SCHOOL OF JOURNALISMUSC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION & JOURNALISM

JOUR 201: History of News in Modern America Spring 20134 Units

LECTURE Section: 21008Class day/time: Monday and Wednesday, Noon-1:50 p.m.Classroom: Annenberg School Auditorium

Instructor:

Instructor: Erna SmithEmail: esmith@usc.eduOffice phone: 213-740-9684Office: ASC 324DOffice hours: Mondays, 2:30-4:30 p.m., Tuesdays, 3-5 p.m.

Other times available by appointment

Graders:

Grader: Denise GuerraEmail: dfguerra@usc.edu

Grader: Emmanuel MartinezEmail: mart570@usc.edu

Grader: Brianna SacksEmail: bsacks@usc.edu

COURSE OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this class, you will have an appreciation for and an understanding of the relationship between the past and the present, linked by the evolution of the media. You will understand that there are always multiple sides to a story and how you, as journalists, should honor the many truths found in a single issue. You will also understand the strong entrepreneurial streak of the profession, as well as how industry developments in technology and business practices impact the practice of journalism. You will also be challenged to consider where the profession is heading.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The profession of journalism is in the midst of a profound identity crisis. There is an ongoing debate about who is a journalist (someone who tweets about a fire?), the role journalism plays in our society (watchdog? partisan cheerleader?) and, not insignificantly, who pays for it (advertising? charitable foundations?). And yet, a perusal of history reveals that these issues aren’t new at all, but are simply the latest iteration of an argument that has been going on, in some cases, for centuries.

It’s now more crucial than ever for journalists entering the field to understand these current changes in their historical context if they are to produce high-quality work and make informed choices about their careers.

We believe there is a dynamic relationship between journalism’s present and its past. Therefore, this course is organized around ideas and themes instead of a static chronology of events. Throughout the semester we will contrast the media landscape of today to previous periods when cultural, sociological and technological innovations also forced a reordering of the profession. We also will look at the evolution of journalism as a profession and the press’s relationship with “the people formerly known as the audience.’’

Students will be asked to contemplate these different ideas and their changing significance throughout time. Indeed, the course is structured so as to encourage students to examine the significance of these ideas from multiple perspectives.

Learning in a university environment is a collective, social experience. In this course, students will benefit from each other’s experience and thinking in order to produce assignments that are deeper, more thorough and thoughtful than they could achieve on their own. Throughout the semester, students will work in groups of five or six on multimedia projects that will be presented in class. Each “team” will receive a single grade for its work. In addition, there will be individual assignments and reading quizzes.

For this course, there will be no conventional assignments – research papers, term papers, and the like. Instead, all student work will be showcased on a web site created especially for this class by the school’s fine staff in Web and Instructional Services. Each group is responsible for building out its own section of the site. The web site is equipped to handle any manner of multimedia content and groups are encouraged to explore new, innovative ways to convey their work. For example, an assignment that calls for dissecting the coverage of a particular event could contain numerous elements, including an interactive timeline, slideshow, short essay and audio clip.

By the end of the semester, each group is expected to have produced a smart, engaging portfolio of work that employs “new” media platforms and reporting tools to examine issues rooted in the “old” media’s past. But students are also expected to emerge with something else: an

understanding of how history informs the present and of their own role in journalism’s emerging ecosystem.

CLASS FORMAT

Generally, Mondays will be devoted to lectures and Wednesday sessions to lab time unless otherwise indicated in the course schedule. Lab time will include discussion, presentations, writing exercises, training in new media platforms, and working on team assignments.

REQUIRED READINGS

Reading and viewing assignments are listed by week in the syllabus. Links to the required readings and videos have posted to Blackboard under the CONTENT section. ALL READINGS MUST BE COMPLETED BY THE MONDAY AFTER THEY ARE ASSIGNED.

There is one required text:

“Blur: How to Know What's True in the Age of Information Overload,” Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, Bloomsbury (USA), 2011. ISBN-10: 1608193012

Note: Think of all your readings as reference materials and demonstrate you’ve done your homework by using them in researching, writing and producing your multimedia projects.

OTHER RESOURCES

USC possesses a rich collection of vintage newspapers and magazines on a website the university’s library system created exclusively for the Annenberg School of Journalism. http://jusc.wordpress.com/ The site includes links to Lexis-Nexis, and archives for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and transcripts to broadcasts, among other media outlets. Please also review the ethnic press and publications devoted to the gay and lesbian communities.

The website, for example, also includes links to the nation’s most storied African American newspapers. Some students in previous semesters have researched coverage of the immigration movement through coverage in the Jewish Daily Forward or Chinese and Japanese newspapers written in English. Others have analyzed coverage in newspapers for Latino and African-American readers, and used the ethnic media to compare its coverage on the Civil Rights movement, for example, to the coverage in mainstream media. And some students have examined feminism and how it was covered by reviewing magazines published for women at the turn of the last century and through contemporary times.

USC Library Research Guide for Journalism is also available at http://libguides.usc.edu/journalism. If you are off campus or using a laptop, you must first link via remote access at: http://www.usc.edu/libraries/services/remote_access/ If you need further assistance, we also have a University Librarian assigned to Annenberg. Feel free to contact: Chimene Tucker, Doheny Memorial Library, 224, Tel: 213/740-2332 Email: cetucker@usc.edu

ASSIGNMENTS (See Course schedule for instructions)

Team projects: 50 percent

Individual assignments: 35 percent

Reading quizzes: 10 percent

Participation 5 percent

Team Projects

Media diary: 5 percent

Intersect: 5 percent

Institution Profile*: 20 percent

Final Project: : 20 percent

The news institution you profile must be approved in advance by your instructor.

Final project

Your final project will consist of a multimedia report and analysis of any topic you chose in the ‘Post Industrial Journalism: Adapting to Present” report. As the theme of this class is past as prologue, you will need in your analysis to draw appropriate parallels to the past as well as differences. More will be explained in class as the semester progresses.

Individual Assignments

Students are required to post blog entries of no more than 650 words on assigned topics and readings and to produce a story in “memes” with on a current event. Consult the COURSE SCHEDULE for details and deadlines.

Four assignments:

1) Intersect blog post* 5 percent

2) The People Formerly Known as the Audience blog post 10 percent

3) Post-Industrial Journalism blog post 10 percent

4) A current event in memes 10 percent

*There is both a group and individual Intersect assignment.

Reading quizzes

There will be two multiple-choice quizzes about Blur.

Participation

Participation includes attending class regularly, contributing to class discussion, and reading and posting at least three comments about your classmates’ team projects over the course of the semester. You may not post comments about your team’s projects but you can reply if the comments contain factual errors or ask a question. There are no deadlines for posting comments but they must be posted throughout the semester rather than all at once to receive credit. Comments should be thoughtful, respectful, and never written in text language.

GRADING CRITERIA

MULTIMEDIA PROJECTS represent an expanding and increasingly important component of student work in the Journalism School. However, multimedia assignments can take a variety of

forms. For this reason, it is important to establish some basic criteria upon which these projects will be evaluated. The majority of assignments require multimedia components that bring together writing, visuals, interactive graphics and other components. These assignments are intended to provoke original thinking and provide new avenues for understanding a topic.

There are four major areas in which these projects will be evaluated: 1) Original perspective. No matter what form a project takes, it should convey an angle or perspective that offers an original take on a concept or theme. 2) Depth of research. Content is crucial. Projects must contain source materials that accurately and thoroughly document the issue you have chosen to address. Have you covered the most important or central elements of the topic? Have you drawn on a broad array of sources? Have you documented them appropriately? 3) Clarity and cleverness, and 4) Effort.

Mastering multimedia tools can be challenging and time-consuming. You have numerous multimedia tools at your disposal. Use them to craft a narrative or covey the central idea of your project in a clever, thought-provoking manner. Consider whether the medium or media you have chosen is/are appropriate in making the point you want. For example, if you want to underline hypocrisy in TV election coverage, does a remix do the trick? If you are trying to untangle how a major event was covered, does an interactive timeline deepen our understanding? Putting on a sharp, engaging visual presentation is important. But it must be supported by a thoughtful, well-documented argument.

All four criteria will be given equal weight in evaluating these projects and no project ultimately will be successful if it does not do a strong job in all four areas.

In addition, all WRITING in this course will be evaluated for 1) news judgment, 2) the breadth and depth of research, 3) analysis and thought, 4) precision of language, and 5) quality of writing. Grammar, punctuation, spelling, and proper use of Associated Press Stylebook rules are essential components of good journalism writing.

PLAGIARISM/ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY

Plagiarism is defined as taking ideas or writings from another and passing them off as one's own. Plagiarism is a serious violation of the School of Journalism's policy on academic integrity, and a student found guilty of plagiarism is subject to dismissal from the journalism major.

The following is the School of Journalism's policy on academic integrity as published in the University catalogue:

"Since its founding, the USC School of Journalism has maintained a commitment to the highest standards of ethical conduct and academic excellence. Any student found guilty of plagiarism, fabrication, cheating on examinations, or purchasing papers or other assignments will receive a failing grade in the course and will be dismissed as a major from the School of Journalism. There are no exceptions to this policy."

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Regular attendance is required in this class. If you must miss a class because of an emergency – illness -- please call or email your instructor BEFORE class begins. If you must miss a Wednesday class meeting, you must also call or email someone in your group. Late assignments will not accepted and missed tests cannot be made up, unless there is a death in the family or you encounter a serious health issue.

CLASS PROTOCOL

This is a professional degree program. As such, students are expected to deal with each other and with their instructors in a collegial manner. That means you should immediately talk to your instructor if you have any concerns about the course, grading, fellow students, the length of time it takes to get back graded assignments, etc.

LAPTOPS/MOBILE DEVICES

Please bring your laptops to class but keep them closed and stored until your instructor tells you otherwise. Also, set your phone to vibrate until after class.

DISABILITY SERVICES AND PROGRAMS

Any students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability are required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP when adequate documentation is filed. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me when classes begin. DSP is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. The office is located in the Student Union room 301 and their phone number is (213) 740-0776.

INTERNSH IPS

The value of professional internships as part of the overall educational experience of our students has long been recognized by the School of Journalism. Accordingly, while internships are not required for successful completion of this course, any student enrolled in this course that undertakes and completes an approved, non-paid internship during this semester shall earn

academic extra credit herein of an amount equal to one percent of the total available semester points for this course.

To receive instructor approval, a student must request an internship letter from the Annenberg Career Development Office and bring it to the instructor to sign by the end of the third week of classes. The student must submit the signed letter to the media organization, along with the evaluation form provided by the Career Development Office.  The form should be filled out by the intern supervisor and returned to the instructor at the end of the semester. No credit will be given if an evaluation form is not turned in to the instructor by the last day of class.  Note:  The internship must be unpaid and can only be applied to one journalism class.

STRESS AND ANGST

Students are under a lot of pressure. If you start to feel overwhelmed, it is important that you reach out for help. A good place to start is the USC Student Counseling Services office at 213-740-7711. The service is confidential, and there is no charge.

INSTRUCTOR BIO

Erna Smith has taught journalism since 1989 and has been a professor of professional practice at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism since 2008. Prior to teaching, she worked for 15 years as a reporter, editor and copy editor at several newspapers, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Minneapolis Star and The Wall Street Journal. She began directing the Annenberg School’s graduate internship program in Cape Town, South Africa in 2008 and thinks Cape Town is the most beautiful city she’s ever seen.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Note: All readings should be completed by the following Monday after they are assigned. Generally speaking, Monday class meetings will be devoted to lectures and Wednesdays to lab time.

Section One: Evolution of Media LandscapeThe media landscape of today bears little resemblance to that of even a decade ago. At the same time, news has occupied a special place in our culture since the beginning of time. And though we are in the midst of a revolution in the way we consume and produce information, the current disruption is hardly unique in human history. In the first section of the course, we travel through a brief history of epochal transformations in the information universe, taking into consideration cultural and historical context, technology, and economic models.

WEEK 1

Jan. 14: Course overview and an introduction to the “ecology” of news today through examining how the Trayvon Martin shooting evolved from a minor local news story into the No. 1 news story in America for the first quarter of 2012.

Jan. 16: Teams assigned, web site training.

Reading: Blur, Intro-Chapter 2

Assignment: Begin to build out your team’s page on the class site. Create bios for each member and an identity for each team. Bios should include a description of each member’s media consumption habits and a photo. Deadline: Noon, Tuesday, Jan. 22.

WEEK 2

Jan. 21: Martin Luther King Day. No class.

Jan. 23: Additional training in web site and multimedia tools and discussion of the Media Diary assignment

Assignment: For three days, beginning at Sunday, Jan. 25 and ending Tuesday, Jan. 28, you will log all your media activity. When the time period ends, you will meet during lab time with your team members to discuss similarities and differences in your media usage patterns and to develop a strategy to present your findings using multimedia components. Each project should include text and visuals --photos, video, graphics--). Each project should be titled Our Media Diary and begin with a summary of your team’s findings. In addition, each member’s entries should, if necessary, include a brief explanation. Deadline: Noon, Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Here’s a link to a Media Diary produced by students in my graduate history course last fall.

Reading: Stephens, Chapters 1-4

WEEK 3

Jan. 28: Most attribute the profound shifts and current disruptions in the media landscape today to the Internet as traditional news outlets continue to lose advertising revenue and anyone with WiFi and a laptop or mobile device can be their own reporter, editor and publisher. In “Blur,” Kovach and Rosentiel argue that this is nothing new and cite 8 epochal transformations” in technology that have shaped and re-shaped news production and delivery throughout journalism history. But “news” pre-dates the advent of technology. Every since human beings learned to speak, we have exchanged news. Mitchell Stephens, in “A History of News,” describe news as our “sixth sense” and essential to our development as a species. In this lecture, we will look at ways news was produced and delivered through “oral news networks” as well as examples of early written news, citizen journalism, and real-life –rather than virtual—social networks.

Jan. 30: Lab: More training on class web site. Work in groups on Media Diary project.

Reading: "Read All About It", Paul Steiger, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 29, 2007

Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable, Clay Shirky

WEEK 4

(Deadline: Media Diary project due by noon Feb. 5)

Feb. 4: For half a century, the business model of the newspaper created powerful empires throughout the U.S. How did the business model itself define the kind of news we consume and even American society? Did the erosion of that model contribute to a changing political tenor? Does the technology we use to consume news impact the kind of news we consume?

Feb. 6: Lab: Media Diary presentations and writing for the web.

Readings: Schudson, Notes on Chapters 1-3Blur, Chapters3-5 "What is it that reporter do? It can't be reduced to just one thing, Jonathan Stray, Nieman Lab, May 30, 2012, SPJ Code of Ethics

WEEK 5

Feb. 11: Quiz on Blur, Intro-Chapter 5

Section Two: Evolution of Journalism as a ProfessionThe rise of journalism as a profession in the U.S. coincides with the rise of Penny Press in the 1830s. Although the Penny Press gave birth to reporting as a profession and to the modern definition of news, it wasn’t until 50 years later that reporters began to take center stage, establishing press clubs and standards and practices of journalism that continue today.

The “Age of the Reporter”

Feb. 11: Quiz on Blur, Chapters1-5. The rise of the journalism profession: As journalism became a profession, what were the skills and ethics that characterized it? How have they changed? What is the role of journalists in society? Has the mission evolved? What were the best and the worst of these practices? Objectivity is central to our concept (in the U.S.) of “good” journalism. But objectivity carries its own baggage. Does lack of objectivity impede veracity? Perhaps, though, the biggest change the digital revolution has wrought is in the role of journalists as exclusive “gatekeepers” of information. What are the implications for journalists today?

Feb. 13: Lab: We’ll view a documentary about Nellie Bly, one of first “star” reporters in America, and discuss the ethics of her “stunt” reporting methods and her shameless self-promotion of her “brand.”

Reading: "Freedom of the Press," Anderson, D. A. (2002). Texas Law Review 80(3): 429-530.“The First Casualty: From the Crimea to Vietnam: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker,” Phillip Knightley.Note on reading: The Anderson article is from a law journal – you can skip the detailed footnotes. You can also skim the discussion of legal cases in section III.

Assignment: Each group must come to class on Feb. 20 with:

1. FIVE examples of how social media sites and news websites intersect. Pick whatever sites you like and think broadly and creatively about what "intersect" means. We'll use these examples during class.

In addition, each group should:

1. Draft a 1-sentence definition of what you think "press freedom" should mean in the context of today's online, networked journalism and email it to Professor Mike Ananny at ananny@usc.edu by 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15.

Lastly, each student must:

1. Write a 400-500-word blog post that summarizes and analyzes your team’s five examples of how social media sites and news websites “intersect.” The assignment should be titled “INTERSECT” on your group page.

2. You are required to post your entry to the class web site AND send a copy of your text in a Word document to your teaching assistant by noon Tuesday, Feb. 26.

WEEK 6

Press Freedom

Feb. 18: PRESIDENT’S DAY. NO CLASS

Feb. 20: Guest Lecture: Mike Ananny, who recently joined the Annenberg faculty from Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

In this class we'll examine the idea of press freedom from historical and contemporary perspectives. We'll begin with a brief overview of philosophical foundations of press freedom, and then examine how journalists have traditionally navigated distance from (and dependence upon) readers/viewers. We will use a case study in the contemporary, online press to discuss how press freedom can---or should---be negotiated today. Students should leave class with their own definition of press freedom and why it matters, as well as insights into how the very idea of press freedom is changing in the context of digital, networked journalism.

Reading: Blur, Chapters 6-9Viewings: Edward R. Murrow vs. Joseph McCarthyCam Ne: CBS Report on Vietnam War

Assignment:

Institution Profile: As a group, produce a profile of a journalistic institution. Potential subjects include the Associated Press; U. of Missouri School of Journalism; UPI, National Press Photographers Association; Society of Professional Journalists; Women’s Press Club; New America Media. Online News Association; Journalism and Women Symposium; Women’s Press Club of NY/DC; UNITY; Reuters, Xinhua; BBC; Al Jazeera.

To avoid groups profiling the same institutions, you are required to seek approval of your topic from your instructor.

Why was the institution begun and how has it changed over time? Were there defining moments? Flops? What is its relevance today and what challenges does it face? Please come at this assignment from multiple angles. For example, you can create an interactive timeline of the institution, which can be accompanied by a longer written piece that examines one particularly significant moment in the institution’s history. You can also pen a Blog post that explains how you’ve approached this assignment and connect what you’ve researched to broader issues in the profession.

Deadline: Projects must be posted to class web site by noon Tuesday, March 12.

WEEK 7

Rise of Broadcast Media

Feb. 25: The origins of radio and television, like the Internet, began the military and, from their inception, both mediums changed the face of politics and public discourse in America.

Feb. 27: Lab time: Work on institution profiles.

Reading: Tom Rosenstiel, “The Myth of CNN,” The New Republic, Aug. 22-29, 1994. (You will need to access this article via USC library archives. See OTHER RESOURCES section in syllabus)

Viewing: Examples of early broadcasts of CNN, including its first broadcast: http://videos.howstuffworks.com/howstuffworks/237-cnns-first-broadcast-video.htm

The Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, carried live only by CNN: http://youtu.be/AfnvFnzs91s

WEEK 8

Rise of Broadcast Media

March 4 Quiz on Blur, Chapters 6-9

March 4: Quiz on Blur, Chapters 6-9. Guest lecture: Gabriel Kahn, who runs Annenberg’s Media, Economics and Entrepreneurship program and leads the Future of Journalism project at the Annenberg Innovation Lab. Television is still the mightiest of the mass media. But the way we watch it is about to change dramatically. We will examine the birth of television, the transformation of television news that came about with CNN and where the medium is headed in the future.

March 6: Lab time: Work on institution profiles in class.

WEEK 9

Institution profiles due at noon, March 12.

Media Regulation

March 11: From the beginning of this country’s history, there has been tension between a free press, as enshrined in the Constitution, and media regulation. In this class, we survey some of the most significant chapters from the Zenger trial to the creation of the Federal Communications Commission and the life and death of the Fairness Doctrine. And we’ll discuss current ideas, trends and debates about the media regulation in the digital age.

March 13: Lab time: Institution Profiles presented in class.

Reading:Jay Rosen, The People Formerly Known as the Audience

Begin reading:Post Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present” by C.W. Anderson, Emily Bell and Clay Shirky. (Deadline: April 8. This 120- page report comprises the principal “text” and the title of the fourth and last section of the class. So please take the time to read it carefully and thoroughly.)Post Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present

Assignment: Write a 400-550-word blog post summarizing and analyzing Rosen’s argument in “The People Formerly Known as the Audience.” Do you agree or disagree with his argument and why or why not? What do you think are the implications of his argument for journalism today and in the future? Deadline: Blogs must be posted by no later than noon Wednesday, March 27.

SPRING BREAK No class March 18 and 20

(NOTE: Order of class sessions could change subject to guest speakers’ availability. )

WEEK 10

The People Formerly…blog post due by noon, March 27

Section Three: Audience Engagement and Measurement In this section of the course we’ll examine the evolution of the role, influence and expectations of “the people formerly known as the audience” on journalism, including techniques and practices used in the past and today to measure and engage “users.”

March 25: Guest Lecture: Danna Chinn. Chinn teaches web analytics for news and nonprofit organizations and data journalism, and directs the Knight Foundation-funded Mobile News Incubator Fellowship Program, an interdisciplinary program that brings together journalism, business and engineering students and faculty to develop mobile solutions for community nonprofit organizations. She’ll teach us about web analytics and the mobile news incubator program.

March 27: Lab time: In-class exercises on memes. Meme assignment explained.

Readings: Transmedia Storytelling 101Transmedia 202: Further ReflectionsContextualizing Kony 2012The Frequencies of Public Writing by John Hartley

Assignment: Produce either a series or a collage of memes about a recent current event. Deadline: Post your meme to the class web site by noon April 3.

WEEK 11

Memes due by noon April 3

April 1: Guest Lecture: Henry Jenkins

News, Transmedia, and Spreadability: Common ways of talking about print, broadcast, and digital journalism ignore the reality that news was often communicated across a much broader array of media and that news was consumed, and often produced, across media platforms. Transmedia is a new term which describes the relationship between different types of media. What might it mean to think about news as another (but closely related) kind of transmedia practice? What might journalists learn from looking at the ways transmedia operates in relation to storytelling, branding, and political mobilization? Spreadability refers to the ways participants in a networked society actively shape the circulation of media content through their networks. How might these newer understandings of spreadable media help us to make sense of the ways readers engaged with news in previous times?

April 3: Lab time: In-class web writing exercise on “The Frequencies of Public Writing.” While you work, your TAs will take a quick look at your memes and select a sample to show when you complete your web writing exercise.

Reading: Post Industrial Journalism (complete by April 8)Assignment: Begin brainstorming ideas for your final project. Reminder: If you have not already, begin following The City Maven on Twitter.

WEEK 12

Section Four: “Post Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present”

April 8: Journalism school director Geneva Overholser will lead us in a discussion of “Post Industrial Journalism.”

April 10: Lab time: Work on Post Industrial blog post and final project.

Assignment: Write a headline, summary and list of 10 takeaways for the Post Industrial report. Include appropriate links and visuals. Your text can be no longer than 650 words, excluding the headline. At the bottom, include at least five links to related studies. This practice is called aggregating. Deadline: Post to class web site by noon, April 17.

WEEK 13

Post industrial blog due by noon April 17

Meet The City Maven

April 15: Guest speaker Alice Walton, aka The City Maven, will join us to tell us how she created her own job after being told her idea would never work. Walton is very much a journalist who has “adaptedto the present.” Her success illustrates the exciting opportunities new media provides for enterprising and entrepreneurial aspiring journalists to be their own editors and publishers.

April 17: Lab time: Work on final project.

Reading: Time magazine profile of Jullian AssangeC. W. Anderson, Five Big Questions the Wikileaks Story Raises About the Future of JournalismViewing: WikiSecrets: Inside the story of Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and the largest intelligence breach in U.S. history

WEEK 14

National Security, Privacy and the Internet

April 22: We’ll use the WikiLeaks story as a case study to explore issues of privacy and national security as they relate to the web. We’ll also learn about the publication of the “Pentagon Papers” during the Vietnam war and compare that famous “leak” and “intelligence breach” to the 92,000 pages of documents on the Afghanistan war that WikiLeaks posted in 2010.

April 24: Lab time: Final project.

WEEK 15

April 29: Final project presentations

May 1: Final project presentations. Goodbyes.