Presentations:  Please choose one of the topics below for both your presentation and your final paper, then let me know which topic you have selected when you submit your midterm exam on Monday, March 18 so that we can formulate a presentation schedule together in class on Tuesday, March 19.

We will devote some or all of the class sessions between April 2 and April 30 to presentations.  However, I will set aside as much time as possible to discuss various aspects of writing about the media, in part by using the presentations as a starting point for providing tips on maximizing the accuracy and clarity of your own work.

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 incorporate 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 the schedule so that students working on the same topic can make their presentations during the same class session.  

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 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 3/25.  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 first draft  on 4/23.

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. 

Note: If you do not submit a complete and polished first draft on 4/23, I will not be able to help you with revisions, 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 the 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 clearly, 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:

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 perpetrator 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.