Discussion_Questions_Kang_Miller

1. Do you feel like Reddit should be blamed for for the Sunil Tripathi debacle, or is it the fault of journalists who took the information and ran with it without fact checking?

2. Dylan Byers, a reporter at Politico, said "When I tweet that CNN is reporting that authorities have someone in custody and then 10 minutes later tweet that NBC is tweeting that nobody was in custody, I'm not saying one is right and the other is wrong. Instead I'm using Twitter as a tool to get out what information is out there and tracing it back to the source." Do you think this is an acceptable approach?

3. Should Reddit change the way in which it disperses it's information to the public?

4. Had the original post about the similarities between Tsarnaev and Tripathi occurred on facebook, twitter, or any other social media site, would the reaction have been different, and how?

Discussion Questions_Chozick_Mogck

Discussion on "Jimmy Wales Is Not an Internet Billionaire"

1. Imagine yourself as an Internet entrepreneur. You have a great idea for a website, but now you have to put it into production. What would your goals for the website be, in order to make it the most successful? What are some potential difficulties you might encounter? Would you have to sacrifice any traits you would like to see the website have in order to allow for others? 

2. Now picture Jimmy Wales, a world-famous Internet entrepreneur and the co-founder of Wikipedia. He had an idea for a website and put it into action, but it didn't turn out to be what he originally thought it would. What were some goals that Wales failed to accomplish? Why do you think he wasn't able to accomplish these goals? If you were in his position, what would you have done differently?

3. The article talks a great deal about Wales' day to day life. It is mentioned that Wales frequently associates himself with powerful and famous people and often calls his wife "the most connected woman in London." Do you think Wales' lifestyle and connections affect the way he runs Wikipedia? The Wikipedia community seems to think so. Do you think their concerns are well founded? 

4. Wales states that he believes Wikipedia is "more enduring and valuable to society than Facebook or Twitter." Do you agree with these sentiments? Is there a way that Wikipedia could be made to be more valuable if some changes were made? 

5. How do you use Wikipedia, if at all? Do you use it as a fact checker? A place to find reliable information? A place to start when researching? Would you say you find Wikipedia to be a valuable website to you?

Discussion_Questions_Anonymous_Johnson

Discussion Questions: How Luther Went Viral

1.     Martin Luther took advantage of pamphlets, ballads, and woodcuts to promote their message of religious reform throughout social networks. During the Arab Spring, Egyptians used Facebook to organize protests and spread awareness. In what ways do you think people today could utilize social media as a successful means of activism?

2.     Do you think because of social media, our generation holds more power?

3.     Why can social media be so effective in bringing about change?

                                               Examples:  It provides exposure to what’s wrong, reaches a wide audience, can reach important people, allows for debate and participation, can promote new ideas, uses information as a weapon, empowers the people, etc.

4.     The Catholic church banned Luther's pamphlets from being distributed, but they found ways around these restrictions so people could still access the information. If social media triggered a political movement today, do you think it would survive? Would government authority squash it, or is social media so big that it could withstand, like Luther’s movement did?

5.     Do you think social media alone can be enough to spark a movement, or are there other factors necessary to fuel an uprising?

6.     Other than the Arab Spring, can you think of any examples in modern society where social media has brought about a serious change, or where it could?

Discussion questions_Carey_Long

I plan to play a game of telephone in the start of the class, to portray the two types of communication. It will show that we are transmitting information to one another as well as show the ritual view of communication as the game itself drew our discussion together where we all share participation in a certain ceremony together. 

11.     What do you think John Dewey meant when he said “communication is wonderful”? What does James Carey think of this statement?

Answer: John Dewey thought that communication was wonderful because it helps nurture a society, creates social bonds among different people, and helps create this shared experience into something more meaningful. Upon his initial thought, James Carey thought that communication could not be wonderful because it is a mundane activity, when referring to conversations, providing knowledge, and giving instructions. However, once one looks deeper at communication, into how it maintains society throughout time, they will find communication to be much more wonderful.

22.     Do you think today’s social media gives wonder and awe to the “commonplace activity” of communication? If so, how?

33.     Do you agree with Carey when he states that newspapers are dramatically satisfying in how they are “presentations of reality that gives life an overall form, order, and tone”? How is this related to the recurring theme of providing what is in the best interest of the public versus what the public is interested in?

44.     How might we look at communication differently to “restore value in reshaping our common culture”, as Carey suggests?

Discussion_Questions_Lehman_Doss

1. After reading the article for the first time, were you surprised at the level of analysis and research behind a politician’s words?

2. How do you view influencing certain parties using certain words, e.g. females with “listening” and “children” or conservative parents with words like “coddle” (negative association) and “backbone” (positive association).  Is it disingenuous or is it just part of politics?

3. Do you think American Government would better serve the people if there wasn’t this whole PR focus?  (Obviously you can’t eliminate an issue like this, but imagine if it was greatly lessened.)  If everyone had the resources we have in front of us would politics be significantly different?

4. How is the rise of the 24-hr news cycle and social media affecting these linguistics?  Are they becoming more or less significant?

Discussion Questions_Nisbet_Trainor

Each student will be given a character. Students will be asked to give their character’s perspective regarding the following questions denoted with an asterisk:

*1. In the article there is a quote from MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow. She says that if she wants to boost her ratings she will highlight villainous behavior from Republicans because that’s what her audience expects. She also says that conservative talk shows do the same thing. How would your character react to this statement?

Example Response: (Parent) A parent may be concerned that news coverage constantly focuses on greed and overall bad behavior rather than highlighting charitable acts and compromise. 

*2. Both liberals and conservatives employ their ‘message machines’  “to mobilize their bases and demonize their opponents.” How have you or your character been affected by these ‘message machines?’

Personal Response: I had a friend who worked for the Obama campaign and slowly recruited a lot of our mutual friends to volunteer. She did this by inviting them to events held on campus that had celebrities and free food to attract people. At the events, the people who attended were informed of Obama’s policies. 

*3. Nisbet and Scheufele assert that the polarization of political parties has led the public to despise government. This has ultimately hurt liberals because their objectives involve big government. What is this type of polarization? Do you believe this assertion? Would your character believe differently?

4. Politicians are afraid to go against their party’s agenda for fear of being an outcast. This polarization between parties was evident with the budget crisis. What changes does American society have to make in order for politicians to feel secure in making compromises?

Discussion Questions_Goodman_Burnham

1) Keith Michael Hearit, a communications professor at Western Michigan University, said “BP could apologize every day. They could have a situation where the C.E.O. goes on an environmental pilgrimage and falls on his knees going up a mountain, and it wouldn’t do them any good. Until the oil stopped, there was nothing that could be done to make it better, but there was plenty that could be said to make it worse.”

In terms of the way that BP handled the coverage of the oil spill do you think the public opinion would have turned out any differently had they not made the PR mistakes they did, or was it completely dependent on the duration of the oil spill?

2) The article talks about how there is a constant battle between the lawyers and communication professionals when it comes to presenting a companies stance in a situation. Which side do you think is more successful in saving a company's reputation? Which side plays a more important role in the PR spectrum?

3) Going off this, it seems that both sides attempt to scam their audiences by presenting conclusions that aren't always completely truthful. Do you think one side offers a more accurate idea of the actual situation, or are both sides equally to blame for misleading the public?

4) In reality, everyone makes mistakes, including big corporations. Do you think that these big corporations such as BP and Toyota deserve the harsh scrutiny that the public puts them under when they make a mistake? 

5) Do you think that with today's social media obsessed culture, corporations are at more of a risk for PR scandals? Do you think that social media can also play a role in saving reputations of big corporations that would otherwise seem unapproachable?  

6) It seems that with the invention of 24 hour news, and social media rising in popularity, there will be far more PR scandals among large corporations. Do you think these PR scandals carry the same destructive impact of scandals from the past? Or are there simply far too many scandals for the public to be able to focus on specific ones and actually cause a dramatic impact? 

Discussion Questions_Maher_Mueller

Jill Maher "Race and Children's Television" Discussion Questions

1. The article discusses the amount of time children watch television by race/ethnic group. Why is so much attention being paid to how children are affected by advertising and what racial/ethnic group they come from?

2. Two different studies reported that Hispanics were used in less than 1 percent of advertisements as well as Hispanics and Asians are almost never used in advertisements without interaction with other characters. Why do you think advertisers have consciously or subconsciously done this?

3. In order to prevent stereotypes in advertising, what actions can be taken to provide a more balanced presentation of all ethnic/racial groups in commercials.

4. This article presented results from advertisements of different sample sizes, types of advertisements, and ethnic interactions. What research result do you find most important/shocking? Do you believe the similar results would be found if the research looked at print ads rather than TV ads? Do you believe kids are affected by print ads ever?

5. After reading this article, what do you believe should be done to make changes in advertising with respect to racial/ethnic groups in commercials? Who should be in change of monitoring this situation?

Discussion questions_Bernays_Kaplan

Daniel Kaplan - “Organized Chaos and The New Propagandists” Discussion Questions

1 With the rise of digital media and the internet, do you think the ways in which the “chaos” is organized has changed? How so? (ie people are organized more by WHAT TYPE of media they consume, old people listen to the radio young kids watch Netflix)

2 If we are all organized by these intersections of media and interests, are we really unique individuals? What makes us unique? Or is our perception of unique self a fallacy?

3 In the New Propagandists, Bernays gives us the example of the John Smith from Tulsa who thinks he is making a fashionable decision on a suit but in reality his decision was predetermined based on London designers and New York/Philadelphia/Los Angeles. Do you think that YOU personally choose your clothes based on your unique decisions or that your decisions are predetermined?

4 This article was written in 1928. Do you think the concept of invisible government and invisible tastemakers is still relevant? Who are these tastemakers today?

Discussion_Rushkoff_Reubish

Discussion questions for Advertising
1. Rushkoff claims that advertising is in an 'identity crisis', why do you think this is catching up with them now and what do you think are some of the most promising tactics they are using to try to re-invent the business?
2. Throughout time, advertising become a very calculated and scientific process. Do you think the psychological scientific outlook is still beneficial to them today or should they resort back to a more simplistic form of advertising?
3. Chapter 5 talks about the cynical approach that the public have on advertisements today, do you think that you personally have a cynical approach when viewing ads? Why or why not?
4. Towards the end of the chapter, Rushkoff talks a lot about the newer, alternative ways different companies have been trying to reach this inconsistent, unidentifiable up and coming generation. One way he describes is using a sort of reverse psychology. Do you think reverse psychology is still relevant today or has our generation become too aware/skeptical and able to read through that as well?

Discussion questions_Rheingold_Wedge

1. In the first paragraph Rheingold mentions how easy it is to search something on a search engine and having the answer within seconds. He goes on to state that detecting "crap" is now more important than ever. Do you believe this is true and if so, then how?
2. Has the Internet became useless as a reliable source already or can it still be a reliable source like Rheingold mentions?
3. What are some of the tools that you all use when evaluating or investigating sources? Tools are more powerful today, but many people don't know about them. Is there any way to educate the people more about these tools?
5. Can Twitter really be a reliable source for journalism? (other social media as well)

Discussion questions_Kachka_Salileng

1) In the first paragraph, Dan Ariely is quoted relating how everyone cheats (about 15%) regardless of how likely we are to get caught. Do you agree with this? How much do you think journalists today lie within their pieces? Would lies correlate with a heavy bias?

2) Despite Lehrer’s blatant plagiarism, he still managed to advance his career substantially and earned a reputation as an intellectual individual. Does his advancement indicate any deeper issues within the media community? How could many people overlook his untruthful and distorted work? Why was there a lack of immediate uproar in the science community or with other journalists ?

3) If dishonesty and fabricated journalism is present, do you think any of the values of journalism previously discussed are overlooked or are prioritized in a certain way? Could various pressures such as time and competition factor in to the decision-making process?

4) In today’s society, if a journalist has been excommunicated and shunned by their peers, do you think he or she would be able to make a return to journalism? What reactions would this warrant from the public, other journalists and important figures?

Discussion Questions_Kovach and Rosenstiel_O'Shasky

1.)  Kovach and Rosenstiel began chapter 8 by writing about the fact that in todays digital society we have access to hundreds of news headlines every day, compared to only the handful of articles, chosen by editors, that appear in daily newspapers. Do you believe todays news consumers are better able to sort out and monitor the important news articles, which was previously the job left up to the newspaper's editors?

2.)  With shrinking news rooms across the world, do you believe any one news operation still has the adequate resources needed to do the monitoring for us?

3.)  In todays digital society we also have access to international websites like Yahoo and the New York Times. Does the access to these sites which contains international news reduce ones interest in their local news?

4.)  In chapter 9, Kovach and Rosenstiel bring up the metaphor of journalists acting as gatekeepers who mediate the facts on behalf of the public. But with todays increase in social networking, we have a growing tendency to receive our news from non-journalistic sources. How do you believe this will affect the roles of journalists in todays evolving society?

Discussion Questions_Stelter_Yadegar

1.)  There are very few successful international news networks that do well in America, for example BBC. Do you see Al Jazeera America being a longterm successful network? Why or why not?

2.) While most news stations air around 15 minutes of commercials every hour, Al Jazeera America will only air around 6 minutes of commercials per hour. Will this small amount of commercials help the network retain viewers because of their appealing lack of commercials or will it harm the network because advertisers won't want to broadcast on Al Jazeera because the lack of air time.

3.) Al Jazeera America is originally from Qatar, in a post 9/11 society will Americans be hesitant about watching shows on the network from a Middle Eastern country or will they look aside from the networks origin and let the journalism speak for itself?

4.) What type of political bias if any will Al Jazeera America have?

Discussion Questions_Gillmor_Zacharias

1.) We often post things on Facebook that Gillmor would classify as having journalistic value. Would you consider yourself a “journalist” because of this? Why or why not?

 2.) Gillmor claims that who state law defines as a journalist in regards to shield laws encourages a “back-door licensing of journalists”. Do you think this is true? If so, what should states do to prevent this?

3.) Gillmor is publishing a book in attempt to convince people to become more active users of media, or practice “media literacy”. Would you consider yourself a passive or active consumer of media? What do you consider media literacy?

4.) The main question Gillmor poses in the article is “Do we need a new name for the modern media creators?” What do you think? Do you think it is important to draw a line between who we view as journalists and who we do not?