Syllabus and Course Schedule

Ithaca College

Introduction to Media Industries

TVR 124000

Fall 2015

Instructor: Dr. Jack Powers (call me Jack)

Office: Park #368

E-mail: jpowers@ithaca.edu

Office Hours:

Mondays: 11:15 a.m. – 1:00 p.m..;  and 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Wednesdays: 11:15 a.m. – 1:00 p.m..;  and 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Additional hours available by appointment.

Class website: http://ICmediaindustriesFall2015.blogspot.com

Course description: Intro to Media Industries is a course designed to introduce the communication student to the vast and ever-so-pervasive world of the entertainment mass media. Through lectures, class discussions, debates, videos, presentations, assignments, and projects we shall examine the impact the entertainment media industries have had on American society. We’ll begin with a brief history of the entertainment media industry followed by a more in-depth look at each industry and how it has impacted society including how we spend our time, our expectations, society’s emphasis on showbiz and celebrity, influence of entertainment media as it pertains to socialization and politics, legal and economic aspects of the industry, etc.

Course Objectives/Goals: By the end of the term, students enrolled in Intro to Media Industries should be able to:

• Recognize the elements of the communication process in different settings and understand how these processes play a role in entertainment media;
• Explain the implications of “disintermediation” of the entertainment media;
• Understand and explain the concept of convergence and critically analyze its impact on the entertainment industry;
• Identify a variety of career options in entertainment media;
• Know about and recognize the impact of media regulation;
• Describe and recognize the major events/developments of the entertainment media industry;
• Understand and explain important ethical principles of entertainment media;
• Discuss the societal impact of media in terms of social effects and how these effects are measured.

Students will have the opportunity to demonstrate the meeting of these objectives/goals by performing well on exams, participating in intellectual class discussions, completing assignment, and completing a final project.

Required texts:

Dominick, J. (2012). Dynamics of Mass Communication. New York: McGraw-Hill. 

Advertising Campaign Group Project
It is critical for those wanting to work in media to understand the importance of advertising to the industry. 

Further, the entertainment media represent one of the few industries where those outside the profession consistently believe they can do a better job than those working inside the profession. The media are constantly under attack by different groups—including college students. This group project offers you an opportunity to produce original, creative media contact in the form of an advertising campaign for a real client. 

Project Information

Task: To create an advertising campaign for an entertainment media property.

Goal: To understand an aspect of the entertainment media business (advertising) that is critical to the entire mass media field.  

The Advertising Campaign

A campaign consists of a large number of ads all stressing the same major theme or appeal that appear in a number of media over a specified time. In simple form, here are six typical phases:

1. choosing the marketing strategy

2. selecting the main appeal or theme

3. translating the theme into the various media

4. producing the ads

5. buying space and time

6. executing and evaluating the campaign

During the initial phase, much research is done to determine the target audience, the marketing objective, the appropriate price for the product or service, and the ad budget.

Positioning the product or service also comes into play at this point: positioning means fitting a product into the quality and price range of its competition--in a sense, setting it apart from the competition.

Then a coordinated overall campaign theme needs to be developed.

The next step is to translate the concept into an actual media format, attempting concept variation between media without compromising the ad campaign’s central theme.

For print media, artists create a rough layout to experiment with positioning ad elements; then a comprehensive layout (the final draft) is executed.

Radio ads are often created in ways similar to a dramatic program, with scripts, sound effects, music, and professional voice talent.

Television ad production starts with a storyboard, a series of drawings depicting key scenes of the planned ad; because of the costs involved, storyboards are usually shown to the client before any actual production begins. Television ads are the most expensive ads to produce, a 30-second commercial can easily cost more than $500,000 (produced for the national level).

During the production stage, the marketing department is buying time in the media mix they deemed to be the most cost effective for their target audience.

The final stage has the agency doing test research both during the ads and after the run is finished to see if the ads really had the desired effect on sales.

Your group project must have the following:

1.    The six steps to a typical advertising campaign.

2.    Storyboard for TV commercial(s)

3.    Script for radio commercial

4.    Dummy ads for billboard

5.    Ads for web

6.    Ads for magazine (full color)

For the assignment, you are to create a small advertising agency. Provide a thumbnail photo and brief profile for each agency team member. 

Each group will make a formal (graded) presentation and the overall project (material + presentation) is worth 100 points to each student. Group members will be graded individually.

The projects will be evaluated as follows:

Project Content (media): 60 points
Presentation (physical/verbal): 20 points
Production fluency (video, audio, design, etc.): 10 points
Creativity: 10 points                                                           
Total: 100 points

Additional information regarding the group project will be provided in class. Group assignments will be made known in the second week of class.

Entertainment Media Team Project: Building an App

Students, working in teams of two, will be assigned to complete a working interactive media application for the Android and/or iPhone market(s). Additional material regarding the project will be provided during the first few weeks of class. Each project requires an accompanying written report. 

Each team will make a formal 5-minute project pitch/presentation.

The overall project is worth 100 points to each student. 

Team members will be graded individually.

The App Projects will be evaluated as follows:

Overall app quality:	25 points
Written report:	15 points
Presentation:	5 points
Creativity:	5 points

Total:                                        50 points

All team members must present. Any team member that does not present (or fails to show up to present) will receive an overall two-letter penalty on the App Project. For example, if the App would have otherwise earned a grade of “B,” a person who doesn’t show up to present the app would receive a grade of “D.”  

Again, more specific information regarding the App project will be provided in class. Group assignments will be made known by the third week of class.

Hollywood Studio Assignments
Each student is required to submit five SWOT analyses of the major Hollywood Studios. Specifically, students will choose from the following:

Disney
Paramount
20th-Century Fox
CBS Studios 
Warner Bros
Universal
SONY
Lions Gate 

Each SWOT analysis requires a 1-page analysis of the major media studio in terms of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

Each SWOT analysis is worth 10 points. 

The following information succinctly explains what a SWOT analysis is and comes to us courtesy of businessreference.com:

SWOT ANALYSIS

Organizational strategies are the means through which companies accomplish their missions and goals. Successful strategies address four elements of the setting within which the company operates: (1) the company's strengths, (2) its weaknesses, (3) the opportunities in its competitive environment, and (4) the threats in its competitive environment. This set of four elements—strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats—when used by a firm to gain competitive advantage, is often referred to as a SWOT analysis. SWOT was developed by Ken Andrews in the early 1970s. An assessment of strengths and weaknesses occurs as a part of organizational analysis; that is, it is an audit of the company's internal workings, which are relatively easier to control than outside factors. Conversely, examining opportunities and threats is a part of environmental analysis—the company must look outside of the organization to determine opportunities and threats, over which it has lesser control.

Andrews's original conception of the strategy model that preceded the SWOT asked four basic questions about a company and its environment: (1) What can we do? (2) What do we want to do? (3) What might we do? and (4) What do others expect us to do?

The answers to these questions provide the input for an effective strategic management process. While Andrews' original conception of this analysis has been developed and changed to the more streamlined SWOT analysis that we know today, his work is the foundation of this activity.

STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES,
OPPORTUNITIES, AND THREATS

Strengths, in the SWOT analysis, are a company's capabilities and resources that allow it to engage in activities to generate economic value and perhaps competitive advantage. A company's strengths may be in its ability to create unique products, to provide high-level customer service, or to have a presence in multiple retail markets. Strengths may also be things such as the company's culture, its staffing and training, or the quality of its managers. Whatever capability a company has can be regarded as strength.

A company's weaknesses are a lack of resources or capabilities that can prevent it from generating economic value or gaining a competitive advantage if used to enact the company's strategy. There are many examples of organizational weaknesses. For example, a firm may have a large, bureaucratic structure that limits its ability to compete with smaller, more dynamic companies. Another weakness may occur if a company has higher labor costs than a competitor who can have similar productivity from a lower labor cost. The characteristics of an organization that can be strength, as listed above, can also be a weakness if the company does not do them well.

Opportunities provide the organization with a chance to improve its performance and its competitive advantage. Some opportunities may be anticipated, others arise unexpectedly. Opportunities may arise when there are niches for new products or services, or when these products and services can be offered at different times and in different locations. For instance, the increased use of the Internet has provided numerous opportunities for companies to expand their product sales.

Threats can be an individual, group, or organization outside the company that aims to reduce the level of the company's performance. Every company faces threats in its environment. Often the more successful companies have stronger threats, because there is a desire on the part of other companies to take some of that success for their own. Threats may come from new products or services from other companies that aim to take away a company's competitive advantage. Threats may also come from government regulation or even consumer groups.

A strong company strategy that shows how to gain competitive advantage should address all four elements of the SWOT analysis. It should help the organization determine how to use its strengths to take advantage of opportunities and neutralize threats. Finally, a strong strategy should help an organization avoid or fix its weaknesses. If a company can develop a strategy that makes use of the information from SWOT analysis, it is more likely to have high levels of performance.

Nearly every company can benefit from SWOT analysis. Larger organizations may have strategic-planning procedures in place that incorporate SWOT analysis, but smaller firms, particularly entrepreneurial firms may have to start the analysis from scratch. Additionally, depending on the size or the degree of diversification of the company, it may be necessary to conduct more than one SWOT analysis. If the company has a wide variety of products and services, particularly if it operates in different markets, one SWOT analysis will not capture all of the relevant strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that exist across the span of the company's operations.

LIMITATIONS OF SWOT ANALYSIS

One major problem with the SWOT analysis is that while it emphasizes the importance of the four elements associated with the organizational and environmental analysis, it does not address how the company can identify the elements for their own company. Many organizational executives may not be able to determine what these elements are, and the SWOT framework provides no guidance. For example, what if a strength identified by the company is not truly a strength? While a company might believe its customer service is strong, they may be unaware of problems with employees or the capabilities of other companies to provide a higher level of customer service. Weaknesses are often easier to determine, but typically after it is too late to create a new strategy to offset them. A company may also have difficulty identifying opportunities. Depending on the organization, what may seem like an opportunity to some, may appear to be a threat to others. Opportunities may be easy to overlook or may be identified long after they can be exploited. Similarly, a company may have difficulty anticipating possible threats in order to effectively avoid them.

While the SWOT framework does not provide managers with the guidance to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, it does tell managers what questions to ask during the strategy development process, even if it does not provide the answers. Managers know to ask and to determine a strategy that will take advantage of a company's strengths, minimize its weaknesses, exploit opportunities, or neutralize threats.

Some experts argue that making strategic choices for the firm is less important than asking the right questions in choosing the strategy. A company may mistakenly solve a problem by providing the correct answer to the wrong question.

Reactions
Each student is required to submit 5 online reaction pieces (no more than a page each) dealing with media throughout the term. Topics may include censorship, convergence, copyright, First Amendment issues, career issues, media controversies, etc. 

The reaction assignments are due every other week by Sunday at midnight via Sakai (Pacific time). The assignments will be posted on the blog and on Sakai under "tests and quizzes." 

Each reaction piece is worth 10 points.  

Evaluation and grading:

Students will be evaluated on the following—

Exam 1:	100 points
Exam 2: Hollywood Studio Assignments Reactions	100 points 050 points 050 points
App Project:	050 points
Advertising Project:	100 points
Final Exam:	150 points
Total:	600 points

There is no curve.

Overall grades will be based on the following percentages:

93 – 100                 A               (555 – 600)

90 – 92                   A-              (537 – 554)

87 – 89                   B+            (519 – 536)

83 – 86                    B               (495 – 518)

80 – 82                    B-              (477 – 494)

77 – 79                    C+            (459 – 476)

73 – 76                    C               (435 – 458)

70 – 72                    C-              (417 – 434)

67 – 69                    D+            (399 – 416)

63 – 66                    D               (375 – 398)

60 – 62                    D-             (357 – 374)

00 – 59                    F                (000 – 356)

Standards of Academic Conduct:

A.	Academic honesty is a cornerstone of the mission of the College. Unless it is otherwise stipulated, students may submit for evaluation only that work that is their own and that is submitted originally for a specific course. According to traditions of higher education, forms of conduct that will be considered evidence of academic misconduct include but are not limited to the following: conversations between students during an examination; reviewing, without authorization, material   during an examination (e.g., personal notes, another student's exam); unauthorized collaboration; submission of a paper also submitted for credit in another course; reference to written material related to the course brought into an examination room during a closed-book, written examination; and submission without proper acknowledgment of work that is based partially or entirely on the ideas or writings of others. Only when a faculty member gives prior approval for such actions can they be acceptable.
B.	It is the responsibility of instructors to inform students clearly in writing specific rules, procedures, and/or expectations pertinent to their particular course that differ from those identified in paragraph A of this section. In those courses where limited consultation among students is permitted in the preparation of assignments, it is extremely important for instructors to clarify the guidelines for appropriate conduct.
C.	In situations where a student may have difficulty in distinguishing between acceptable behavior and   academic misconduct, it is the responsibility of the student to confer with the instructor. This is particularly important for avoiding plagiarism when written sources are used in the preparation of papers or take home examinations.
	Because Ithaca College is an academic community, ignorance of the accepted standards of academic   honesty in no way affects the responsibility of students who violate standards of conduct in courses and other academic activities.
D.	All members of the academic community are expected to assist in maintaining the integrity of Ithaca College, which includes reporting incidents of academic misconduct. Such instances may be reported to a faculty member, the dean of the school involved, or the director of judicial affairs.

Plagiarism:

Whether intended or not, plagiarism is a serious offense against academic honesty. Under any circumstances, it is deceitful to represent as one's own work, writing or ideas that belong to another person. Students should be aware of how this offense is defined. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of someone else's published or unpublished ideas, whether this use consists of directly quoted material or paraphrased ideas.

Although various disciplines follow styles of documentation that differ in some details, all forms of documentation make the following demands:

• That each quotation or paraphrase be acknowledged with a footnote or in-text citation;
• That direct quotations be enclosed in quotation marks and be absolutely faithful to the wording of the source;
• That paraphrased ideas be stated in language entirely different from the language of the source;
• That a sequence of ideas identical to that of a source be attributed to that source;
• That sources of reprinted charts or graphs be cited in the text;
• That all the sources the writer has drawn from in paraphrase or direct quotation or a combination of paraphrase and quotation be listed at the end of the paper under "Bibliography," "References," or "Works Cited," whichever heading the particular style of documentation requires.

A student is guilty of plagiarism if the student fails, intentionally or not, to follow any of these standard requirements of documentation.

In a collaborative project, all students in a group may be held responsible for academic misconduct if they engage in plagiarism or are aware of plagiarism by others in their group and fail to report it. Students who participate in a collaborative project in which plagiarism has occurred will not be held accountable if they were not knowledgeable of the plagiarism.

What, then, do students not have to document? They need not cite their own ideas, or references to their own experiences, or information that falls in the category of uncontroversial common knowledge (what a person reasonably well-informed about a subject might be expected to know). They should acknowledge anything else.

Other Forms of Academic Dishonesty

Other violations of academic honesty include, but are not limited to, the following behaviors:

• Handing in to a class a paper written by someone else;
• Handing in as an original work for a class a paper one has already submitted to another course;
• Handing in the same paper simultaneously to two courses without the full knowledge and explicit consent of all the faculty members involved;
• Having someone else rewrite or clean up a rough draft and submitting those revisions as one's own work.

These offenses violate the atmosphere of trust and mutual respect necessary the process of learning.

Note: Students who would like help in learning how to paraphrase or document sources properly should feel free to come to the Writing Center in Smiddy 107 for assistance.

Attendance:

Students at Ithaca College are expected to attend all classes, and they are responsible for work missed during any absence from class. At the beginning of each semester, instructors must provide the students in their courses with written guidelines regarding possible grading penalties for failure to attend class. Students should notify their instructors as soon as possible of any anticipated absences. Written documentation that indicates the reason for being absent may be required. These guidelines may vary from course to course but are subject to the following restrictions:

• In accordance with New York State law, students who miss class due to their religious beliefs shall be excused from class or examinations on that day. The faculty member is responsible for providing the student with an equivalent opportunity to make up any examination, study or work requirement which the student may have missed. It is suggested that students notify their course instructors at least one week before any anticipated absence so that proper arrangements may be made to make up any missed work or examination. Any such work is to be completed within a reasonable timeframe, as determined by the faculty member.

• Any student, who misses class due to a verifiable family or individual health emergency, or to a required appearance in a court of law, shall be excused. The student or a family member/legal guardian may report the absence to the Office of Student Affairs and Campus Life, which will notify the student’s dean’s office, as well as residential life if the student lives on campus. The dean’s office will disseminate the information to the appropriate faculty. Follow-up by the student with his or her professors is imperative. Students may need to consider a leave of absence, medical leave of absence, selected course withdrawals, etc., if they have missed a significant portion of class work.

A student may be excused for participation in College-authorized cocurricular and extracurricular activities if, in the instructor’s judgment, this does not impair the specific student’s or the other students’ ability to succeed in the course.

For all absences except those due to religious beliefs, the course instructor has the right to determine if the number of absences has been excessive in view of the nature of the class that was missed and the stated attendance policy. Depending on the individual situation, this can result in the student’s being removed from or failing the course.

It is expected that students will regularly attend class, take notes, pay attention, and participate in discussion/activities.

Students who miss class (unexcused) will not be able to make up in-class assignments.

Students with disabilities:

In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodation will be provided to students with documented disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Students must register with the Office of Academic Support Services and provide appropriate documentation to the College before any academic adjustment will be provided.

Dealing with Stress while at College:

Diminished mental health, including significant stress, mood changes, excessive worry, or problems with eating and/or sleeping can interfere with optimal academic performance. The source of symptoms might be strictly related to your course work; if so, please speak with me. However, problems with relationships, family worries, loss, or a personal struggle or crisis can also contribute to decreased academic performance.

Ithaca College provides a Counseling Center to support the academic success of students. The Counseling Center provides cost-free services to help you manage personal challenges that threaten your well-being.

In the event I suspect you need additional support, I will express my concerns and the reasons for them, and remind you of resources (e.g., Counseling Center, Health Center, chaplains, etc.) that might be helpful to you. It is not my intention to know the details of what might be bothering you, but simply to let you know I am concerned and that help, if needed, is available.

Getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do -- for yourself and for your loved ones.

Title IX:

Title IX is a federal act mandating that educational institutions must provide sex and gender equity. All students thus have the right to a campus atmosphere free of sexual harassment, sexual violence, and gender discrimination. For questions about sexual misconduct, see the Ithaca SHARE website (Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education):  http://www.ithaca.edu/sacl/share/). To report or discuss sexual assault or harassment, or general issues, please contact Tiffani Ziemann, Title IX Coordinator; tziemann@ithaca.edu 607-274-3300.

Student safety:

You must respond to and report conditions and actions that may jeopardize your safety, or that of other people and/or equipment. Report to the responsible College employee. During class sessions that person would be your instructor or lab assistant. Outside of class the person might be your instructor, lab supervisor, co-curricular manager, equipment and facilities manager, or one of the engineering support staff. You must be aware that misuse of equipment or use of damaged equipment can create the risk of serious injury, infectious contamination, and expensive damage. You may be liable for damage or injury resulting from such use. Unsupervised use of facilities puts you at risk. Failure to be alert to safety problems, or to report them, may have serious consequences for you or others.

Course material: 

Assigned readings should be completed prior to class. Lectures and assignments are intended to enhance and/or supplement the readings. Some of the material will come from sources other than the assigned readings. You are responsible for this material as well as for the material in the readings—even if it is not specifically covered in class. If you have any difficulty understanding the material, it is your responsibility to ask for clarification. Often, I will ask if anyone has any questions.

Make-up policy: 

As a general rule, make-up assignments are not allowed except in cases of emergency. It is your responsibility to complete the assignments. If an emergency does arise, it is imperative for you to contact me PRIOR to the scheduled due date. Do not expect to make-up a missed assignment without clearing it with me ahead of time. Incompletes are rarely given. In fact, an incomplete is only given if you are unable to complete the coursework because of a serious illness, accident, emergency, or other crisis. A formal request must be made prior to the end of the term. An incomplete can only be granted with permission from the Dean.

Late Assignments: 

As a general rule, late assignments are not accepted. In specific circumstances, late assignments may be accepted, but with a substantial penalty. 

Tentative Course Schedule (the instructor reserves the right to amend the course schedule as necessary. Any changes will be announced in class and on the blog): 

◄ July	~ August 2015 ~					September ►
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
23	24	25	26 First day of classes; Lab Overview; Introductions	27 Course Overview	28	29
30	31 Lab for sections 1 and 2

◄ August	~ September 2015 ~					October ►
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
		1 Entertainment Media: Understanding the Studio System	2 Lab for sections 3 and 4	3 Understanding the Studio System, continued	4	5
6  Reaction #1 due	7 Labor Day- No class	8 Studio System, continued	9 Lab	10 Studio System, continued	11	12
13 SWOT #1 due	14 Rosh Hashanah Lab	15 Rosh Hashanah Types of Comm	16 Lab	17 Perspectives of Mass Comm	18	19
20 Reaction #2 due	21 Lab	22 Perspectives of Mass Comm, continued	23 Yom Kippur Lab	24 Historical and Cultural Context	25	26
27 SWOT #2 due	28 Lab	29 Historical and Cultural Context, continued	30 Lab

  

◄ September	~ October 2015 ~					November ►
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
				1 Historical and cultural context, continued	2	3
4 Reaction #3 due	5 Lab	6 Rules of language	7 Lab	8 Rules of language, continued	9	10
11 SWOT #3 due	12 Lab	13 Exam #1	14 Lab	15 Fall Break- No Class	16 Fall Break No Class	17
18	19 Lab	20 Underbelly of Movie Industry	21 Lab Reaction #4 Due	22 Underbelly of Movie Industry, continued	23	24
25 SWOT #4 due	26 Lab	27 Historical overview of movie industry	28 Lab	29 Understanding TV Ratings	30	31

◄ October	~ November 2015 ~					December ►
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1 Reaction #5 Due	2 Lab	3 TV Ratings, continued	4 Lab	5 Sound Recording Overview	6	7
8 SWOT #5 due	9 Lab	10 Radio Overview	11 Lab	12 Drama and Storytelling	13	14
15	16 Lab	17 Drama and Storytelling, continued	18 Lab	19 Exam #2	20	21
22	23 Thanksgiving Break	24 Thanksgiving Break	25 Thanksgiving Break	26 Thanksgiving Break	27 Thanksgiving Break	28
29	30 Lab App Pitches

  

  

◄ November	~ December 2015 ~					January ►
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
		1 Media Law	2 Lab App Pitches	3 Media Law, continued	4	5
6	7 Lab Ad Campaign Pitches	8 Social Effects of Media	9 Lab Ad Campaign Pitches	10 Social Effects of Media	11 Last Day of Classes	12
13	14	15 Final Exam for TR 9:25 a.m. 4:30 p.m. Final Exam for TR 2:35 p.m. 1:30 p.m.	16 Final Exam for TR 10:50 a.m. 4:30 p.m. Final Exam for TR 1:10 p.m. 7:30 a.m.	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31