CJ 412: Mass Media Ethics

Fall 2009

SECTION 001- 9:15-10:45pm       T Th    HHH 108

SECTION 002 - 11:00-12:15pm   T Th    HHH 108

Mr. Jack Kapfer

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Office:                                                             HHH 105A        Phone: 836-2300     

Office Hours:                                                  M, W 11-11:50am/T, W  1-1:50pm & By  Appt.

Web page: www.uwec.edu/kapferja                        Email:kapferja@uwec.edu                                      

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Please be sure to turn off all mobile communication devices before each class.

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Course description

     From the UWEC catalog: “Studies of ethical theories and their application to mass media ethical problems.”

      This course will combine practical and theoretical aspects of ethics, in the context of advertising, public relations, journalism and mass media entertainment.  We will discuss successes and failures of a wide variety of ethical dilemmas and their implications to the media and society.

      This course is intended to be a shared learning experience.  The more you participate, the more you and those around you will learn. This is your chance to shoot your mouth off! Use it!

 

Course objectives (and related UWEC goals of the baccalaureate degree)

     This course relates in a number of ways to the goals adopted by the faculty for the UW-Eau Claire baccalaureate degree.  Specifically, here is how this course relates to the following degree goals (and should help you demonstrate your mastery of them):

 

Knowledge of Human Culture and the Natural World

    * UW-Eau Claire students will demonstrate a breadth of knowledge about human culture and about the natural world. Studying ethics is fundamental to understanding how peoples of different cultures and backgrounds think and relate to the world around them. The readings, class discussion and projects will give you the opportunity to study how and why media practitioners make their decisions and how those decisions affect our culture and society.

     

Creative and Critical Thinking

    *UW Eau Claire students will develop creative and critical thinking skills that can be applied to a range of contexts. We will learn and practice these skills throughout the semester in our class discussions, the quizzes, your case study research and oral presentations.

 

Effective Communication

    * UW Eau Claire students will write, read, speak, and listen effectively in various contexts including applications to civic and discipline specific contexts. Being a quality communications student means not only evaluating the communication process but developing the skills needed to be an effective communicator. Through class discussions and the case study assignment you will sharpen and demonstrate your oral and written communication abilities.

 

Individual and Social Responsibility

    *UW Eau Claire students will develop skills and values for ethical reasoning and life-long learning. One of the most prominent aspects of an analysis of ethics is an evaluation of how to act responsibly within the mass media professions. Just the mention of ethics in mass media evokes a strong connection of the subject to both individual and social responsibility. In our discussions, case studies and research we will learn how business and government pressures combine with media practitioners’ foibles to create ethical dilemmas – and we will learn how to harness and subjugate those pitfalls for the good of society.

   

Respect for Diversity among People

    * UW-Eau Claire students will develop skills and knowledge for living in a culturally pluralistic and globally interdependent world. Particularly in readings and class discussions, we will analyze how ethics is not just an important aspect of media study but also an integral part of everyday life and how they can affect our judgments about and relationships with a variety of peoples and groups.

 

Additionally, this course is designed to help you achieve the CJ Department’s goals for its students. Communication and journalism are crucial to a democratic society. Both require citizens to share and challenge their information. To prepare students for responsible roles in a democratic society, the department’s goals are designed to foster development in the following areas:

 

·         Oral, written, and visual communication skills: Participation in class discussions and case study group project will give you a chance to practice and highlight your communication skills. 

·         Research and information-gathering skills: You will have to research and gather information on a contemporary mass media ethical dilemma for your case study project.

·         Critical and analytical thinking: As we go through the semester, you will hopefully hone and demonstrate analytical skills. Your mass media dilemma cannot be one that has been previously analyzed for its ethics, so these skills will be essential for that project. In addition to that, you will need to learn and exercise critical and analytical thinking to succeed in our classroom discussions, textbook quizzes and final exam.

·         Awareness and knowledge of communication processes in diverse cultural, social, legal, and ethical contexts: Throughout this course, we will be studying, discussing, analyzing and teaching each other about mass media ethical dilemmas that cut across many cultural, social and legal boundaries.  This is a highly interdisciplinary course, which is part of why it qualifies for three upper-division general education credits, so it is at the core of a liberal arts education.

 

   Overall, this course is intended to help you think critically about the mass communication media and their roles in modern society.  We will attempt to discern differences as well as similarities on ethical issues in such areas as news, entertainment programming on radio and TV, public relations, advertising and online communication.  These inquiries are all aimed at helping you understand how and why to make ethical choices regarding the mass media.  Ultimately, our goal is to communicate the bases of our ethical choices so effectively that even those who disagree with our decisions respect our sincerity and extend our credibility.  Without credibility, we in the media have nothing.  We’ll also learn how to be more ethical consumers of the mass media, so this should be a valuable course whether or not you go on to work in advertising, journalism or PR.

 

     “Responsibility” will be a key word throughout this course, and our discussions will touch frequently upon it.  Just as media professionals are responsible for what they produce, you are responsible for the decisions you make with respect to this class and, by association, what you take from this class. You will not learn all you can without studying the assigned readings, attending and  participating fully in class discussions and attempting to think critically about ethics as it relates not only to media but  your own beliefs and behaviors.

    

Textbooks

       Clifford G. Christians, Kim B. Rotzoll, Mark Fackler and Kathy Brittain McKee, Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning, 7th edition, New York:  Pearson, 2005.           

 

        A. David Gordon and John Michael Kittross, Controversies in Media Ethics, 2nd edition, Longman, New York, 1999. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                             

     Along with the texts, there will be reading assignments from books that are now out of print. They can be found on my web page or on D2L. Here are the citations for those books: Deni Elliott, ed., Responsible Journalism, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1986; and James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1986.

 

                You are encouraged to bring your books and readings to class such that should the need to consult them arise during a discussion, they will be handy.

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assignments and grading    

     You will earn points throughout the semester.  They will come from pre-class quizzes in D2L on the textbook readings, your participation in class discussions, attendance, your group case study/teaching day presentation and the final exam and will be weighted as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

Textbook readings quizzes

 

10@ 12 pts. each [41% of final grade]

120

Teaching day case study

 

1 @ 50 pts. each [17% of final grade]

50

Attendance

 

24 @ 1 pt for being present (0 for absence w/prior notification, -3 for unexcused absence-see below for details) [8% of final grade]

24

Participation

 

20 @ 4 pts [27% of final grade]

80

Final Exam

 

1 @ 20 pts [7% of final grade]

20

TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS

 

 

294

 

ACCUMULATED POINTS

PCT.

GRADE

294-279

95%+

A

278-265

95-90%

A-

264-256

89-87%

B+

255-244

86-83%

B

243-235

82-80%

B-

234-226

79-77%

C+

225-215

76-73%

C

214-206

72-70%

C-

205-197

69-67%

D+

196-185

66-63%

D

184-176

62-60%

D-

Below 176

59% or less

F

 

Be advised: THERE IS NO “CURVE” USED IN THE FINAL GRADING. Your final grade is determined by the number of points YOU accumulate and its percentage of the total number of possible points:

 

Attendance: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT SO READ IT CAREFULLY!

Mandatory. Attendance will be taken every class period starting the first day. Beginning Tuesday September 15h those present and/or those with prior notification of documented university activity related absences (these are subject to my approval) will have one (1) attendance point added to their totals scores. Those not present but who have notified me prior to the beginning of class of their absences will receive no (0) points but will not be penalized by losing points. Those absent and who have NOT notified me prior to the beginning of class will lose three (3) points from their semester total point score.

            If you think you have a legitimate excused absence (e.g. college sanctioned activity), you must advise me of it at least one (1) week ahead of time so the appropriate arrangements can be made. At the same time, since I understand illness can wreak havoc on a college campus, should you succumb to a transient bug, you must make every effort to contact or inform me of your PENDING ABSENCE at the next class for it to be “considered” excused.

 

    Readings/Quizzes: During the semester you will take 12 pre-class quizzes related to the assigned reading. Of the 12, your highest ten (10) will count towards your final grade. These quizzes are intended to guide your readings, give you an opportunity to earn credit for absorbing the most valuable material in the readings.  The texts and supplemental readings are integral to this course, but we do not have time during class to repeat all of their salient points.  The quiz questions are meant to point you toward important points in each reading.

These readings quizzes are not meant to be punitive exercises in memorization.  Each quiz will be taken in our online D2L classroom.  You may print them out ahead of time, because they are open-book, and they are not timed.  But you must complete them by the deadline, which will be 10:30am (for both Section 001 and Section 002) of the day noted on the course schedule.  Our Desire2Learn classroom will not let you complete the quiz after the deadline; nor will it let you see the correct answers later if you miss the deadline. If you miss one, it cannot be made up.

            A word of caution: the LTS folks suggest you NOT take the quizzes late at night because this is the time during which maintenance is done on the university computers and the possibility exists your quiz will not register. In fact it’s a good idea to take them only on campus as there have been instances when students thought they had completed and submitted a quiz at home only to find it had not been properly submitted because of a questionable internet connection.

 

     Participation: This will be a very important part of the course. As noted above it is more than a quarter of your final grade (27%-possible total 80 points). The issues we will discuss are important to how we as communicators send, receive and understand messages. The objective is for everyone in the class to hear what you have to say. Your observations and opinions count.

            Beginning Tuesday September 15th, after each class, I will make an evaluation of your participation on a four (4) point scale. If you were in class, you will receive one (1) point (another good reason to attend class). Then, depending on the level of your participation in the discussion, you will be awarded one (1) to three (3) more points for a possible maximum total of four (4) for that day. Those who add most to the discussion will reap the greatest reward. Those not present in class, whether you have notified me or not, will not receive participation points.

 

Any students with documented disabilities or needs for special accommodations for their attendance and participation in the class should contact me by the end of the second week of classes. They should also contact the Services for Students with Disabilities Office in Old Library 2136 at the beginning of the semester.

 

 Case Study/Teaching day:  You will be divided into eight groups of four. Each group will decide on an “ethical dilemma” pertaining to some situation in the media. You will then research and make a presentation to the class on the topic’s depth and breadth, potential historical consequences, and what cautionary tale it provides to future members of the media. The significance of this learning method is to allow you the chance to develop and hone your research and organizational abilities as well as written and oral communication skills. The presentations will be given (two per day) the last four Thursdays of the semester.

 

     Final Exam: The final exam will comprise a series of multiple choice and matching questions that will require you to apply the ethical analysis concepts that we learn throughout the semester.  Like the quizzes, the final exam will also be on D2L - place, yet to be determined.

 

Per university policy, final exams may not be taken outside of the designated time and day without permission of the instructor, chair of the CJ Department, and the dean of A&S.

     Academic Dishonesty: I consider any academic misconduct in this course as a serious offense, and will pursue the strongest possible academic penalties for such behavior.  The disciplinary procedures and penalties for academic misconduct are described in the UW-Eau Claire Student Services and Standards Handbook in the section titled, “Chapter UWS 14 -- Student Academic Disciplinary Procedures."  The entire document is available to you online at http://www.uwec.edu/sdd/documents/handbook%202004.pdf

 

Assistance: Please know that I will do my best to be available to you to provide guidance and feedback on your work whenever possible. Office hours are listed above and special appointments can be made. Questions are always cheerfully answered, concerns respectfully heard. It’s why I’m here.

 

Again, any students with documented disabilities or needs for special accommodations for their attendance and participation in the class should contact me by the end of the second week of classes. They should also contact the Services for Students with Disabilities Office in Old Library 2136 at the beginning of the semester

 

FINAL EXAM:  

            Sec. 001 – 9:30-10:45pm: Monday Dec. 14, 10am.

 

Sec. 002- 11:00-12:15pm: Wednesday Dec. 16, 10am