End of semester class notes

Just to reiterate the class notes presented at the beginning of the class on Monday, May 6:

***The J201 Final takes place Tuesday, May 14 at 10:05 am. Please come to our usual lecture hall (3650 Humanities) and be 10-15 minutes early so we can start on time.

If you are a McBurney student, the Final is at the same time, but come to 5013 Vilas Hall.

If you need any other accommodation, please contact me ASAP.

Also:

***Essay 3 is due this Thursday at 5pm, to TAs mailboxes (hard copy) and turnitin
***Online Assignment #4 is now posted (see previous blog post). It is due by the start of the Final, at 10am on Tuesday the 14th.
***There will be no Online Assignment #5. You will automatically receive the point.

Online assignment #4

For Online assignment #4, you will be downloading your own archive of Facebook content and inspecting it.

You can find your archive here: https://www.facebook.com/settings

Click on 'Download a copy' at the bottom.

NOTE: It may take a couple of hours, or a day, for Facebook to collect and archive your data. So get started on the archive right away!

Once you get your archive, scan through it. Check out the different kinds of data in the archive. Then answer a few questions in a post on your section's blog:

•What strikes you about the archive? Does anything surprise you?

•What are your thoughts about Facebook storing this information? Invasion of privacy? A reasonable provision of services?

If you are not a Facebook user, read the Simonite article and offer some comments about its perspective on Facebook and the use of user data.

The journalism of assertion strikes again...

With CNN, FoxNews and others asserting that an arrest had been made in the Boston bombing case.

According to this article, they reported and discussed it for an hour before realizing the information was incorrect...

Online Assignment #3

The VALS survey is one method for understanding people and how they go about their lives. In the terms we have been discussing in class, it is primarily a measure of psychographics--the VALS framework implies that different ways of thinking about the world and a person's place in it lead to different kinds of ways of appealing to them with strategic messages.

To get a sense of how this kind of psychographic analysis works, in this assignment, you will take the VALS survey. It is available here: http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/presurvey.shtml

Once you take the survey, you will get a results page assigning you to one of the VALS categories. Take a snapshot of that information, and post it to your section's blog. Then reflect on whether you think that category accurately reflects how you see yourself. Descriptions of each of the VALS types can be found here: http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/ustypes.shtml

The assignment is due Monday, May 22, by 5pm. By that time I also will be taking the survey and posting my results.

Focus groups as market research

We talked yesterday in class about the increasing use of market research in advertising in the 1960s. Mad Men captured that trend perfectly in their subplot starring Faye, an up-and-coming market researcher. Here she conducts a focus group with secretaries in the agency.

Extra credit for film!

The Wisconsin Film Festival runs April 11-18. There are several films of interest from a social, political, or communication perspective that we offer extra credit for seeing.

To receive extra credit, you must attend one of the films listed below. You may only receive extra credit for one film. You must keep your ticket stub, to be turned in, as well as writing a 500-word summary and critique of the film's content. This should be included in your log of extra credit participation.

Note: like any film festival, the screenings of each film are quite limited. To ensure you get a ticket, consider buying your ticket online in advance ASAP. (Student tickets are only $5.) http://2013.wifilmfest.org/

Best of the British Arrows
Beyond the Hills
Gideon's Army
Something in the Air
Special Flight

Because of of the limited availability of festival films, we also will offer extra credit for two feature films screening around town. These are:
No
The Company You Keep

Online assignment #2: History at the movies

If you watched the Oscars--or even if you didn't--you probably know that an unusually large number of the most popular films of 2012 had historical themes.

In a recent article, New York Times film critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott comment on this trend, and the fact that many of these films were not entirely accurate: they took various liberties with historical facts, for various reasons.

Have you seen any of the movies they describe, or other recent movies that stretched (or ignored) the truth of historical events? What is your reaction to their comments on such films? Obviously, their piece coincides with our class discussions of truth and art, as in the Mike Daisy affair and others.

In your online assignment, describe your sense of filmmakers' responsibility to the truth. Should we expect films to accurately represent history? Or are films entertainment that have not responsibility to be accurate? Are there some circumstances where accuracy should be expected but not others?

Post your thoughts on your class blog. Use complete sentences and at least 300 words. The assignment is due Friday, March 15 at 5pm.