Discussion Questions_Chozick_Heyler

Discussion Questions: Jimmy Wales Is Not an Internet Billionaire

Sydney Heyler

Section 310

1.   What do you think the article means when it calls Wales the “Benevolent Dictator for Life” or B.D.F.L.?  How much power/influence over Wikipedia do you think Wales has actually exercised? Is this an appropriate title for Wales?

2.  Do you agree with the article when it says that using advertisements would cause members of the Wikipedia “community” to revolt?  What do you think of Michael J. Wolf’s paradox: “That what makes Wikipedia so valuable for users is what gets in its way of becoming a valuable, for-profit enterprise”?  How do these concepts tie together?

3.  Do you agree with the article that Wale’s celebrity “relies largely on being the guy who made the sum of the world’s information free without making a penny himself”?  Does the public truly recognize and appreciate this aspect of Wales or do you think he is largely criticized for “leaving money on the table”?

4.  Wikipedia prides itself in giving anonymous volunteers with the same power as established experts.  What do you think of this approach?  Has it been successful for Wikipedia?

5. How has the “community’s” view/opinion of Wales changed over the years?  Do you think Wales has stayed true to Wikipedia’s original “higher purpose” or shifted to other motivations since starting his company?

Discussion Questions_Lemann_Isaac Ama

Isaac Ama

J201 Section 310

Jiun-Yi Tsai/Wells

6 November 2013

Discussion Questions

1. Do you think that you are susceptible to the kind of work that is done in "word labs"? Either way, can you think of an example, not from the article, that either influenced, or was meant to influence you?

2. It seems that everyone in politics and even other realms have a tendency to use these types of words. What do you think about the use of word labs? Is it good, bad, unfair, sneaky, etc.?

3. As the article kind of poses this question, do you think that politicians can afford not to use word labs? What would happen to politicians who tried to avoid using word labs?

4. Finally, now that the use of word labs have been brought to your attention, what steps will you take to make sure you don't favor one candidate over another just by their use of word labs? Do you think you can learn to not let these words influence you and see the candidate how they actually are, or will word labs always be a problem that will always influence voters?

Discussion Questions_Nisbet/Scheufele_O'Brien

Erin O'Brien

J201

Section 310

Discussion Questions

Do you agree with the authors in the argument that political parties are being polarized in today’s government? Why do you think this has happened?

The article discussed that the rise of the 24-hour news cycle stations such as FoxNews, MSNBC, and CNN, continue the trend of polarization by allowing consumers of news to chose to watch news that agrees with their political stances. Do you agree that this allows consumers of news to further political polarization?

Has polarization created disgust with politics and the government? For example the current government shutdown was a case of polarization in the government. Do you see polarization causing further damage to the American government system?

Conservatives adopted a campaign strategy which sharpens differences between parties and decreasing the amount of moderates for their party while liberals embraced awareness of other views and reached out to engage with new demographics of voters. Just by considering the communication and PR strategies of the campaigns, which do you see as more successful?

Discussion Questions_Maher_Holt

1)When was the first the time you noticed racial stereotyping in advertising? Do you have any specific examples? (Ex: Popeye commercials with African Americans, Volkswagen commercial where a middle eastern man blows himself up in the car but the car doesn’t explode, meant to show that the car was “tough”)

2)Research with prime-time television shows that African Americans are often found in advertisements for snack/food products or other products of low value, Asians appear in commercials that symbolize work life, and Caucasians are often found in toy advertisements which are considered “higher value” or more desirable. Why do you think some products are portrayed as higher value and lower value? Who makes these distinctions?

3)Why do you think minorities such as Hispanics are underrepresented in advertisements even though they are more likely to watch more TV on a weekly basis compared to Caucasians?

4)What are some ways advertisers could portray ethnicities equally in Children’s advertising today? Should somebody monitor these advertisements to stop racial stereotyping in advertising? (Ex: include more cartoons that don’t have ethnicities, could also be cheaper for advertisers because they wouldn’t have to pay for actors)

5)If this same type of stereotyping was happening in print advertising compared to television advertising, do you think it would be as big of a deal in the public’s eye? Is print advertising relevant for children nowadays anyway?

6)Results reported by Bang and Reece (2003) show that African Americans rarely appear by themselves in advertisements by themselves while Asians and Hispanics never appear in an advertisement without a Caucasian character. But on the flip side, Caucasian character appear by themselves in 47.5 % of the advertisements that they sampled. What kind of message do you think this sends about racial integration to children and adults about the society we live in today? (i.e. Does it not matter because it’s only advertising or does this have an effect on society?) Do you think children realize this lack or racial integration? What age do you think children start to realize this lack or racial integration if at all? Explain.

Discussion Questions_Goodman_Ryan Wenberg

Ryan Wenberg

10/28/13

J201 Sec. 310

Discussion Questions for In Case of Emergency

1) Goodman already mentions LeBron James, Mel Gibson, and Tiger Woods in his article, but can you think of any other examples of celebrities that have faced image issues?

2) The way BP and it’s contractors pointed the finger at one another during the oil spill showed that the lawyers were in control more than the communications professionals. As a company, is it more beneficial to accept responsibility to save credibility or to deny culpability in order to secure themselves against lawsuits?

3) In the case of BP, Keith Hearit, a communications professor at Western Michigan University, says, “there was nothing that could be done to make it better, but there was plenty that could be said to make it worse. Is it better for a company to just let the story take it’s course in these situations or is it better to try and get in front of the story and risk damaging their image further?

4) Eric Dezenhall is quoted as saying, “Nobody ever says: ‘Oh, that’s wonderful communications. We feel good now.’ “ How much can public relations really affect the way the public views a company after a scandal?

Discussion Questions_Rushkoff_Alvarado Silverman

1. From your personal experience, how large of an impact do you feel advertising has had on the choices you make?

2. Rushkoff states that "ads attempting to associate a brand with a celebrity or lifestyle aren't nearly as effective as they once were." However, many ads today still feature celebrities and other important members of society in order to promote their product. Do you agree with the author, or are celebrities and other public figures still an important part of advertising culture?

3. On multiple occasions, Rushkoff discusses how today' society is more "media-savvy," and also how people are more skeptical of advertisers. Do you agree with this, or does advertising still have a large influence on society's thoughts and preferences?

4. Rushkoffs article was written in 1999. Since then, have you noticed any changes in the types of ads being shown or in the methods advertisers use to reach audiences?

Discussion Questions_Bernays_Cordero

Alec Cordero

Discussion Questions

1. Bernays argues that a society and the people within it cannot function unless the invisible government always exists. Do you agree or can individuals be completely self-reliant or self-thinking without any external influence? 

2. The author considers the plethora of organizations such as political parties or interest groups to be the foundation of how democracies and societies function. Do you agree or should there be fewer of these organizations to help individuals narrow down their options?

3. What are some examples from your own personal experience or knowledge that exemplify people in a society being influenced by some great external force such as advertising or propaganda?

4. Because public relations counsels have significant amounts of power and influence over how society's beliefs are formed, what are some of the dangerous implications behind this? Should public relations counsels exist or no?

5. Do you actively think about the effects of advertising and product placement on your own life? Have you ever been influenced positively, negatively, or neutrally by their effects?

Discussion Questions_Hively_Tsai

Dan Hively

Discussion Questions

1. Do you think that journalists should be punished for “self-publishing”? What are some times that self-publishing is alright, and when is it not?

2. The author, Boris Kachka, accuses Lehrer of writing to the information hungry general public by using writing that “reads like a symphony – magical, authoritative, deeply true”. Is it bad for journalists to write this way? Should journalists tailor their writing to an audience, or keep it the same for all?

           

3. The third page quotes David Carr in saying that “the Web’s ferocious appetite for content” and the collapse of hard news is the reason for Lehrer’s demise. Do you feel that hard news is failing? In what ways is this true? How does what happened to Lehrer describe this?

4. Lehrer adjusted some of his facts to support his conclusions. Can you think of any other examples of this, and how is this bad?

5. Does his fallings represent a trend among news as a whole? For the consumer? For the journalist?

Discussion Questions_Rheingold_Lehrer

The article titled, "Crap Detection 101", gives some key advice to readers on how to evaluate information posted on the web. It focuses strongly on the downfalls that have and that may happen if web information consumers are not careful and investigative with the information they receive online.

1. In your consumption of online information how much time do you spend fact checking? Do you have an "automatic crap detector operating inside" of you as Ernest Hemingway said all citizens should have?

2. The author believes a good way to gauge a source's credibility is the "triangulation" theory or the testing it's credibility with three different ways. Do you think this is a sufficient way to check information? What are they ways you test a sources credibility?

3. Rheingold mentioned the problem of sites and groups that use false information to "dupe" people, do you think this is something that can continue to be possible in the growing media society?

4. Another quote from the author states that, "the issue of information literacy could be even more important than the health or education of some individuals", do you agree with this? How much do you see online information credibility as an issue?

Discussion Questions_"Who's a Journalist? Does that Matter?"_Dobbs

The article, "Who's a Journalist? Does that matter?", raises some very interesting points about what it means to be a journalist in today's world and why it matters anymore. The title in itself proposes two questions important questions.

1. Dan Gilmor, the author of the article, states, "People often ask who, in this anyone-can-publish world, is a journalist? I tell them this is the wrong question. The right one: What is journalism?" This is my first question for you: What do you think of when you hear the word Journalism? What does it mean to you to be a journalist?

2. What has society done to the title of a journalist? Do you think journalists are losing credibility because of this "Anyone-can-publish" society?

3. What does it mean to be an active user of media versus a passive user?

4. Dan Gilmor suggests we need a new name for modern media creators but has not thought of a proper one. Do you have any suggestions for another name?

Discussion Questions_Kovach & Rosenstiel 8-9_Rosenberg

 Chapter 8 focuses a great deal on taking in news that really matters and the idea that we should take action with our new found knowledge. We take in news that is in our best interest, but what will we do with that new information? It also looks at reporting from different angles. Is a story more effective when it is told from the standpoint of people being directly affected by it?

My questions for this chapter are as follows—

-Do you think that Loretta’s previous life with journalism influenced her to research the story about the background of the furniture she was importing? Do you think that the average American would go to such great lengths to do the same?

-Surveys explain to us that we attain news to talk about it with family and friends, because we have a civic responsibility to do so, or just to improve our lives. Do you feel that we have a responsibility to do something with the news we digest? Or is it purely designed to inform us?

-This American Life is a weekly hour long radio show hosted by Ira Glass—it examines a single topic through personal stories told by a variety of people.

Is it beneficial to hear the news through people who are affected by it personally? Do you think it helps us relate to it more and in turn promote us to take more action with our new knowledge?

Chapter 9 is the final chapter of the book, and it focuses on where Journalism is heading. It was explained in the book that the fence that once existed in the early 20^th century that contained the stories and news that were dictated to the general public has now been torn down. In todays society any citizen has the ability to be a journalist –technology allows them to do so. We now must cater to that idea, and refine the way journalists report, and carefully critique what comes from the average citizen.

My questions are as follows-

-Is the idea that any person can be a journalist a comforting idea? Or a scary one? Think about instances like the Arab Spring and how twitter caused rebellions in Egypt. Citizens were able to take to their various technological outlets and express their thoughts concerning unjust acts committed by the government.

-With such an influx of news from various sources, how will we know what is accurate or not? Will we know what is credible? Will the role of the authenticator be enough?

-Compared to the six elements that can be offered in covering an event for a newspaper story, do you think that the 17 offered for web enhance the story, or distract the reader from the point?

-It was explained that newsrooms must add new skill sets in storytelling—such as information coming in forms such as statistical, graphical, audio and visual technologies. Do you think that this is a necessary step in the progression of journalism? Or should newsrooms be held to their simplistic origins?