CMN 3109 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Jürgen Habermas, Frankfurt School, Social Change
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
CMN 3109
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Lecture 1: September 5th, 2018
*No textbook, required readings posted online*
Will upload at the speed of our class
Coursework:
In Class Quiz #1 - Oct 10th (10%) [concepts - no analysis]
Group Proposal - Nov 14th (20%) [topic dealing with democracy, media and public sphere]
In Class Quiz #2 - Nov 19th (20%) [covers topics after first quiz]
Group Presentation - Nov 21 to Dec 5 (10%)
Take Home Group Paper - Dec 14th (30%)
Attendance - Ongoing (10%)
The personal matters become political when they come out.
Looking at social concerns through the lens of critical communication theories.
Relation of media communication to democracy. Ownership. Social change to the better.
Media technologies extend the voice of the individual.
Example: Donald Trump
Themes:
- Spaces (who can occupy this space, who can protest, who can have their voices heard?)
- Media (mainstream, alternative, resistive - how does media and spaces impact and change
each other?)
- Trolling (outrageous comments aimed at getting a reaction, distracting from what goes on
behind the scenes)
- Lies (lies become normalized, trolling as a source of entertainment, stop being resistive
as it becomes acceptable?)
- Communications (extend our voice and actions)
- Audience (and audience attraction)
- Market (and market logic; attention between power, money, society, and the individual)
- Money
The French Revolution 1789
- Before the revolution, divine power was common
- During the revolution, the base of society revolted and killed the King (and the power
that enabled the King)
- Other Examples: Black Panther Party participants, Maple Spring, Arab Spring, Idle No
More, Red Dress Project (MMIW), LGBT movement, #MeToo
Communication and the Public Sphere (spaces and tools)
Habermas: The Public Sphere and Democracy
- He theorized the term “public sphere”
- Look at the ideational network (the web of theories)
- Habermas looks at the pragmatism (experiencing a complex theory in everyday life as an
individual) (concepts getting translated into daily actions)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o Concepts that have to influence communication (distract from democracy or
contribute to it, balance under specific conditions)
**How did the public sphere influence other schools of thought?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Lecture 2: journalism and conflict in the modern age (past 150 years) Modern war reportage: propaganda to journalism: reporters and war artists accompanied expedition west (louise riel, red river. Rebellion: reporters dispatched, mostly worked behind lines (borres, south africa, ww1: 1914 to 1917 for first two years of war there were no reporters from canada reporting on the war from the front lines. Defeating nazi germany didn"t seem like a sure thing. U-boats were sinking off the coast of atlantic canada. Editors cooperated: reaction from public (winnipeg strike in 1919). Soldiers came home to find the public had been fed a lie by the media. Over the course of the war journalists were no longer willing to be part of a lie: journalists shared images that eroded support back home. The military was no longer able to project to the public that this was a righteous cause. The most common reason given is national security.
