Tomorrow we're scheduled to catch up on some shorter readings from Tuesday and tackle Posner and Dionne. If you are planning on missing class tomorrow because of good Friday, please e-mail me at my home address -- LauraM1111@aol.com. Thanks.

Hi, guys. Most of you seem to have gotten the hang of this blogging thing. If you are still unsure of how to use the technology or how to find information, please come see me at my office hours (Wednesday 9:30-11:30). Please don't leave this project until the last minute. At this point your blog should have the following elements:
- a title and a description
- a blogroll with the class blogs and at least three outside blogs
- a couple of posts that include links to either traditional news sources or other bloggers
- a sitemeter counter

Tomorrow, we'll go over the following readings:
Klam, Matthew. “Fear and Laptops on the Campaign Trail”, New York Times, September 26, 2004.
“Jane Galt,” “Will Blogs Replace MSM.” July 25, 2006
Rago, Joseph, "The Blog Mob: Written by fools to be read by imbeciles," The Wall Street Journal, Opinion Journal, December 20, 2006
Sunstein, Cass. “ The Daily We: Is the Internet Really A Blessing for Democracy?,” Boston Review, Summer, 2001.
Harmon, Amy. “Ideas & Trends: Politics of the Web: Meet, Greet, Segregate, Meet Gain”, New York Times, January 24, 2004.

The Sunstein article is the most important.

These are all the class blogs so far. Please let me know if there are any additions.

Denise - Purple Elephants.
Matt - Final For 22
Anthony -Morris County Politics
Jennifer - Bio Banter
Jonathan - The Big Race
Michael - Real Concerns For America
Tony - Wheels and Deals
Craig - America For Americans
Edward - Intellectual Property Rights In the Digital Age
Ariel - Rainforest Revitalization
Laura - The L Memo

Hope everyone is enjoying their break.

In between all your frolicking, I hope that you are thinking up plans for your blog. I will be providing links for your surfing pleasure throughout the day. They will be available on the sidebar of this blog and below in the syllabus. If you are having trouble coming up with an idea for the blog, please leave a comment below. I would be happy to brainstorm some ideas with you.

Reminder: the next class will be held in Room B127, the Computer Center.

Also, please note that I have made some revisions to the syllabus below.

The Reading List

Introduction to the Class (complete)

What is Political About the Media? (complete)
Graber Chapter 1
Taking Sides Introduction

Controlling the Media (complete)
Graber – Chapter 2
Taking Sides – 13 and 16

Feb 2 and 6 -- The First Amendment
Graber -- Chapter 3
Taking Sides – 7, 11, 12

Feb 9, 13 – What Do Reporters Do?
Graber -- Chapter 4, 5
Murrow, Edward R. Speech for the RTNDA Convention, Chicago, October 15, 1958.
Lemann, Nicholas, “The Murrow Doctrine,” The New Yorker, January 1, 2006,


Feb 16, 20, 23 – Media Shapes Policy and Society
Graber -- Chapters 6, 7
Taking Sides -- Issue 1, 3, 9


Feb 27 -- The Rise of New Media
Graber – Chapter 12
Jenkins and Thornburn – 17

Mar 2, 6 -- What is a Blog?
“Blog,” wikipedia,
Klam, Matthew. “Fear and Laptops on the Campaign Trail”, New York Times, September 26, 2004.
Latest Pew Study
Winer, Dave. “What Makes a Weblog,” Fri, May 23, 2003
Jenkins and Thornburn – 18, 19

Surfing:
Instapundit -- libertarian, warblogger, law professor
Kos -- liberal blogger
Political Animal -- centrist-liberal blogger
TAPPED -- group liberal blog
James Lileks-- libertarian and personal blogger
Pandagon -- liberal, feminist blogger
Huffington Post -- group liberal blog
Andew Sullivan -- pro-gay marriage, conservative blogger
Firedoglake -- liberal blog
Treehugger -- environmental blog
The Truth Laid Bear ecosystem -- a ranking of all the blogs
Technorati -- a blog directory, searchable; also has rankings
SCOTUSblog -- a blog on the Supreme Court


March 9 – Mid-term exam

March 20 -- More on Blog Basics
Set up individual blogs
Computer Room, B127

March 23 -- The Powers of New Media or Blog Triumphantalism
Hugh Hewitt (hand out provided in class)
Little Green Footballs, “Reuters Doctoring Photos From Beirut?” Saturday, August 05, 2006.
Farhi, Paul. “Blogger Takes Aim At News Media and Makes a Direct Hit.” Washington Post. August 9, 2006. p.C1.
Marcotte, Amanda, "Blogging Populism and the Media Establishment," TPMCafe, Feb. 19, 2007.

March 27, 30 – The Limits of New Media
Jenkins and Thornburn – 20, 21, 22
Taking Sides, Issue 10, 14
“Jane Galt,” “Will Blogs Replace MSM.” July 25, 2006
Lemann, Nicholas, “Amateur Hour”, The New Yorker, Aug. 7 and 4, 2006. (no longer available on line; use ProQuest)
Rago, Joseph, "The Blog Mob: Written by fools to be read by imbeciles," The Wall Street Journal, Opinion Journal, December 20, 2006

April 3, 6 -- Objectivity, Accuracy, and New Media
Dionne, E. J. "The Making of Democracy 2006: How the New Media and the Old Media Could Live Together Happily and Enhance Public Life," The Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics, The Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, November 16, 2006
Sunstein, Cass. “ The Daily We: Is the Internet Really A Blessing for Democracy?,” Boston Review, Summer, 2001.
Harmon, Amy. “Ideas & Trends: Politics of the Web: Meet, Greet, Segregate, Meet Gain”, New York Times, January 24, 2004.
Glover, K. Daniel and Mike Essl, “New on the Web: Politics As Usual.” New York Times, December 3, 2006.
Posner, Richard A., “Bad News.” The New York Times. July 31, 2005.

April 10 -- Are We Smarter or Dumber in the Information Age?
Taking Sides 18, Jenkins and Thornburn – Chapter 20
Hamilton, William L. “Repulsed, Yet Watching All the Same.” New York Times. December 3, 2006.

April 13, 17 -- Democracy and New Media – New Access or New Elitism?
Jenkins and Thornburn – Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 9

April 20, 24 – Global Developments
Jenkins and Thornburn – Chapter 12, 13, 14, 15

April 27 -- The Information Future
Sloan, Robin and Matt Thompson. EPIC 2015, Museum of Media History. 2005.
Hirschorn, Michael. “Get Me Write!” Atlantic Magazine, December 2006. p.172

April 27 - Blog project due

May 3 (Thursday), 9:00 AM - Final

Hi guys.

I've set up this blog to provide better links to the required readings, as well as links to juicy articles in the press. In the second half of the class, this blog will provide you with guidance about how to develop your own space.