CMS 100 Introduction To Media Studies

CMS 100 Introduction to Media Studies

Question

Answered

Task
Deliverable:
In this last assessment, you will select a commercial (see this list for some examples) OR you will select a news story from Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.
 
Note: You must select a full news story from this YouTube Channel, not a digital short or brief clip. The full news stories are around 20 minutes long). These lists have been pre-approved. After you have selected your material, you will then critically analyze and present a full reportage of how these commercials or news stories persuade their audiences to commit to certain viewpoints or to take certain actions. From this, you will then further identify whether these commercials or news stories can be classified as propaganda using the model presented within modules 9 and 10.
Structure of Deliverable:
Your first paragraph should introduce the commercial or news story and summarize its relevant elements in neutral language which is accessible to everyone.
 
Your last sentence of this summary should include your thesis statement on what the news story/commercial persuades its viewers to do and then whether or not you believe this to be propaganda or not. The rest of the essay will then be a breakdown of how the commercial or news story was able to persuade audiences to commit a certain action or adhere to a specific viewpoint, and why you consider this to be propaganda or not. Be sure to also remember that propaganda can be positive. If you determine that your news story or commercial is propaganda, be sure to mention whether or not it is positive or negative in its overall aims and intentions and why you believe this to be the case. You might also want to keep in mind the term ‘infotainment’ and what, if any, relevance it has to the propaganda model.
Sources:
You should have at least three sources for this assignment, not including your original news story or commercial. At least one source should be Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model. The other two necessary sources are up to you. They must be credible (Wikipedia does not count) and they must be properly formatted into Conestoga APA. As always, your spelling and grammar is important for this assignment to be understood, and is a large part of your grade.
Tip:
When you are summarizing something, you should give the reader as much information as possible in order to understand your argument. Sometimes, this might seem like you are spoiling the main point of your essay, or the news story/commercial. That is okay, and in fact, necessary in order for everyone reading along with your argument to understand as much of it as possible as soon as possible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y18-07g39g