Club MediaNote

Los Angeles Times Struggles with Racial Equity

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 23:27:00 +0000

The Los Angeles Times newsroom is undergoing what one senior reporter calls an "internal uprising" over racial equity issues. Editor Norman Pearlstine admits progress needs to be made. NPR reports.

Questions...

•According to the story, how diverse is the Times' newsroom?

•How does the lack of diversity effect the Times' news coverage?

•What has the editor promised to do in response to this situation?

Operation Infektion

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 21:54:00 +0000

The U.S. certainly has its differences based on gender, race, political preferences and other matters. But is the growing level of anger natural, or is it being encouraged by an outside force? According to some researchers, our internal divisions are being intensified by Russian disinformation experts, and have been doing so since the days of the Soviet Union. PBS News Hour reports.

Questions...

•Why would the Soviet Union and later Russia want to create division, distrust and confusion in the United States?

•What are some of the hoaxes created by the Soviet Union and later Russia? How did they create these hoaxes?

•What makes the U.S. among the nations more vulnerable to this sort of manipulation?

Life as a Game

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 13:00:00 +0000

The following is a MediaNote Classic. It was originally presented to Mass Comm 101 students in June 2018.

Your little brother says, "I can stop anytime I want," as he plays his online game all night and misses school the next day. The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially categorized Gaming Addiction in the International Classification of Diseases. Gaming Addiction has officially been identified as a psychological addiction similar to Compulsive Gambling. NPR reports.

Questions...

•Do you know anyone who might be a video game addict? What do they do that seems so addictive?

•Do smartphones make the problem better, worse, or make no difference?

•What steps would you take to make sure your child is not socially isolated and is engaged with the physical world?

Check This!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Thu, 28 May 2020 13:00:00 +0000

Despite not having staff writers or an editorial page, Twitter often finds itself at the middle of some whopping free speech arguments. In April, it tried to crack down on false or misleading information about the Coronavirus by fact-checking dubious posts. And recently, it has fact-checked dubious claims in Tweets made by President Trump. Mr. Trump has reacted in characteristic fashion. NPR reports.

Questions...

•What exactly did Twitter do in response to Mr. Trump's Tweet about voting by mail?

•What has Mr. Trump vowed to do in response to Twitter's action?

•What is a larger reason why Twitter has acted now, in May 2020?

Trump and Biden Online

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Tue, 26 May 2020 15:21:00 +0000

In six months, the presidential election will be over. Until then, expect and unusually harsh campaign. President Trump and presumptive Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden have very different styles: one is brash and polarizing, the other is genial consensus-builder. It turns out their online campaigns are very different as well. NPR reports.

Questions...

•What is the difference in approaches between the Biden and Tump online campaigns?

•How is the role of mainstream news media different in the two campaigns?

•What is the difference in approach in regard to reaching voters across the political spectrum?

Privacy in Public in Europe?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Wed, 20 May 2020 11:00:00 +0000

The following is a MediaNote Classic. This MediaNote was originally presented to MC101 classes in Summer 2018.

In general, Europeans protect their personal privacy a bit more than Americans do. The latest example of this is a European Union law that gives people the right to not have their image posted online if they don't want it posted. This means, for example, that if your sister takes a picture of you in front of the former Berlin Wall and posts it on Facebook, a local person identifiable in the background of the photo can demand that it be removed. NPR reports.

Questions...

•What do you think of this law?

•Should photos have free speech protection? Why or why not?

•Could this law have an impact on photojournalism?

•In the US, people who get photographed in public cannot claim a right to privacy. Journalists are free to photograph things that are newsworthy. People whose likeness is used for profit--your face is on a can of soup, for example--can sue if they have not agreed to have their likeness used. What do you think of this?

•In the example above, how can you deal with the EU citizen who doesn't want to be in your tourist photo?

Coronavirus and the Supreme Court

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Mon, 18 May 2020 11:00:00 +0000

Most of us are having to work or go to school or play in different ways than we are used to because of the Coronavirus pandemic. But what about the U.S. Supreme Court? Are the justices still reporting to the court's historic chambers to hear oral arguments, or have there been changes? NPR reports.

Questions...

•How is the U.S. Supreme Court currently hearing oral arguments?

•Before the pandemic, did the public get to listen in or view oral arguments to the Supreme Court?

•During this crisis, does the public have more access or less access to Supreme Court arguments?

The Not So Friendly Skies

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Wed, 13 May 2020 14:06:00 +0000

The following is a MediaNote Classic. It was originally presented to MC101 students in May 2017.

United Airlines used to have an advertising campaign with the tagline "Fly the Friendly Skies." They had to retire that line after the beating of a paying passenger in April 2017. Here is the cell phone video of the incident. NPR discussed the public relations fallout.

Questions...

•How should United Airlines have handled the situation with Dr. Dao? What part of it is the worst for the airline's image?

•Is the United brand name damaged beyond repair? If two flights are nearly the same price and time, would you fly United or avoid it?

•Does it matter from a PR standpoint that passenger cell phone video exists?

•What other public relations disasters can you think of where a company's image was badly damaged?

The Psychology of Selling Cars

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Mon, 11 May 2020 12:00:00 +0000

The following is a MediaNote Classic. The current version of this MediaNote was first shown to MC101 classes in Spring 2018.

Sut Jhally, a nationally-known expert on the psychological effects of advertising, has said that best ads do not try to sell the product on its merits. Instead, it creates a dream life around the product.

Several years ago, Your Humble Blogger saw the following ad during a Dodger telecast. How much of the ad discusses the merits of the vehicle, and how much of it is a constructed dream life?

More recently, another car ad caught Your Humble Blogger's eye.

Questions...

•What does the ad say about the quality, performance, reliability, cost or resale value of the product?

•Describe the dream life created around the product?

•What role do the visuals play in creating this dream life?

•What role does the music play in creating this dream life?

•Who is the target customer of the product?

Advertising and the Coronavirus

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Wed, 06 May 2020 11:00:00 +0000

Advertising often reflects real-world events. In 2017, Budweiser injected itself into the national debate over immigration by running a Super Bowl ad about how Adolphus Busch, an immigrant from Germany, came to America. Now advertisers are beginning to feature coronavirus in their ads. NPR reports.

Questions...

•What are some examples of ads that were deemed inappropriate when the coronavirus crisis hit?

•What are some examples of "second wave" ads that include the coronavirus crisis?

•How has advertising spending changed since the crisis began?

Hate and the Coronavirus

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Mon, 04 May 2020 13:00:00 +0000

These are strange, unsettling, relatively unstable times. Children and teens aren't in school, or even at the playground. They're at home in front of a computer, where they can be exposed to extreme ideas. NPR reports about how White supremacist and other hate groups are using the current Covid crisis to present their ideas to young people.

Questions...

•Why are kids and teens "a captive audience"?

•What forms of hate are being presented?

•What can parents (or older brothers or sisters) do?

How Hate Spreads

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 13:00:00 +0000

There are probably more ideas floating around our society than ever before. This isn't always a good thing. The Internet has been identified as a prime place where extreme ideas--some of them potentially violent--spread. Adolescent boys are often being targeted for exposure to these ideas. NPR reports.

Questions...

•When was the first time you were confronted with hateful or otherwise dangerous material on the internet? How old were you?

•Have you experienced recommendations that are more and more extreme?

•"Neurodivergent" boys and men with career or relationship setbacks are particularly likely to receive these hate messages. What can they do to keep themselves from going off the deep end? What can we do to help them from doing that?

•Is this a serious problem? What will you do as a parent to make sure your children are not affected by extreme ideas on the Internet?

The Digital Divide

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 13:00:00 +0000

The Digital Divide is a classic story of haves vs. have-nots. Except in this case it is not access to nutritious food, clean drinking water or safe neighborhoods. It is about access to digital devices and the Internet. The theory is that growing up on the wrong side of the digital divide can harm your present and future life in significant ways ... access to education, for example.

This report is from WUNC, the NPR station at the University of North Carolina.

Questions...

•Why did the college student featured in the story spend an unusual amount of time in a local McDonalds parking lot?

•Why do around 20 million Americans lack access to broadband Internet?

•How did the federal government help rural America from falling behind the rest of the country in the 1930s?

Dead Actors, Live Audiences

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 21:43:00 +0000

The following is a MediaNote Classic. It was originally presented to Mass Comm 101 classes in Spring 2018.

If I want to see Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in a movie, I find a copy of their 1949 film, Adam's Rib. Soon I may be able to see them in a whole now movie created many years after their deaths. Movie technology has advanced to the degree that not only do we have trouble telling animation from live action. We now have difficulty telling live actors from dead ones. NPR reports.

Questions...

•Is this technology good for the movie business or bad for the movie business? Why?

•What jobs will this technology eliminate? What jobs will it create?

•You are a major Hollywood star. How do you use this technology to fund your retirement? How do you use it to provide income for your heirs?

•Will the audience want to see new movies (or TV shows or video games) with John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe in them? In 50 years will audiences want to see new movies with a young Jennifer Lawrence or Johnny Depp?

Beware of Fabricated Video

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 13:00:00 +0000

We are rightly concerned about polluted air and water. But what about our polluted information environment? Claire Wardle is the co-founder and director of First Draft, a non-profit focused on research about misinformation. NPR summarized her TED talk with a Six Minute Listen.

Questions...

•According to Claire Wardle, what is a common feature of some of the most effective disinformation?

•What has led to the rise of misinformation?

•What damage was done by a fabricated video that claimed Pakistan's polio vaccination program harmed children?

Zooming into Controversy

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 11:00:00 +0000

Zoom is the videoconferencing platform of the moment. As schools across the world (including Glendale College) moved to remote education, Zoom became the most popular live presentation app. But Zoom has been an imperfect classroom tool. NPR reports.

Questions...

•Why has Zoom triggered an FBI warning?

•What are some examples of "Zoom Bombing"?

•According to the security analyst interviewed for the story, what features does Zoom lack?

•What disclaimer did NPR make about its coverage of this story?

New Stage for Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 13:00:00 +0000

If you are a moviemaker, you probably dream of the big movie premiere, followed by audiences flocking to theaters nationwide. Well, all of that has changed for the time being. This NPR story tells what Universal is doing with its next few movie releases.

Questions...

•What is the strategy for releasing movies when no movie theaters are open?

•Why don't studios usually make movies available for streaming right away?

•Is this change expected to be permanent?

On a Radio Long Ago and Far Away

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 13:00:00 +0000

The following is a MediaNote Classic. It was originally presented to MC101 students in January 2016.

Radio dramas and comedies were commonplace American entertainment from the 1930s through the 1950s. In the decades since there have been sporadic attempts to revive the genre, including an NPR-created version of "Star Wars" in 1981.

Could podcasts--which are done on nearly every imaginable non-fiction topic--possibly find a place for a new crop of radio dramas. Would people listen?

Questions...

•How do we listen to the radio, or radio-like programming such as podcasts? Where does it fit in in our lives?

•How is writing a radio drama different than writing a movie or TV show?

•Is it easier to turn a book into a movie or is it easier to turn a book into a radio drama?

•Who has listened to an audio book? Would a radio drama version be more satisfying or less satisfying? Why?

•Does the Long Tail Theory suggest that radio dramas are due for a revival? Why or why not?

Keep the News, Not the Profits

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 11:30:00 +0000

Some very fine organizations are operated on a non-profit basis. Private universities like USC. Non-profit health care systems like Kaiser-Permanente. And some news and cultural outlets like NPR. Now we can add the Salt Lake City Tribune to the list. Is this the wave of the future? NPR reports.

Questions...

•Has the Trump Administration been bad for all newspapers? Why or why not?

•What sorts of information do you get from your local newspaper that you can't get anywhere else?

•How are the finances of a non-profit organization different than a for-profit organization? Does it mean nobody earns a paycheck?

Did Gillette Cut Itself?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 19:27:00 +0000

The following is a MediaNote Classic. This MediaNote was originally shown to students in January 2019.

Gillette razor blades have been associated with men and masculinity for as long as this blogger can remember. So--in light of the #Metoo Movement--it makes sense that the Boston-based company has given some thought to how men are portrayed in their ads. The result was this video. NPR reports on the backlash among some men.

Questions...

•What do you think of the message in this video?

•Are you surprised that the video has more dislikes than likes on YouTube? Do you think that means that most men are offended by it?

•Do you think this ad and controversy helps or harms the Gillette brand in the years ahead?

•What type of man should Gillette portray in their ads?

Living Through These Insane Times

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 16:00:00 +0000

Your Humble Blogger has been on this planet long enough to qualify for the Senior Special at Denny's -- and he has never, ever seen anything like what we are living through right now. With that in mind, today's MediaNote is about Coronavirus. The following is a brief video from the Center for Disease Control giving tips on how you and your loved ones can stay as safe as possible.

Take notes in regard to the following questions. You will take a short quiz on Canvas for attendance points...

•What are the six steps to prevent Covid-19?

•Why is the CDC a good source for information about Covid-19

MC101 Field Trips Cancelled

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 15:29:00 +0000

Due to the closure of the Glendale College campus next week, all upcoming Mass Comm 101 field trips (whether on campus or off campus) are cancelled until further notice.

Coronavirus Update

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 15:11:00 +0000

Glendale College classes (including Mass Comm 101) will not be held on Monday, March 16 or Tuesday, March 17. Glendale College will move to online classes beginning Wednesday, March 18.

For traditional classes like this one, instruction will be through Canvas and will be synchronous. That means the class will meet online during the hours that it would have met in the classroom.

Most of your teachers (this one included) have never taught a fully online class before. Therefore, the quality of instruction is likely to be rough—at least at first. I’m sure there will be at least one laughable screwup. Hang in there and the instruction will get better.

For now, make sure you have a digital device that allows you to log in to Canvas. Instruction is likely to take place through the ConferZoom tool, so make sure you can get into that.

I am not an information technology specialist or health care professional. But I am a Mass Communications teacher, so I feel comfortable giving you this advice: Quality of information matters!

When you see something about Coronavirus, ask yourself “According to who?” The Glendale College home page (glendale.edu) is a good place to start. Pay attention to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and local authorities such as the Los Angeles County Health Department.

If you read or see news articles about the topic, ask yourself if the publication or channel is reputable. Does it have a political agenda that is so strong that it taints the information being presented? Also, look at who is being quoted or cited in the article? Are they entertainers, commentators or top-level health officials? Quality matters.

If the shrill voices on cable TV or the Internet become too scary, limit your viewing or reading to a few expert, trusted sources. As a college-educated person who has taken at least a few weeks of Mass Comm 101, you are better able to navigate this challenging media environment than many of your relatives. Do what you can to keep them from going down the rabbit hole that leads to denial or panic. Either extreme is unproductive. You may need to be the family member who translates the latest expert information.

In closing, I am proud of you all. You are community college students. You are the workers, the upwardly mobile. In many cases, you are the first in your family to go to college. You have grit.

We’ll get through this.

Mike Eberts

GCC Response to Coronavirus

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 15:33:00 +0000

The multinational outbreak of coronavirus is evolving quickly. Glendale College is monitoring the situation and posting updates. Glendale College encourages everyone to subscribe to Nixle to receive campus related emergency notification text messages. Simply text the words GO GCCALERT to the number 888-777 from your cellphone.

The Times Are a Changin'

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Eberts (AKA Your Humble Blogger)) — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 13:00:00 +0000

The following is a MediaNote Classic. It was originally presented to MC101 classes in June 2018.

This is a tough time to own a major daily newspaper. The Los Angeles Times--largely due to poor management under its previous owner--has suffered more than most. With a new owner and a new 21st Century newsroom, the Times is ready to reinvent itself. NPR reports.

Questions...

•What should a newspaper do, whether on paper or online? (what is its function)

•What things about a major metro paper (like the Times) should not be changed?

•What things SHOULD be changed?

•What insights might an immigrant to Southern California have that a native might not have?

•How can the Times be more relevant to young adults like you?