Final Lecture Slides: Cosmopolitanism, Media and Morality

As requested, HERE are the final lecture slides. Enjoy.

Final Paper Kings and Queens

Congratulations to the following critical media scholars for turning in highly impressive Final Papers:

Com11E
* B+/A
Rey Mari Antonio Angeles
Maria Antonea Bernardino
Miguel Lorenzo Clavano

* B+
Geanelle Lauren Abad
Iris Jimdy Pua
Michelle Grace Varandmal
Nathan Ernest Yu

Com11B
* A+
Esther Lauren Perez
Nadine Leslie Tan

* A
Maria Patricia Isabel Bautista
Jacqueline Crisostomo
Irma Kathleen Sy

* B+/A
Jandric Michael Lim

* B+
Kevin John Angeles
Armina Bianca Juco
Anne Clarisse Silva

Creative Project Marks

Hi! Below are the marks for the creative project. This mark is 20% of your final grade. The marks below indicate the highest score each individual member may receive (assuming that you receive full 4% credit from the peer evaluation).

Com11 E
1. Bonz's group ("Colorful World"): 18/20
2. Hector's group ("Magic and Me"): 17/20
3. RA's group ("Ego"): 19/20
4. Patricia's group (Rachel's excuse to dress up): 19/20
5. Erin's group (social experiment): 18/20
6. James' group (300 spoof): 16/20
7. Maan's group: TBA

Com11 B
1. Brian's group (metrosexuality): 17/20
2. Vanina's group ("Dyipni"): 19/20
3. Jerome's group (response to Media and Morality): 14/20
4. Franz's group (t-shirt love story): 19/20
5. Denise's group (Barbie): 20/20
6. Misha's group (representations): 16.5/20
7. Mark's group (encoding/decoding): 17/20

Week 14 Discussion: Audience Studies

HERE are the lecture slides for this week.

Here are the discussion questions:
1) How have audience studies contributed to a more sophisticated understanding of media power, media imperialism, audience activity, and identity?
2) What are the set of questions being asked by effects researchers and by reception/everyday life scholars? How similar/different are they?
3) How should we understand culture in light of the global/local framework?

I'm excited to hear your thoughts!

Com11 Final Paper

Click HERE to download instructions for the final paper.

It is good to start thinking about your topic for the paper this early. You only have one month to put it all together, after all. You may also consult me about your topics, ask for references, etc.

Good luck!

Orals done!

Thank you to all the students who made the orals worthwhile. I finished computing and illustrating the grades just now, with graphs and all. Very curious results to say the least. :) Over our last four weeks, I hope to hear more from everyone in class and, yes, in the discursive space that is our blog. I discovered that a lot of you have very interesting opinions and experiences with the media.

Please pick up the three readings from the library starting tomorrow. Two of these are required for our Tuesday lecture. See you next week!

Announcements

Hi. Yesterday was the first day of oral exams. I recommend that upcoming pairs revisit readings and lecture slides. It's not enough to ramble on with examples; one needs to ground them in theory and, crucially, situate the discussion within the context of our course.

Please note that we have no classes on Thursday, August 30. We do have an important lecture on Tuesday, September 4 on American Mass Communication Research (c/o Jason Cabanes). There are TWO readings for this lecture. They will be made available for photocopy by Thursday. For the first 30 minutes or so however, I will be discussing the results of the oral exams and giving each pair feedback sheets alongside your marks. I will also be revisiting the thesis statements and clarifying issues/concepts from our previous lectures. Not to be missed.

I suggest that creative project groups schedule consultation with me over the next weeks. You may also drop in to review your marks, discuss your concerns about your course, and talk about personal or academic issues.

Media and Morality--Seeing the Other in the News

PLEASE COME! :)

Date/Time: September 5, 430-600PM
Venue: Escaler Hall, Ateneo de Manila

In today’s globalizing world, we get to know distant peoples, distant cultures, and distant events primarily through screens, pages, and interfaces—what we have come to call as media. The news, in particular, brings us images of the Other on a live, continuous basis—but with what consequences? Indeed before we mistake connection for responsibility, we should ask Roger Silverstone’s forceful question, “The media may have extended reach, but have they extended understanding?”

In this public seminar Seeing the Other in the News, scholars from the Department of Communication dialogue with esteemed industry professionals Maria Ressa (ABS-CBN) and Howie Severino (GMA Network). The seminar wishes to highlight the ever-evolving, ever-increasing responsibilities of the media—and here we mean owners, producers, actors, and audiences—to create a space for hospitality for the distant others that we see onscreen. Issues such as objectivity in journalism, ethical issues in reporting on suffering, and compassion fatigue will be discussed. The format also allows for participation from the audience, as they can pose questions to the panelists.

This event also marks the launch of the MediaTalk@admu seminar series, produced by the Department of Communication and the Center for Communication Research and Training.

Announcements Again

Hi! I missed seeing everyone last Thursday.

I hope that all the orals pairs are starting to prepare for the exam in two weeks' time. Students usually feel very anxious over oral exams because it's very stage-y. But really, as long as you come prepared, you should do fine.

You will be graded on your ability to tackle each question with both depth and breadth. You are expected to know the topic/issue the thesis statement refers to, what issue regarding the media it is able to explain, its strengths and weaknesses, etc. You should be able to "break down" each thesis statement to its key concepts, e.g., discuss what "critical examination" means, discuss what "the media" means, discuss "representation," discuss "double meaning," then link all these together. At the same time, you are expected to display integrative thinking: the ability to link the thesis statement to other concepts discussed in class (from different lectures) or even outside of class. And so, you can see that the oral exam is also a site of creative expression, as you should bring in your own thoughts and experiences with the media in reflecting on each question. Surprise the examiners with unusual examples to clarify your arguments. Remember that the examiners are not expecting template answers; there are no right or wrong answers--only critical and uncritical, creative and uncreative answers. Remember that the examiners would be listening to around 40 pairs tackle the same questions over and over again. Make your 15 minutes of fame memorable, as they are grading you in comparison with other students in class.

You are graded separately. But orals pairs that work well together and are able to build on each other's statements would of course be more effective. Moments of dead air should be avoided, as of course you open yourself up to the tricky follow-up questions from the examiners.

Again, you are free to select from four out of the ten thesis statements. And the examiners will select two out of the four.

SCHEDULE
On Tuesday, August 21, we are having the seminar to discuss Leloy's lecture. There will be also be a graded class activity with your orals partner where you will be asked to do a textual analysis of a TV ad. I am also giving tips for the oral exams during this session. Not to be missed.

Finally, we are moving the lecture on American Mass Communication Research to the week after the orals. And so, we are dropping thesis statement 5 from the oral exams.

Announcements + Orals

Hi!

Here is the schedule that we have for the coming weeks:
* August 14: Race/Gender/Sexuality plenary c/o Leloy Claudio. Venue: 12NN- Com Studio; 3PM - Ching Tan.
* August 16: Race/Gender/Sexuality Seminar. Graded class activity. Orals pairs analyze a media text provided by the seminar leader in the second half of the class. The graded activity replaces the take-home essay that I originally mentioned.
* August 21: American Mass Communication Research Part 1 c/o Jason Cabanes.
* August 23: American Mass Communication Research Part 2 c/o Jason Cabanes.
* August 27, 28, 29: Oral Exams.

Below are the long awaited oral exam questions. I hope that you begin studying as soon as you can. Remember that the oral exam comprises 20% of your grade. While the oral exam is conducted in pairs, individual grades are given. The sign-up sheet will be posted in the Dept of Communication on August 14. Tips on how to answer and prepare for orals will be given in our August 16 seminars.

ORAL EXAM PROCEDURE: You and your partner are free to select four out of the ten thesis statements to study. During the oral exam, the examiner will select two out of the four thesis statements for you and your partner to critically discuss.

THESIS STATEMENTS:
1. A critical examination of the media involves the study of the double meaning of representation.
2. The culture industry is dominant in its control of the symbolic power of the media.
3. The rise of the Internet has opened up the possibility for a new public sphere.
4. “The media are becoming environmental. Not in the sense of the media as generating a distinct sphere, a separation of the symbolic from the realities of everyday life. But more a sense of the media as tightly and dialectically intertwined to the everyday” (Silverstone).
5. The effects tradition has steadily moved from an assumption of direct effects to powerful effects. Critically discuss this development.
6. To what extent are the concepts of discourse AND/OR ideology useful in our study of media power?
7. Evaluate the claim that watching television is harmful for audiences’ public knowledge and engagement.
8. “Public spaces should be places for the expression of dissensus, for bringing to the floor what forces attempt to keep concealed” (Mouffe).
9. The media provide daily reminders of the unstable ground on which notions of race, gender, and sexuality are built.
10. “Active audience does not mean powerful audience” (Ang).

Week 8 Discussion: Representations

You may download the lecture slides HERE.

Please feel free to use this space to raise questions about the study of representations. It seems most people were shy to ask questions during the plenary lecture. :)

Remember to bring a magazine to class on Tuesday. In your orals pairs, you'll be select ingan article or advertisement that has an interesting representation of nation/race/gender/sexuality and share your analysis with the rest of the class.

Happy weekend.

Announcements

Thank you so much for the students who attended today, especially the Com11-B students who chose career talks over basketball. Your future > basketball game. :)

I'd also like to commend the classes for (generally) having very good and very entertaining presentations. The skits, videos, and impersonations showed off your creative side, which I hope to see more of in the future. In particular, I'd like to commend the group of Patricia, Nadia, Katrina, Jigs, and Rachel (Media as Environment, Com11-E). Their presentation went above and beyond my expectations, displaying great imagination and critical thinking. Bravo! Or, Brava! (as they say in High School Musical)

NOTE: Starting August 2, we begin a new block in our class. We end Institutions and move on to the Images block, which I feel is the most exciting and most challenging block for a media studies course. It is absolutely crucial for you to read the Stuart Hall reading on Representations (Ch1). It is already available for pick-up from the usual photocopy point. It is an easy-to-read introductory text to the study of representations, but it is rather long. I do hope that you read this before our class on Thursday. And I hope that you read it NOT one night before but allow yourself time to digest and reflect on it. The August 2 lecture is very important as it is the basic introductory lecture. You may have difficulty keeping up with the rest of the topics within the block if you miss this lecture.

Working Schedule:
* Aug 2 (Thursday): Plenary Lecture on Representations c/o Jonathan Ong (12NN classes: Com Studio; 3PM classes: Ching Tan Room - confirmed)
* Aug 7 (Tuesday): Discussion Classes (We go back to our regular classes and try to analyze media texts in class)
* Aug 9 (Thursday): Plenary Lecture on Race/Gender/Sexuality c/o Leloy Claudio (12NN classes: Com Studio; 3PM classes: Ching Tan Room)

Please watch this space for updates. Happy weekend, everyone!

Week 5 Discussion: Public Sphere

Once again I hope that we can extend our classroom discussion to this online discursive space.

Guide Questions:
1) What can you say about Habermas' ideal of the public sphere. Give a critical appraisal of the evidence he provides.
2) How do today's media create a public sphere?
3) Do you agree with Videomalaise (e.g., Putnam) and/or Crisis (e.g., Blumler & Gurevitch) thinkers? Or do you see positive contributions of the media to democracy?
4) Give examples of media forms and relate them to the concept of the public sphere.

Creative project groups can consult me at bertiebott@hotmail.com or face-to-face. Please sign up for my office hours HERE. You can also approach me to discuss your quiz results.

Quiz on Tuesday

Good luck! I hope you all have the readings and are all set for Tuesday. Post here for those with questions/comments on the readings so you can help each other.

Week 4 Discussion

We had good classroom discussions today. I hope we can extend the lively discussion to this space.

Here are the questions that we attempted to answer today. Feel free to move the discussion forward.

1. To what extent do you agree with the Frankfurt School's critique of the media's role in contemporary society?
2. How does the Frankfurt School perceive the audience?
3. How does the Frankfurt School conceptualize media power?

Homework for Tuesday, July 3

Please bring a consumer product, or a representation of a consumer product, that you cannot resist splurging on. Reflect on whether your purchase/purchases/addiction has been influenced by your reception of media (cf "And when I say media, I mean media") messages.

I will call on students at random to share about their experiences as consumers.

Week 2 Discussions

HERE is the link to the opening lecture slides.

Please post here your reflections/opinion/arguments/questions pertaining to the Introductory Lecture. Again this is a free space for discussion. Feel free to raise anything relevant to our lecture.

As nudge for further reflection, you can address some of these questions (however, feel free to raise any idea that you may have):
1) We used the example of Ugly Betty in class and how the show can be studied in different ways. What other media products are you interested in studying, and what might be the possible questions/approaches that you can take in studying them?
2) Do you agree with Silverstone's assertion that the media is becoming environmental? How is it becoming environmental?
3) What other grand promises of the media can you think of? Give examples from popular advertising, film, etc. Why is it necessary to be critical of these promises?
4) Silverstone argues that the screen is five things: a) interface, b) frame, c) window, d) mask, and e) barrier. Give examples how it can be one of these five things.
5) Why study the media? Why study the media critically?

Previewing the Readings

Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday. As for myself, I enjoyed meeting my co-teachers during Faculty Day. I have also conferred with my colleagues with more experience handling the CommTech program. We'll try to address your concerns about your program in the weeks ahead.

On the subject of readings, both classes expressed having had difficulty with the first two readings. In light of this, I thought of having these "previews" of the readings. This way, you'll be guided as you navigate your way to the field of media and communications, a field that is brand new territory for most of you.

A general tip: you do not have to memorize dates, figures, and all the names and citations in each reading. What is crucial is to know the main points of the author (What does the author have to say about the nature of the media? Media as form/text/system/audience?), be aware of how s/he makes his arguments (How does s/he present evidence? Where does s/he base his/her assertions? What kind of method does s/he use?, and note finally the strengths and weaknesses of his piece (What is s/he able to explain and what is s/he unable to explain? Are there any blind spots theoretically, methodologically, even morally?).

I also encourage you to form study groups or begin studying with your oral exam partners. That way, you can make notes on the weekly readings for each other.

And now, a preview of the readings:
1. Week 3 Readings
a. Hallin and Mancini. Comparing Media Systems.
In this easy-to-read piece, Hallin and Mancini identify similarities and differences in the media systems in Europe and North America. This book demonstrates how journalistic standards differ according to context. In Mediterranean countries such as France, for instance, newspapers are easily identifiable as supporting a particular political party. This underscores that we may have to question our own assumptions about "objectivity" being a universal norm/criterion for good journalism and think about other standards to judging responsible journalism. Challenge: how would you classify the Philippines in Hallin and Mancini's typology of media systems? Does the Philippines fit one category? Or does it have unique qualities?

b. Ang. Desperately Seeking the Audience.
One of the most elegant yet forceful media theorists, Ien Ang critiques how "the audience" is conceived and "constructed" by media professionals. In her critical analysis of the TV ratings system, she reveals how the very manner of measuring TV ratings is suited to particular ends of media professionals. Applying a Foucauldian approach (of which we'll learn more about in later weeks), one key point she makes is that audiences become "invisible, silent majorities of the suburban wasteland" regulated and managed by (administrative) research.

2. Week 4 Readings
a. Strinati. An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture. Chapter 2.
In this accessible book, Strinati recounts the landmark contribution of the Frankfurt School in the analysis of media power. With roots in Marxist theory, Frankfurt School theorists argue that the mass production of cultural forms contribute to sustaining capitalist ideology, maintaining the present power relations in society. They stress that consumers become pacified and distracted by the media, as it continuously manufactures "false needs" through advertising, popular music, etc.

b. Fiske. "Understanding Popular Culture." In The Audience Studies Reader.
In this short essay, John Fiske celebrates how audiences make use of popular media products. He argues that popular media products can be freely interpreted by audiences, and they find great pleasure in reading "against" the text, resisting the ideological underpinnings of popular media products.

Guide Questions for Week 4
-> Compare and constrast the positions of the Frankfurt School and John Fiske with regard to media power. Who are deemed more powerful: producers or consumers?
-> How do the Frankfurt School and Fiske argue their points? What evidence do they give? Are you convinced by their evidence?
-> The Frankfurt School and Fiske talk more about mass media. How do their arguments apply in a new media environment?
-> Can you link the film The Matrix with the Frankfurt School's theory on the culture industry?

Homework:
1. Readings are available for photocopy in the 1st Floor of the Rizal Library. Week 3 readings are optional (but will be covered in orals, essays, and quizzes). Week 4 readings are absolutely important.
2. There are no classes on June 26, Tuesday.
3. I have scheduled career talks on June 28, Thursday. Three recent Ateneo graduates will come to talk about their first few years in the corporate world. I have also communicated to them some of your feelings about your program and are prepared to field questions from you. Attendance is an absolute must for the career talks. Class beadles are in charge of taking attendance. Please be a responsible and active audience for these young professionals who are taking time off from work to share with you valuable learnings from their own experiences.
4. Please continue posting on the website. I will see you all July 3, Tuesday.

Getting to Know You

It seems most fitting for a class about media and communications to first have the predictable yet indispensable exercise of self-presentation in a mediated environment. Obviously the manner of communication in cyberspace is starkly different from face-to-face interaction, with the loss of many symbolic cues--from body language to the rise and fall of voice pitch. But much are added as well--from the adoption of avatars to the narrative closure afforded by one's writing of a beginning, middle, and end. And in both types of communication, the challenge is to make a good first impression. What is frustrating--and exciting--of course is that we simply don't know just how our audience will react, respond, remember, reply. Also, with the affordances of technology: forward, comment, poke, reject, refer, block, flame, spam.

However this site, and this class, is a site of hospitality. It is a site of learning and exchange. It aims to be a space premised not simply on reason and/or emotion, but on responsibility, Roger Silverstone's (2006) lofty requirement for a mediaspace.

I am happy to welcome you to the website of Introduction to Communication, Com11 Sections B and E, 1st Semester SY 2007-2008. I wish that you treat this online space not simply as a supplement to our offline lectures but as a meaningful resource for learning, an active and vibrant space for discussion, and a shared experience with your fellow classmates and lecturer.

Kindly reply to this post and introduce yourself below so that we can get our discussions going. Aside from your name and section, of course, I'd especially like to know why you picked your course (ComTech), what you think about media (products, programs, platforms, issues, etc), and how much time you spend on the media in a typical day.

Switching to a different medium, please bring a 5x7" index card with 2x2" ID photo on Thursday, June 21. Please include: name, section, birth date, and contact information (cell phone and email address).

June 21, Thursday is the first classroom lecture. Please be prepared with the Silverstone and McQuail readings.

Syllabus: Com11 Introduction to Communication

COM 11: Introduction to Communication
Lecturer: Jonathan C. Ong
1 Semester 2007-2008
Department of Communication
Ateneo de Manila University

I. Course Description
This course is an introduction to the study of media forms, texts, systems, and audiences and their contribution to social life. By highlighting the centrality of media and communication technologies in the practices of everyday life, this course challenges students to think critically about their own experiences as users/producers of media products in light of theoretical debates within the field. Adopting a critical approach, this course expands on the key question of Roger Silverstone (2006): “The media may have extended our reach but have they extended understanding?” By reviewing key concepts such as the public sphere, representation, identity, mass culture, and political economy, this course encourages critical attention as to how the media enable or disable dialogue and understanding in a world of complex connectivity. The course is divided into three main blocks: Institutions, Images, and Individuals.

II. General Objectives
This course aims to:
• introduce theories and concepts from the field of media and communication studies
• chart the development of media and communications as a social science discipline, highlighting its intersections with related fields
• underscore the political, social, cultural, and moral relevance in understanding the media’s role in today’s world

III. Methodology
Media and communications is an academic discipline that requires much reading—reading from textbooks and academic journals as well as “reading” from media such as film, television, and music. The quintessential Ateneo Communication student is someone who is able to link “theoretical knowledge” gathered from books and “practical knowledge” acquired from exposure to media artifacts. It is the student’s responsibility to keep up with the varied reading materials.

The course consists of lectures, lecturettes, guest lectures from industry professionals, seminar discussions, online discussions, film viewings, research work, and creative work.

IV. Topic Outline
1. Week 1 (June 14): Film-viewing
• As the lecturer is in London at this time, there is film-viewing of Ugly Betty (ABC)

2. Week 2 (June 21): Introduction
• Introduces course aims, methods, and requirements
• Provides an overview of the field of media and communications research
• Distinguishes between transmission and ritual models of communication and critical and administrative research
• Key readings:
a. Silverstone, R. (1999). Why Study the Media? London: Sage. (Chapter 1)
b. McQuail, D. (ed.) (2004). McQuail’s Reader in Mass Communication Theory. London: Sage. (Part 1 General Introduction, pp. 1-20)

3. Week 3 (June 26): The Philippine Media Landscape
• June 26 Guest Lecturer: Kristina Perez, Starcom
• In the opening lecture of the block on Institutions, Perez introduces the key features of contemporary mass media in the Philippines: the market structure, major players, and consumption characteristics
• Key readings:
a. Hallin, D. & P. Mancini (2003). Comparing Media Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
b. Ang, I. (1991). Desperately Seeking the Audience. London: Routledge. (pp 60-67)

4. Week 4 (July 3&5): Media Power and Critique
* Explores the contribution of the Frankfurt School in the analysis of how power is exercised through the processes of media production and consumption
• Situates the Frankfurt School’s critiques of mass society side-by-side populist arguments
• Introduces the concept of ideology
• Key readings:
a. Strinati, D. (2004). An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture. London: Routledge. (Chapter 2)
b. Fiske, J. (2003). “Understanding Popular Culture.” In Brooker, W. & D. Jermyn. (eds). The Audience Studies Reader. London: Routledge.

5. Week 5 (July 10&12): The Public Sphere
• Uses the concept of the public sphere to evaluate how the media functions as a discursive space in democratic society
• Case studies: Jerry Springer, Debate (GMA 7), breast cancer patients’ message board
• Key readings:
a. Cammaerts, B. (2006). “The Public Sphere, Deliberation and Critiques.” Lecture: London School of Economics.
b. Lunt, P. & P. Stenner. (2005). “The Jerry Springer Show as an Emotional Public Sphere.” In Media, Culture & Society, 27 (1).

6. Week 6 (July 17&19): Political Economy of the (New) Media
• Explores how the paradigm of the political economy of communications contributes to a critical understanding of inequalities in ownership, access, and literacy in today’s (new) media environment
• Key readings:
a. Mansell, R. (2004). “Political Economy, Power and New Media.” In New Media & Society, 6 (1).
b. Rogers, R. (2004). Information Politics on the Web. Massachusetts: MIT Press. (Chapter 1)

7. Week 7 (July 24&26): Orals Week
• Orals questions cover topics from the first block.

8. Week 8 (July 31&Aug 2): Introduction to Textual Analysis
• The Images block of the course begins with a presentation of quantitative and qualitative approaches to textual analysis, including news framing, semiotics, and discourse analysis
• Case study: lifestyle magazines, Little Children (2006), old print ads
• Key readings:
a. Hall, S. (ed.) (1997). Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Open UP. (Chapter 1)
b. Macdonald, M. (2003). Exploring Media Discourse. London: Arnold. (Chapter 5)

9. Week 9 (Aug7&9): Representations of the Other
• Develops a critique of the processes of Other-ing present in popular media representations
• Introduces the concepts of Orientalism, compassion fatigue, media fatigue, and proper distance
• Key readings:
a. Silverstone, R. (2006). Media and Morality: On the Rise of the Mediapolis. London: Polity. (Chapter 3)
b. Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. London: Routledge. Pp. 1-28, 49-73.

10. Week 10 (Aug14&16): Race, Gender and Sexuality
• Examines further contributions of post-colonial theories to the critique of media representations, specifically with the construction of race, gender, and sexuality
• Introduces the concepts of anti-essentialism, hybridity and diaspora
• Key readings:
a. Dyer, R. (1997). White. London: Routledge (Chapter 4).
b. Grewal, I. (2005). Transnational America: Feminisms, Diasporas, Neoliberalisms. Durham: Duke University Press. (Chapter 3)

11. Week 11 (Aug 21&23): Introduction to Media Audiences – American Mass Communication Research
• The Individuals block of the course begins by presenting the “dominant paradigm” of mass communication research
• Examines the relevance of the “effects” framework for policy-, commercial-, and development-oriented projects
• Key readings:
a. Infante, D. et al (1993). Building Communication Theory, 2nd ed. Illinois: Waveland Press. (Chapter 12)
b. Gauntlett, D. (2003). “Ten Things Wrong with the Effects Model.” In Rayner, P. et al. Media Studies: The Essential Resource. London: Routledge.

12. Week 12 (Aug 28&30): Introduction to Media Audiences – British Cultural Studies
* Introduces the tradition of reception studies in audience research
• Presents Hall’s encoding/decoding model and Morley’s Nationwide study, alongside other case studies
• Key readings:
a. Alasuutari, P. (1999). “Introduction” In Alasuutari, P. (ed.) Rethinking the Media Audience. London: Sage.
b. Radway, J. (2003). “Reading the Romance.” In Brooker, W. & D. Jermyn. (eds). The Audience Studies Reader. London: Routledge.

13. Week 13 (Sept 4&6): New Media and Active Audiences
• Guest Lecturer: Jason Cabanes, ASEAN Research Fellow, National University of Singapore
• Presents the Domestication and Social Shaping of Technology (SST) frameworks in studying users and consumers of new media technologies
• Presents a critique of McLuhan’s technological deterministic arguments
• Key readings:
a. Lievrouw, L.A. and S. Livingstone (eds.) (2006). The Handbook of New Media, updated student edition. London: Sage. (pp15-32)
b. Silverstone, R. & L. Haddon (1996). “Design and the Domestication of Information & Communication Technologies.” In Mansell, R. & R. Silverstone (eds.) Communication by Design: The Politics of Information and Communication Technologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

14. Week 14 (Sept 11&13): Presentation of Creative Projects

15. Week 15 (Sept 18&20): Cosmopolitanism, Media and Morality
• The last series of concluding lectures underscores the moral role of all participants in the global media: owners, producers, actors, and audiences
• Introduces the concepts of mediapolis, responsibility, cosmopolitanism, and risk society
• Key readings:
a. Silverstone, R. (2006). Media and Morality: On the Rise of the Mediapolis. London: Polity. (Chapters 1-2)
b. Beck, U. (2007). “Global Generations in World Risk Society.” Public Lecture at the London School of Economics.

16. Week 16 (Sept 25&27): Cosmopolitanism, Media and Morality Part 2
• Opens up the debate on cosmopolitanism and its possibilities (or impossibilities)
• Links cosmopolitanism to concepts of hybridity and the “third space”
• Case studies: local and international audiences of distant suffering; empirical studies and reflections on September 11
• Key readings:
a. Ang, I. (2001) On Not Speaking Chinese. London: Routledge. (Chapter 1)
b. Ong, J.C. (2007). “Children Watching Children: How Filipino Kids Perceive Suffering in International News Media”. MIT Media in Transition Conference Paper. Cambridge, Massachusetts.

17. Week 17 (Oct 2&4): Conclusion
• Presents a summary of the course and provides suggestions as to its application in everyday life
• Key readings:
a. Silverstone, R. (1999). Why Study the Media? London: Sage. (Chapters 15-16)
b. Orgad, S. (2007). “The Internet as a Moral Space: The Legacy of Roger Silverstone.” In New Media & Society, 9 (1).

V. Course Requirements
1) Oral exam - 20%
2) Creative project – 20%
3) Quizzes – 20%
4) Final paper – 25%
5) Participation – 15%

1 - The oral exam is done in pairs. For 15 minutes, students are expected to expound on thesis statements provided beforehand and field follow-up questions from the examiner. It is crucial for students to display understanding of authors’ main arguments, know their strengths and weaknesses/limitations, and provide specific “everyday life” examples to contextualize each theory/concept. Students should also be prepared to answer questions about the readings from Week 2 to Week 6.

2 – The creative project (documentary, fiction film, ad campaign, webisodes, website, “media event”, debate, etc) is an attempt to challenge students to become effective and responsible media producers. The objective of the creative project is to provoke further debate in a specific issue (or issues) discussed in class. This is to be accomplished by groups of not more than five (5) students. Examples of creative projects may be: 1) a live talk show that attempts to approximate a public sphere, 2) a mini-soap opera about Radway’s romance novel readers, 3) a satire of effects tradition research methodology , 4) a reality TV program that tries to find the “ultimate cosmopolitan,” etc.

3 – There will be at least four quizzes throughout the term. Quizzes can be essay-based or can take the form of class presentations.

4 – The final paper is a take-home essay. Essay questions will be revealed in class on September 18. Submission of essays is on October 7 via email to Jonathan Ong and Jason Cabanes. Essays are marked independently and averaged.

5 – Participation takes into account classroom discussions and online discussions. Students are expected to display critical thinking, wide reading, and the ability to link concepts from the various lectures and even from their other classes.

VI. Biographical Notes
Jonathan C. Ong graduated AB Communication from Ateneo de Manila University (summa cum laude) in 2003. Since then, he has worked at McCann-Erickson, GMA Network, and the British Broadcasting Company. He is currently completing his MSc dissertation at the London School of Economics on how Filipinos in London construct their identity in the rituals of news reception and use of videoke. His research interests are on media and migration, media and morality, and mediated public participation.

VII. Contact Information
Contact the lecturer at bertiebott@hotmail.com with COM11 on the subject line. He holds office at the Department of Communication every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Students (individually or in groups) should sign up for consultation in this online sign-up sheet. Office hours can be used to clarify theories discussed in class, get feedback from class assignments, discuss the readings, etc. Students are encouraged to meet with the lecturer at least once during the term.