Each question has to be 2 pages each total of 6 pages
Question one is required questions 2-5 you can choose to pick two of them to do
Totaling 3 answers questions 2 pages each
Question #1 1. “The relationship of money to Free Speech is the issue of the 21st century.” (Bill Moyers in Freedom of Speech for Sale).
a) In the light of this quotation, explain both the advantages and dangers of media ownership concentrated in only a few mega-corporations.
b) Citing Robert McChesney (“Corporate Media & the Threat to Democracy”), the movie Free Speech for Sale, and other relevant readings & viewings of your choice, why is such a concentration of corporate ownership, whether in traditional (legacy) form or new digital media tech corporations, a “threat to democracy”? (Suggestion: begin by defining “Democracy.”)
c) Has the entrance of the new giant digital media corporations changed anything (especially in light of Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter and the current controversies surrounding regulation & free speech)? Explain.
Use specific examples from McChesney, “Free Speech for Sale,” & at least one more of the readings and the viewings.
Resource for questions one
Bill Moyers in Freedom of Speech for Sale link https://billmoyers.com/content/free-speech-for-sale/
Robert McChesney (“Corporate Media & the Threat to Democracy”) link https://nlb.overdrive.com/media/586938 from the reading sample is fine
2. The internet profoundly changed our relationship to knowledge and access to knowledge. Similarly, AI is going to change our relationship to thinking, writing, & image-making – it will forever alter education, work, and political discourse.
a) Tech leaders disagree on whether advances in AI technology will bring a utopian future or a dangerous new reality, where truth is indecipherable from fiction, & human original thought is indecipherable from machines. Explain these opposing viewpoints.
b) What are the potential unintended consequences for this new technology? Where do you stand on this issue?
3. a) Compare & contrast the media industries of the United States with those of another country or region of the world. Consider that the way a country’s political system is organized affects the way the media within that country operate. Explain what this means in terms of media control and ownership (government vs. corporate), and in the role different media play in your selected country’s national life.
b) Has the Internet “globalized” the effect of the media, no matter who controls it?
Use specific examples/readings/viewings!
4. Discuss any ONE of the post-print media, but NOT the Internet (choose from TV, Movies, Radio, Sound Recording, or Video Games).
a) What are its unique characteristics as a medium – note specifically in your experience, what it is about your chosen medium that makes it a medium different than any other?
b) How have new technologies changed it?
c) How has the medium you chose uniquely changed people’s perceptions and understanding of reality and social relationships?
Use specific examples/ your experiences/readings/viewings!
5. Discuss, from your own point of view/race/gender, the issue of racism/anti-racism and white supremacy vs white guilt. Review Richard Dyer’s The Matter of Whiteness, and Dr. Robin DiAngelo’s video lecture on “White Privilege.”(https://vimeo.com/147760743 ). Google some of the critiques of her approach and compare/contrast (again from your own race/gender/point of view) the various arguments involved in coming to terms with our tortured history of “race relations.” In your opinion, what would a map for the future look like?
