I didn’t manage to blog last week, and this week’s post is going to be a bit different; it’s probably most relevant to my fellow journalism and media educators. I’ve been struggling with the question of which readings to assign for my introductory course called “Mass Communication and Society” (admittedly not the title I’d choose), which is a course enrolling about 100 students per semester and that I’ve taught in various iterations at three institutions for the last six (six! wow – time flies) years.
Here’s our course description at CSU Fresno:
Examines the political, economic, cultural, and behavioral impacts of mass media in national and international contexts. Analyzes the historical factors that have shaped the structures, practices, and products of mass media industries, and assesses contemporary trends in media-society relations. G.E. Breadth D3.
That “G.E.” bit at the end means this is also a general education course that satisfies graduation requirements beyond just those of majors in our department – so the course needs to be of interest, and ideally lasting value, to students who may never take another media or journalism course.
The book selection project.
One of the biggest challenges for me in teaching this course has been choosing readings that are contemporary, interesting, well-written and thoughtful. I have skipped around among textbooks in my six years of playing with this course: from Media/Impact by Shirley Biagi when I taught at a community college, to Media Today by Joseph Turow when the course was required to have a more media economics focus, to The Media of Mass Communication by John Vivian in my first year at Fresno State, and then to Media Literacy by W. James Potter this year.
I’ve just never been satisfied with any of these books, though the Potter textbook has come the closest to fulfilling my hopes. I like its focus on timeless media literacy skills that will be applicable regardless of the evolution of media in the coming years, and I like its rather critical approach to media overall. But its writing style is not especially compelling to students, and it’s a bit heavy on media effects and employs a specialized terminology that I think overwhelms students, especially early on in the semester when that material is covered.
Inspired by this post by Joshua Kim at Inside Higher Ed, I started thinking more about how I could use popular nonfiction to bring both breadth and depth to this course, while also allowing myself a chance to catch up on major nonfiction relevant to my field that I could explore with my students. So then the question became: which books?
Given that incredibly broad course description, it might seem I could choose just about anything. But here’s the list I’ve come up with, and the rough order in which I might use the books this semester:
- Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truths Behind America’s Favorite Addiction, by Jake Halpern
- An engaging read to get students thinking about the real significance of media in our culture.
- Ad Nauseam: A Survivor’s Guide to American Consumer Culture, by Carrie McLaren, Jason Torchinsky and Rob Walker
- I admit I’ve only seen the Kindle preview of this one – but it looks lighthearted and even got a good review from Advertising Age despite its critical content.
- Losing the News: The Future of the News That Feeds Democracy, by Alex S. Jones
- I know Jones’ position is largely a defense of traditional journalism – but it will be a starting point for our discussions of the following books. (Newsonomics by Ken Doctor was a runner-up in this spot; I like his focus on the future of the news business, but I felt it focused a bit too much on the financial outlook of journalism and not enough on its societal role. For a more specifically journalism-focused course, I’d give it a serious look.)
- Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, by Clay Shirky
- This one will help us look not just at news and media, but also more broadly to examine the power of the Internet in social interactions.
- True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society, by Farhad Manjoo
- The title says it all. That’s where our students live: better get them ready to deal with it as they venture out into the world.
- Republic.com 2.0, by Cass Sunstein
- Probably the heaviest of the bunch, but gets into some nitty-gritty about regulation and democracy, extending our discussions into governance and politics.
Look like a lot of books? It’s about 1,800 pages, which averages out to about 60 pages per class session (and only $59 for all used copies). I think it’ll be manageable, and all of these books are written in language that should be accessible to most freshmen and sophomores. I also like that most of these books have gotten enough public attention that I can find ample articles, videos and interviews online to supplement our class discussions.
Have a suggestion of a book I should substitute or subtract? A resource that would complement one of these? I’m looking forward to keeping this class on the cutting edge by exploring these texts next fall.
