GROUP PRESENTATIONS
Presentations should be informative at minimum. The best presentations will develop and defend a basic argument concerning a topic.
Some Topic Ideas:
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Peer-to-peer file sharing technologies. Examples: An overview of their development or a narrative of Napster and the legal battles with the music publishing industry.
School library censorship.
News content analysis on an issue. Examples: Fox vs CNN. Print vs TV.
Famous or remarkable public relations or advertising campaigns. Example: Got Milk ads or oil companies “green” technologies PR
Media coverage of disasters such as Hurricane Katrina or California Wildfires.
Any kind of international media comparison. Example: PBS vs BBC
Analyze body image projections in the media.
Investigation of an alternative media organization or production such as pirate radio, independent local media, or issue based media.
Media ownership analysis. Could be sector based (ownership patterns in magazine industry) or conglomerate based (the corporate history, operations, and holdings of Time Warner).
Explain the debates regarding network neutrality.
Will books disappear with the introduction of digital technologies?
What are the consequences of media conglomeration for a democratic society and its citizens?
What are the positive and negative effects of using blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace for young adults, teenagers, or children?
Do media shape our vote intention and, therefore, America’s political and economic future?
Is advertising ethical?
Is television harmful for children?
Do videogames encourage violent behavior?
Is blogging journalism?
Books will never be usurped by digital technologies. Computers and technology are wonderful; I use them everyday in my work as a media specialist. However, there’s nothing like curling up with a book on a cold and rainy day. Ebooks cannot give one the same feeling of turning pages, leisurely thumbing through a picture book, or peeking at the end of a novel to see how it ends. The yellowed pages of historical tomes which help transport one back into history cannot be replaced with a small electrical device made of plastic.
Comment by Kathy Crain — May 2, 2008 @ 10:35 am