Get Real!

In the olden days, it was pretty clear what was news and what was "news" ... in other words, the fake stuff was pretty obvious. But now it's tough to figure out what is factual, what is fake, what is an ad and what is written by actual journalists. This bewildering world of information, pseudo-information and downright lies is most confusing for young people who often have little exposure to actual high-quality journalism. NPR reports on a Stanford professor's study.

Questions...

•How do you determine whether news is accurate or not?

•Should computers at schools and libraries have browsers that read only stories from reputable sources? Why or why not?

•Should spreading fake news be illegal? Why or why not?

•Is fake news a threat to democratic societies? If so, how?

•How should we teach Glendale College students how to evaluate news and academic sources? Suggest some research questions for a Winter 2017 research paper on the topic of fake news.

Survey Results

Your Humble Blogger received the following message regarding the research survey that more than 60 MC101s recently participated in.

Dear Participants,

Thank you for participating in the study Media Framing of Rape Cases & the Effects of Race Representation on News Credibility.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the way race is portrayed in media framed cases covering rape and how race in these stories affect the credibility of the news source in the eyes of the public.

This study is important because it helps us better understand the effects of ethnicity on news framing and news perception. Theoretically, this research is an extension of Communication Studies theories such as Expectancy Violation Theory, Framing Theory, Social Judgment Theory and Information processing.

In this study, you were asked to read a news article in which images and text were framed positively or negatively for a white or African American perpetrator. In fact, none of these stories or characters was true. We have to use this procedure so that we can accurately test the proposed effects.

Finally, we guarantee you that all your responses provided in the study will not be disclosed to anyone else. If you have any questions about this study or if you would like to receive a copy of the results, you can email us at plainez@calstatela.edu.

Again, thank you for your participation in our research.

Sincerely,
Melissa Flores, Paulina Lainez, Nancy Meza, and Jennifer Oliva
CSULA Communication Studies

Extra Credit Opportunity

Your Humble Blogger will make participation in this research study available for two points of extra credit, the same as a Workshop or SI session. Below is a message from the graduate students (one of them a former MC101 SI leader) conducting this study:

Hello All,

We are a group of grad students currently attending CSULA and we would like to ask for your help in a Communication research study. You will be asked to read a short news story and fill out a questionnaire after it. The whole study will take about 20-30 minutes.

Your instructor has agreed to provide you with extra credit once you have completed the survey. Please make sure you provide your information on the last page of the survey so that your instructor can make sure to give you your credit.

Your participation is completely voluntary. All of your information will remain confidential and password protected. The study will be available for participation from now to Friday, November 18, 2016. Please use the link below to take this study.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VZNWWYP

If you have any questions on this study, please feel free to contact us directly. We really appreciate your participation and we thank you in advance.

Sincerely,
Melissa Flores, Paulina Lainez, Nancy Meza, and Jennifer Oliva
CSULA Communication Studies

Questions? Contact plainez@calstatela.edu

Poll Position

Last week, we looked at presidential polls in several MC101 classes. Your Humble Blogger briefly discussed the Los Angeles Times-USC poll, which unlike nearly every other poll (including the Fox News Poll!) predicted a Trump victory. So how did so many other polling agencies get the result wrong and this poll got it right? NPR reports.

Questions...

•Do election polls have news value? If you were an editor or news producer, would you do stories about the latest election polls? Why or why not?

•Do polls about social issues (like support for the death penalty or regulating firearms or same-sex marriage) have any news value? Why or why not?

•In your estimation, do pre-election polls make an impact on voting in any way?

•The Los Angeles Times endorsed Hillary Clinton on their editorial page, yet their poll predicted a Trump victory? What, if anything, does this say about the newspaper?

Quadrennial Equation

Every Four Years, Your Humble Blogger puts his graduate education in Political Science to work by giving students a few things to watch for on election night. First thing to know about presidential elections: the candidate who wins the nationwide popular vote doesn't necessarily win. Ask President Gore.

Today's presentation will introduce MC101s to the electoral map, and how things may unfold on Tuesday night.

Questions...

How many votes do you need to be elected President?

How Much Is Too Much?

This is a MediaNote Classic. It was originally presented to MC101 students in Fall 2014.

We intuitively believe that too much time in front of a screen--whether it's a TV or a computer screen--is bad for people. And we tend to believe it is particularly damaging to children.

It turns out that some very successful people in the technology industry feel pretty much the same way. NPR reports.

Questions...

•What are all the reasons to limit a child's screen time?

•How is the Internet worse (or more hazardous) for children than television? How is TV worse for them than the Internet?

•Which is more dangerous for children: That advertisers have near unlimited access to children or that children become addicted to the screen?

•Does it make sense that reading is considered good for children and the Internet is considered bad? What's the difference?

•What rules would you have for your child's Internet use?