Lecture Overheads, 3/31/03:

Talking News, Talking Politics

Class goals:
1. Open w/ Tune of the Day #1
2. Midterms
3. What’s left in the class between now and end of school
4. Talking News, Talking Politics: class topic for today
5. Tune of the Day #2
6. Tune of the Day #3
7. Distribution of midterms from TAs

 

Talking News, Talking Politics

A. Excerpt from Teen Species, documentary from The Learning Channel

1. Do you agree that teen minds are limited by biology?
2. If so, is this something that you think is universal to all cultures, or is particular to U.S. culture?
3. How do you think teens’ lack of emotional awareness would create problems in the areas of interpreting news and politics?
4. What might be some consequences of these problems?

B. David Buckingham, author of The Making of Citizens: The Study

1. Did he find that most people were interested in news and politics?
2. Does this surprise you?
3. What did they criticize news for?
a. boring
b. repetitive
c. lacked entertainment value
d. sensationalistic
e. trivial
f. emotionally upsetting

Two issues of ambivalence:
1. boring vs. entertaining news
2. upsetting news vs. right to know

Comments on the research approach:
1. establishing the researcher/participant relationship
2. “this is not a study of how young people interpret what they watch, but of how they talk about it.” What do you think is the difference?

People tend to present themselves in the situation of being asked about politics in one of three ways:
1. talking about politics with irreverence
a. “cynical chic”
b. “literary critics”
2. using clichés or expressions that ultimately reveal their ignorance
3. talking as concerned citizens, who speak as if what they say matters
So, why are young people alienated from news, according to Buckingham?
Cultural vs. biological explanation: what do you think?