Also, remember to use the past tense to describe past events.

Note on Web Pages: If you possess sufficient technical skills, you may create a web site in lieu of writing a summary and analysis, but the site must include enough text to convey salient developments and details.  Although you may use visual evidence and, consequently, include less text, all of the text included in your web site must conform to the rules of college-level prose.  If you choose to make a web site, please send me the URL by 11/26.  Your web site does not have to be  finished by then, but it should contain enough material so that I can specifically advise you on what you need to add in order to submit a complete and polished draft  on12/3.

In either case, you must consult the Term Paper Checklist to avoid common writing mistakes.  The best way to maximize the quality of your first draft is to write the text, put it away for a few days, then proofread and revise it to make sure that every sentence is as accurate as possible. This process may seem too demanding to some students, but you will never know how well you can write until you review a revised version of your own work. 

In early December, I will schedule brief meetings with individual students to review first drafts.  By that time, every student should have already written a complete first draft, not merely an outline or a series of notes.  If you do not have a complete first draft ready by that time, I will not be able to help you, and you will probably end up with a much lower grade.

Do not plagiarize!  If you copy from sources or try to pass off anyone else's work as your own, you will receive an "F" for the course.

A Note on Grades: If you hope to earn a higher grade than the one you received on the midterm, regular attendance, active class participation, and significant improvement of your writing skills are essential.  If you fall short in any of these areas, do not expect to receive a better grade.

Review of Course Themes and Topics

Please keep these issues in mind as you prepare your presentation and write your final paper.

In our review of the historical evolution of news reporting in the United States, the inter-related issues of technological innovation and the pressure to scoop the competition stood out as constant themes.  During the twentieth century, the newspaper industry was forced to respond to the emergence of radio and television news broadcasting, then cable-news programming, and, most recently, the advent of the Internet as an increasingly central medium of news reporting.  Since these modes of transmission moved the news more quickly to more people, print journalists were obliged to take a more creative and investigative approach, develop more extensive networks of contacts, and find other ways to get important stories first. 

Over the past few years, as decreases in readership and advertising have fueled a general decline of the newspaper industry, many people have begun to wonder if paper-based journalism might soon be entirely overwhelmed by other sources of news.  At the same time, thanks in part to the increasing ability of bloggers to uncover errors and falsehoods, the image of mainstream journalism has been battered by a series of scandals revolving around inaccurate or, in some cases, deliberately fabricated news stories.

Despite the many problems apparent in American journalism, we do not have to give way to the cynical assumption that we can't believe anything we read.  Instead, through careful analysis, we can decipher good information from bad information.  Moreover, the decentralized and interactive nature of the Internet has provided readers, not only with new ways to check facts, but also with new means to make their critical responses known throughout the world.

Along these lines, the lesson that you can take away from this course is that our capacity to gain an accurate understanding of current events, like our ability to write well, depends on our willingness to investigate and evaluate information.  As evidenced in many of the articles included in the course materials, inaccuracies, half-truths, and misleading statements usually betray their own lack of integrity in vague terminology, illogical constructions, unjustified assumptions, unsupported statements, and unnecessary abstractions.  This lack of integrity can usually be uncovered irrespective of the mode of delivery, that is, the same methods may may be used to evaluate a news story, an academic article, a radio broadcast, a press release, or a web site.  In short, while many lies do not stink to high heaven, most can be sniffed out to some extent. 

Even though there is no sure-fire formula for detecting misinformation, we can ask specific questions in order to determine whether we are being misled.  For example,

  1. Does the writer specifically describe her sources?

  2. Does the writer provide any independent confirmation of his assertions?

  3. Does the writer provide a logical, detailed, and concrete reconstruction of developments and events?

  4. Does the writer provide complete answers to all questions raised or explain why certain questions remain unanswered?

  5. Is all of the information included relevant to the topic at hand?

  6. Does the writer properly attribute actions taken, that is, explain who did what?

You do not have to read all of the stories included below as if you were a private detective.  However, no matter which topic you choose, you must illustrate your ability to convey accurately all of the major details that are relevant to the story.  Moreover, you must construct an analysis that does not go beyond the facts included in your essay.  For example, if you choose to write about Dan Rather's misreporting on George W. Bush's record of military service, you must be careful not to confuse the problematic aspects of the story with what is or is not known about Bush's record of attendance during his tenure with the Texas Air National Guard.  Likewise, if you choose to write an essay criticizing New York Times reporting on Steven Hatfill, you must separate what is or is not known about Hatfill from your evaluation of the journalistic standards adopted in the paper's approach to the case.

Also, if you assume a more formal tone, rather than writing as if you were engaged in casual conversation, you will probably find it easier to focus on the facts of each story.  Taking this approach usually reminds students that it is crucial to demonstrate a firm grasp of the facts of any matter before offering an opinion about it, and since the purpose of this assignment is to show that you can draw logical conclusions from concrete evidence, avoiding a "talk radio" or an otherwise opinionated tone usually works best.

I have included a suggested thesis statement below each topic.  You are not required to use any of these thesis statements, but please feel free to do so if you find it helpful.  Please note that this paragraph is the only part of your paper that may be copied.  You may also revise any of the thesis statements if doing so helps you to convey your argument more clearly.  In any case, please keep in mind that term papers should always begin with an opening paragraph that describes the main topic as specifically as possible and also outlines the strategy that will be used to address that topic.

Choose one of the following stories or topics:

 1. New York Times Reporting on Stephen Hatfill

Tips:  A good way to approach this topic would be to start by describing the still somewhat mysterious anthrax attacks that occurred soon after September 11, 2001.  Then, discuss some of the unsupported statements and incomplete comments made about Stephen Hatfill in various New York Times columns and news stories.  After describing several examples, specifically explain the problems involved in this kind of media coverage.  Paying particular attention to the inclusion of irrelevant information in various Times pieces would be especially useful in this case.  Also, be sure to explain what was known or not known about Hatfill when the articles were originally published.   While you do not have to include much information about the scientist who was ultimately identified as the perpretator of the crime, you should indicate your knowledge of the outcome of the case.   Finally, do your best to explain why journalists might be inclined to engage in the tactics adopted by the Times in reporting on Hatfill in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.

Suggested thesis statement:

In May 2002, New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof began a series of columns on an unnamed suspect in a series of anthrax attacks that occurred during the weeks following September 11, 2001.  In August 2002, Kristof acknowledged that he had been writing about Stephen Hatfill, a former army scientist.  While Kristof was careful to note that Hatfill should be presumed innocent, an examination of his columns shows that he relied on innuendo to paint the scientist as the guilty party.  By summarizing relevant columns and news articles, this essay will detail the tactics that Kristof used to imply that Hatfill was guilty despite the lack of evidence linking him to the crimes.

   2. The Downfall of Dan Rather

Tips: A good way to approach this topic would be to start by summarizing the original reports on gaps in George W. Bush's military service, then turn to the controversy over the documents that Rather drew from in his CBS News report.  Be sure to distinguish between doubts raised about the authenticity of the documents and doubts raised about Bush's fulfillment of his duties.  Also, be sure to indicate where the story came from in the first place: one of the interesting aspects of this drama is that the story originated in the Boston Globe, which made misjudgments similar to those of Rather's news team.  However, the Globe's major role in providing support for Rather's conclusions received hardly any attention in the press.  In your analysis, do your best to account for this fact.

Suggested thesis statement:

On September 8, 2004, CBS news anchor Dan Rather aired a report on apparent gaps in presidential candidate George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.  In order to portray these gaps as evidence that Bush had received preferential treatment, Rather relied on memos that had allegedly been written by Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian, one of Bush's superiors during the early 1970's.  Immediately after Rather's report, bloggers across the Internet began to raise doubts about the authenticity of these memos.  By describing how the bloggers' suspicions eventually led to Rather's downfall, this essay will show that the scandal revolved, not around the actual facts of Bush's service, but around the methods that CBS used to gather and present documentary evidence.

   3. Looking Back at Stephen Glass

Tips:  A good way to approach this topic would be first to summarize the original exposure of Glass's fabrications by Forbes Digital Tool, then describe the New Republic's response, and then provide a few examples of Glass's suspiciously direct observations of scenes and events that he could not have witnessed.  After explaining why these observations could never stand up as honest reporting, reflect on the factors that allowed Glass to get away with so many lies for so long.

Suggested thesis statement:

In May 1998, Forbes Digital Tool uncovered elaborate fabrications in "Hack Heaven," an article by twenty-five-year-old journalist Stephen Glass that appeared in the May 18 issue of the New Republic.  Although New Republic editors were reportedly shocked by Glass's false stories, an examination of a few of his articles shows that his lies could have been exposed if anyone had bothered to fact-check his work.  More specifically, since Glass consistently employed the "you-are-there" techniques that characterize narrative journalism, even a cursory review of his reporting would have indicated that he had routinely provided eye-witness accounts of events that he could not have seen.

   4 Blame It on the Blogs: American Journalism Gets Caught in the Web

Tips: A good way to approach this topic would be first to read Eric Alterman's survey of the decline of the newspaper industry in the digital age, then read the rest of the linked materials in order to determine which aspect of this decline you would like to feature most prominently in your essay.  Rather than drawing general conclusions about whether the Internet is good or bad for news reporting, try to be more specific about the historical, cultural, political and/or economic consequences of digital communications in news gathering.  Keep in mind that this topic lends itself more to a summary of recent developments in the newspaper industry than to a critique of any particular journalist or news outlet.  Consequently, your main challenge in dealing with this topic will be to choose which aspects of the digital transformation of the news business you would like to focus on in your paper.

Suggested thesis statement:

In "Out of Print: The Death and Life of the American Newspaper," Eric Alterman provides a comprehensive survey of the factors at work in the current decline of the traditional newspaper industry.  Among many other aspects of this decline, Alterman cites the rise of news blogs as an especially important force in dragging conventional newspapers down to their currently low position.  By assuming a more or less permanent opposition between print media and web-based reporting, Alterman neglects the possibility that this conflict could be resolved to the benefit of both.  This essay will summarize Alterman's observations in order to show that the trends that he describes could lead, not to the demise, but to the restoration of American journalism.
   5.  Misreporting on Rescue of Jessica Lynch

Tips: Pay close attention to what might be described as the "production values" evident in this story, that is, the unlikely physical details exhibited in the initial coverage such as the fact that Lynch was literally wrapped in the flag during her rescue.  Also, be sure to note the contrast between the patriotic tone of the early reports, when the Pentagon still had some control over the story and the skeptical attitude that many reporters assumed later.  Keeping this contrast in mind, do your best to explain why so many reporters exaggerated and over-dramatized the original story.  Note: In order to provide a complete summary, you must refer to Lynch's own remarks on her ordeal.

Suggested thesis statement:
On April Fool's Day in 2003, American news outlets broke the story of the dramatic rescue of a captured American soldier behind enemy lines.  In their initial reports, news outlets such as the New York Times and Washington Post cited anonymous military sources who said that the soldier, Pfc. Jessica Lynch, had been shot and/or stabbed one or more times in a valiant struggle against her Iraqi captors, and that she had been rescued in a firefight at an Iraqi hospital.  Over the next several weeks, the original story began to crumble.  However, the American press did not begin to issue any comprehensive corrections until after the BBC had exposed numerous flaws.  By examining the early reports, this essay will show that the initial coverage contained many red flags that should have led editors to look more closely at major details before they allowed these articles to be published.

 6. Choose your own topic

Instructions: If you choose this option, you may select as your subject any of the major stories that we read during the semester, or you may choose a story on your own even if it was not covered in the class.  In either case, you must e-mail me your thesis statement, along with hyperlinks to multiple sources, on 11/24.  If you are using materials that you found independently on the Internet, you must include working hyperlinks to these materials in your e-mail.  Please keep in mind that your assignment is not to analyze the story itself, but to evaluate how the story was covered by the media.  Also, if the significance of the story seems doubtful, you must explain why it is relevant to issues related to media and politics. 

Tips: Include as much specific information as possible; provide dates of incidents and events; place series of developments in chronological order; use structural language to place developments in time. It might be useful to approach the story if it were a detailed list of events. However, avoid using the language and structure of graphical timelines. In other words, do not write in clipped sentences; avoid one-sentence paragraphs; and always use the past tense to describe past events.

Additional topics:

"The Greatest Social Drama of Modern Times": The Beecher-Tilton Scandal 

The Kidnapping of Patricia Hearst

Election 2000

The 'Miller Mess' at the New York Times

FINAL DRAFT OF FINAL PAPER DUE VIA E-MAIL ON 12/15

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