Oct 4 Creative Presentations?

Hello! Because of the Eid holiday on October 1st, we have no classes for MAG2.0. I am hoping to reserve a classroom for October 4, Saturday, from 130-330PM. I hope that this schedule is amenable to everyone, as we need a day to have your creative projects presentations.

Thank you!

Save Media Studies, Save the World!

Please disseminate (and dialogue) to your friends! :)

Sign up for Com 106: Media and Society [Media and Morality]! (Schedule Wednesdays 930-1230NN)

Traditional discussion of media ethics is usually confined with legal case studies, codes of ethics, and stiff admonitions of sex and violence in the media. This course then is not about these little ethics but about morality—that is, the consequences of media consumption and production to the very meaning of our humanity. Media & Morality asserts that our everyday choices with the media—from poking, friending, and flaming online to taking photos of tourist destinations to watching foreign-language films—reflect how we see, hear, and touch distant others and how we ultimately regard ourselves.

Some of the questions we ask include: How social are social networking sites? Are Facebook users narcissistic poseurs or can they also be self-aware beings-with-others? What is emo-journalism and how can it contribute to identifying with distant others? How well did The Guidon report on the Ateneo suicides? In using the words “suicide incident” over “tragedy”, what moral claim did they make about the living and the dead? When is a joke only a joke? What can we learn about Teri Hatcher’s and Malu Fernandez’s “jokes” about OFWs and their fiery aftermath? What charity ads encourage donation—those that invoke happy thoughts or those that invoke shame and guilt?

As a brand new elective, M&M is ideal for pop culture aficionados and aspiring media producers. It encourages creative work, as students will participate in a) designing humanitarian campaigns and presenting them to advertising professionals, b) pitching other-oriented documentary and telenovela story concepts to GMA executives, and c) organizing a media studies conference headlined by a Cambridge professor. This course is taught by Jonathan C. Ong, creator of the MediaTalk@admu series, former advertising and broadcasting executive, and firm believer that the media is at the heart of our moral future.

Lecture 8: Catastrophe and Celebrity

HERE are the lecture slides for Catastrophe and Celebrity. And HERE are the lecture slides for Identity Politics.

Please post below if you intend to participate in the GMA Network Field Trip. We will meet 1PM at the Department of Communication and leave altogether. Please note that our meeting is at the Jamboree Gate. When asked by the guards, tell them that we are the Atenean guests of Neil Rara of Corporate Communications.

Special MAG2.0 Day: August 27

Please take note that Wednesday, August 27 is a special MAG2.0 day. Our class will be held at Social Sciences Building Conference Rooms 1 and 2. We will begin exactly 130PM. Howie Severino is a known stickler for time, and his lecture is for ONE hour only (130-230PM). On the second hour, I'll be doing a lecture on compassion fatigue. Don and Guia will also present for 12-15minutes on the readings. MAKE SURE you read 'Children Watching Children' written by moi. I'll get offended if you don't. :) On the third hour, we will have two guests do a talk on doing graduate studies abroad. In the spirit of media and GLOBALIZATION, of course. :)

As you can see, we have a jam-packed day ahead of us. Please come prepared. And early. I cannot stress this enough.

I also require you to submit to me a typewritten description of your ideas for the creative project. Indicate what you wish to do and what concepts you'll be using in a paragraph or two. AND you are also required to submit, on a separate sheet, your research question/s for the topic that you have selected for your final paper. Creative project and final paper groups are required to meet with me for consultation between Tuesday and Friday this week.

See you Wednesday!

Reading: Children Watching Children

Hi. We're moving up our Lecture on Catastrophe and Celebrity to Wednesday, August 20. As we're meeting Howie the following week, it would be effective if we discuss issues related to journalism and media ethics.

For our class on Wednesday, the required reading is my own study "Children Watching Children: How Filipino Kids Represent and Receive News Images of Suffering". Please download this HERE (Filename: CWC for JCM submission24Mar.pdf). I would appreciate it if you come to class prepared with the article.

We also have two special guests coming over to talk about graduate studies abroad. This talk will be reserved for the last 45minutes of class.

Lecture 7: Nation and Migration

HERE are the lecture slides for download. Unfortunately, I had to cut some of the stalker photos because they make the file too large.

We didn't have time to discuss and reflect on concepts of nation and diaspora. I hope that we use this space to think through some of the questions below:
1) How do Yao's, Cabanes' and Lorenzana's papers talk to one another? How are they similar or different? What are their theoretical, methodological and ethical strengths and weaknesses? What are their central arguments about migration, identity, and the media?
2) What is the analytical value of Madianou's theory of mediation?
3) How does the media (“global, local, regional, mass, personalized…”) contribute to the survival or death of the nation?
4) Who do we consider diaspora? What about non-Tagalogs and their representation in Philippine media… people from Northern France in French media?
5) How might the media enable dialogue between dominant and marginal groups? What policies should we push for?
6) How do individuals strategically assert their identities in everyday life? When do we play up certain identities over others?

Next week, August 13, we'll have the following five groups present their audience studies:
1) Julia and Savan
2) Mikey, Candice and Meggie
3) Paolo and Portia
4) Margie and Jowee
5) James and Bam

Remember, the objective here is to see how certain individuals or groups make use of the media to reflect on their identity (you can focus on nation, race, gender or sexuality, or their intersections). You can also focus on identity in relation to issues of difference or otherness (us and them, compassion fatigue, etc.) Use the studies of Yao, Cabanes and Lorenzana as template as well as those of Madianou, Gillespie, Miller, Kim, Ang, Liebes and Katz, etc. (Consult audience studies lecture slides)

August 20th we'll have a lecture on Identity Politics and Resistance. And August 27th will be Howie Severino's guesting, where we will discuss ethical issues in journalism and television production.

Again, please email me to schedule consultations for your projects. Remember, I'll be away for two crucial weeks in September and will likely be hard-to-reach via email.

Mass Media in Malaysia Lecture

This is just to remind you that the Department of Communication is co-sponsoring, along with ACAS, a lecture by Professor Kokkeong on Media in Malaysia: The Peculiar Case of Mainstream Media versus Alternative Media on Tuesday, 12 August 2008 at 1:30-3:00 pm. This will be held in Conference Rooms 1 & 2 of the old Social Sciences Building.

Please email or text me if you are interested. Slots are limited!

A +2 in the final mark will be given to student/s who ask/s a critical question during the lecture. A +3 in the quizzes will be given to student/s who write/s a one-page assessment of Kokkeong's study identifying its strengths and weaknesses in terms of rationale, theory, methodology, findings, conclusion, ethics, etc.

This is a very good exercise, as much of MAG2.0 is about enabling students to be more reflective and reflexive about essays, readings, and case studies that you encounter in your different classes.

Here's an example of a review of an empirical study. Here, Mirca Madianou critiques my PhD proposal which aims to examine how Filipinos in different contexts relate with distant others in the media.

Schedules and Readings

We had a really excellent presentation day today. I see that all the groups are skilled in identifying key concepts and applying them to their case studies. I hope that the audience studies groups do just as well, or even better, when they present on the 13th of August.

Next week, the 6th of August, we have Abby Yao (MA, University of London) and Jason Cabanes (ARI Fellow, NUSingapore) presenting their research on Filipino/a bloggers in London and Singapore and how they perform their identities online. I hope that you come to class ready to ask them challenging questions about their research.

The recommended reading is Mirca Madianou's "Contested Communicative Spaces" article from the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. This is an excellent, easy-to-read study of how Turkish speakers in Greece negotiate their identities in their consumption of television news. However, you have the option to read the guest presenters' articles if you wish.

Here are the links below.
Madianou's "Contested Communicative Spaces" HERE.
Yao's "Pinay Brit Blogger" HERE.
Cabanes' "Pinoy Postings" HERE.

Please remember also that you should start thinking about your final papers and creative projects. Email me at jo296@cam.ac.uk or bertiebott@hotmail.com to schedule consultation. Have a good weekend!

Quiz 1 Hall of Fame

I'm posting here Thibaut's winning answer to our first quiz. Everyone else, who got 9.5 and above, please post your answers here.

Announcement

We will resume classes on Wednesday, 30 July.

We will have the following groups do their textual analysis presentations:
1) Sam, Bea, Guia
2) Xela, Sylvain and Thibaut
3) Nyko and Martin
4) Karen and Avery
5) Don and Gia

I will also have a former MAG student present her final paper so that you get an idea about the quality of work that I'm expecting. The last hour will also be devoted to consultations for your final papers and creative projects.

See you then!

Announcement

Hi. We will NOT hold classes tomorrow, 23 July. Your trusty lecturer is ill. :(

Let's do online discussions for this week instead. Please check this board tomorrow for updates.

Also, you guys should start discussing ideas for your final papers and presentations already. Feel free to email me!

Lecture 6: Being and Becoming

HERE are the lecture slides for Being and Becoming: Audience Studies in the context of globalization.

HERE are the lecture slides on Us and Them: Representations of the Other.

I encourage you to begin consulting with me with regard to your final papers. If you also need help with your quiz-presentations in the coming weeks, I am available for consultation. Just drop me a line at jo296@cam.ac.uk or bertiebott@hotmail.com.

Final Paper Topics

Hi. Here are the Final Paper topics.

You have about three weeks to finalize your specific research question and approach. I encourage you to do some audience studies (so far, a lot of you are choosing representations studies). But I hope the lecture next week will get you interested in audiences too! :)

1) Mediation of Hate: The CounterNarratives of ChikaTime, PerezHilton, and Other Vicious Blogs
2) Compassion Fatigue or Media Fatigue? Mediated Suffering and Audience Responses
3) Observing OFWs: Changing Representations of Filipina Migrants in the Media
4) The Exploding Other: When Enemies Appear in the Media Space
5) Dreams and Nightmares in the Global Village: Representations of Technology in the Media
6) Reflexive Journalism: Ethics, Compassion, and Politics in Journalists’ Memoirs
7) Dialogues with the Dead: Photographs of Mourning
8) Notoriety and Filipino-ness: Janina San Miguel, Dancing Prisoners, and Other Pseudo-Celebs and Discourses about the Nation
9) Them Reporting Us: The Reporting of Local Events by International News
10) Discourses of Dialogue and Dissemination: When Do We Favor One Over the Other?
11) Media and Morality: What Philosophical Tradition Should We Use in Prescribing a Moral Media?

Lecture 5: Us and Them

I have given up on Sendspace and now using MediaFire. Tell me if it's any better.

HERE are the lecture slides for Us and Them: Representations of the Other.

Next week, we'll have a 10-point quiz that covers the past five lectures ('global media, mediated globe' up to 'us and them') plus the reading by Gillespie on Media Audiences. Not only is this reading particularly well written and accessible, it is also extremely useful for our research paper in class AND your other classes. It discusses theories on media audiences as well as case studies that use them.

The following week (23 July), we'll have a presentation day where the following groups are to do a 20-minute maximum presentation, wherein they present a case study using textual/image analyses of representations of the Other. You can select any media text (newspaper article, movie, tv show, blog) and identify how the text (or texts) construct(s) the Other using particular codes, conventions, and narrative styles. I'll be grading you not so much on creativity of presentation but more on your critical thinking and ability to apply concepts that you have learned in class (e.g., Orientalism, agency, demonization, typology of suffering). As this is a class on globalization, we highlight of course the Other in terms of nation or race. But you can also link nation or race with gender, sexuality, social class, etc. The 20-minute time limit includes the time that you're spending to show the class the video clip or photographs or text. You are encouraged to use Powerpoint and present: a) context/background, b) key concepts or analytical tools used, c) findings and arguments, and d) conclusion.
1) Sam and Bea
2) Xela, Sylvain and Thibaut
3) Nyko and Martin
4) Karen and Avery
5) Don and Gia

I'll leave the choice of topic up to you. Some examples though: a) black culture in Kanye West's music videos, b) representations of non-Manilenyos in the Philippines in GMA sitcoms, c) 'Lost' castaways and their 'Others', d) typology of Philippine news about tragedies.

This counts as your second 10-point quiz.

The other groups are presenting case studies on media audiences in a later week. But perhaps you can already think about which group of people you want to interview and what tv show or movie or text you wish to discuss with them. I only ask you to conduct around 3 interviews/ casual chats and present your findings.
6) Julia and Savan
7) Mikey, Candice and Meggie
8) Paolo and Portia
9) Margie and Jowee
10) James and Bam

Some possible topics: a) Filipina mothers and Sex and the City: Negotiating Filipina femininity, b) children's responses to American Idol Gives Back, c) Public school students' responses to Gossip Girl: Dreams, Luxury, and Success, and d) fans of Ugly Betty vs Betty La Fea.

Again, you are free to consult me regarding any of your upcoming requirements. Have a good weekend ahead!

Announcement

Please bring the Time magazine article to class on Wednesday.

Lecture 4: Reflections and Representations

HERE are the lecture slides for download.

Feel free to raise any questions or comments on today's lecture.

Also, I'd like to hear from you as regards the "Made in China: The Growing Dangers of the China Trade" Time magazine article. What might a discourse analysis of the text reveal?

Take note that this is a business article in Time magazine. The storytelling is supposed to be 'objective' and economics-oriented. However, we argue, from a constructivist viewpoint, that a particular story is being told about China and, at the same time, the West (i.e., America). And this story is using a kind of symbolic violence in that it favors ONE way of understanding China while excluding other narratives. And so, what are the 'regimes of truth' that can be gleaned from the text in terms of: a) nation and national identity, b) danger and safety, c) progress and modernization, d) East and West, e) imperialism, and others?

Some guide questions to help you:
1) Why the focus on pet food, toothpaste, toys and tires? What is the significance of these products?
2) How does the article talk about 'us' and 'them'? What words or phrases are used to construct or position the reader?
3) What is the significance of the 'seal of approval' by the US Department of Agriculture? What does it represent?
4) Imagine that the story is about the dangers of trading with the United States, and NOT with China. What kinds of words or phrases would have to be changed because these are not 'acceptable' or commonplace terms of describing America, or the West in general?
5) How does the article link with the larger discourse about the 'rise' of China as a superpower?

I think that this is a very good exercise in which we get to practice our textual analysis skills. Can we count this as a 5-point quiz? :)

Also, HERE are the possible topics for your final paper assignment. These are in no way final, etched-in-stone topics and you are free to play around with them. While the paper won't be due for another 3 months, it's good to start thinking about what you want to do. Feel free to email me at jo296@cam.ac.uk to set appointments for consultation.

Lecture 3: Proximity and Distance

HERE are our lecture slides for download. I really really enjoyed our discussion yesterday. And I hope that you did too! Let's hope that we continue it online!

Here are some of the discussion questions. As always, feel free to discuss these or raise some other issues that you find interesting:
1) How can we relate the theories of mediation with the models of communication? Which story do you believe?
2) From your experience, when and how do the media connect? When do they separate?
3) Why or how do you privilege dialogue over dissemination? Why the nostalgia for dialogue in an age of dissemination/always-already mediation?
4) What is YOUR dream for perfect communication?
5) (Cf Xela's question about the teacher as a medium) Can you guess the main message or "ending" of the course?

Also, some of you have asked about consultation hours and contact information. Feel free to email me anytime at jo296@cam.ac.uk to schedule a meeting. My consultation hours are T/TH 3-430PM, but we can arrange to meet outside of this, if necessary. We can discuss concepts discussed in class that you need clarified, ideas that you have for your papers and projects, and any other thing remotely related to media and communications.

HOMEWORK:
1) The reading for next Wednesday is Exploring Media Discourse by Myra MacDonald. Chapter 1 is available for photocopy in the Filipiniana section of the library. Please get a copy!
2) Bring a print ad or a news article that we can analyze for its interesting portrayal of a particular country (e.g., Wow Philippines advert, business news about China, news coverage of French riots).

Lecture 2: Homogenization, Heterogenization

You can download the lecture slides HERE.

Today's lecture was kinda heavy, but I did think that it was provocative too. There's a lot of things to say about the changes in time, place, space, non-place, splace. Also, with the world being more similar AND more different due to complex interconnections. How do we describe what's happening in the world? In the home? In spaces cyber and human? With cultures and identities? And how do we (or should we) judge such novelties? What experiences do you have of time-space distanciation or compression? With the media connecting and separating the globe? Feel free to discuss any, or all, of these questions above. Or even the discussion questions below:
1) Have the media rendered space and time differences insignificant?
2) Why worth mentioning splaces/non-places?
3) Do shared and simultaneous experiences through the media integrate society?
4) BONUS: How do spaces become places? How can non-places become places?

Please read the Silverstone/Barnett reading for next week (Chapter 2 of Demanding World), available in the Filipiniana Section of the library.

Anonymous commenting now allowed! (But please always label your posts with your name!) Start posting!

Lecture 1: Global Media, Mediated Globe

You may download the lecture slides from the opening lecture HERE.

See you all tomorrow in COM C, Old Communication Building.

Getting to Know You

It seems most fitting for a class about media and communications to first have the predictable yet indispensable exercise of self-presentation in a mediated environment. Obviously the manner of communication in cyberspace is starkly different from face-to-face interaction, with the loss of many symbolic cues--from body language to the rise and fall of voice pitch. But much are added as well--from the adoption of avatars to the narrative closure afforded by one's writing of a beginning, middle, and end. And in both types of communication, the challenge is to make a good first impression. What is frustrating--and exciting--of course is that we simply don't know just how our audience will react, respond, remember, reply. And, with the affordances of technology, also: comment, forward, poke, reject, block, digg, flame, spam.

However this site, and this class, is a site of hospitality. It is a site of learning and exchange. It aims to be a space premised not simply on reason and/or emotion, but on responsibility, Roger Silverstone's (2006) lofty requirement for a mediaspace. This homepage is home.

I am happy to welcome you to the website of Com110.10 Media and Globalization (Year 2). I wish that you treat this online space not simply as a supplement to our offline lectures but as a meaningful resource for learning, an active and vibrant space for discussion, and a shared experience with your fellow classmates and lecturer.

Kindly reply to this post and introduce yourself below so that we can get our discussions going. Aside from your name and course, I'd like to know your expectations of MAG2.0. Additionally, you have the option of answering any, or all, of the following questions:
1) how have the media influenced your perceptions or expectations about a particular person or place? how did your prior mediated experience affect, if at all, your actual encounter with that person or place?
2) how much time do you spend in shopping malls and chains such as Starbucks, McDonald's, etc? do you consider yourself a fan of such outlets? why? how?
3) American Idol or Pinoy Idol? Amazing Race or Amazing Race Asia? What can you say about global brands and their local spin-offs?

Switching to a different medium, please bring a 5x7" index card with 2x2" ID photo on June 18, Wednesday. Please include: name, birth date, and contact information (cell phone and email address).

Please be prepared with the de Block & Buckingham and/or Rantanen readings.

Syllabus: Media and Globalization

COM 110.10/COM 203.6 Syllabus: Media and Globalization
Lecturer: Jonathan C. Ong
Schedule: Wednesdays 130-430PM
1 Semester 2008-2009
Department of Communication
Ateneo de Manila University

I. Course Description

“The anthropologist arrives in the city on foot, the sociologist by car and via the main highway, the communications specialist by plane” (Garcia Canclini, 1995).

Media studies scholars have been criticized in the past for being elitist, detached, even corrupt for celebrating American (global?) popular culture. The course Media & Globalization is a critical intervention in academic discourse by highlighting the social, political, cultural, and ultimately moral relevance of understanding the media’s role in processes of globalization. According to bestsellers, communication technologies are key to the “death of distance” and the “flattening” of the world. But this course stresses that the media are enabling and disabling, they include and exclude; the mediated “global village” is not open to all. Media & Globalization is then global in scope (we study CNN news, American Idol, Benetton print ads, Korean soaps) yet simultaneously local, if not always-already personal (we ask ourselves, “How do I contact my relatives abroad? How did I react to the tsunami disaster? When do I feel Othered?”). The aim is to enable students to critically evaluate the media’s capacity to make visible distant others as well as recognize their own duty to be responsible consumers and producers in today’s world.

This elective, on its second year, emphasizes both theoretical and creative work, and welcomes students from all tracks/courses, especially those who are active media users/pop culture fans. Exciting plans for MAG 2.0 include a visit to GMA Network, dialogue with renowned journalists and advertisers, a student-run version of MediaTalk@admu, and a guest lecture from a Pakistani journalist. The course is designed and taught by Jonathan C. Ong, who will arrive from Cambridge by plane.

II. General Objectives
This course aims to:
• introduce theories and concepts from globalization studies and media studies, highlighting key issues and debates from the literature
• underscore the social, political, cultural, and moral relevance in understanding the media’s role in processes of globalization
• train students in critical, dialectical thinking

III. Methodology
Media and communications is an academic discipline that requires much reading—reading from textbooks and academic journals as well as “reading” from media such as film, television, and music. The quintessential Ateneo Communication student is someone who is able to link “theoretical knowledge” gathered from books and “practical knowledge” acquired from exposure to media products. It is the student’s responsibility to keep up with the varied reading materials. The lecturer requires students to read only one of the listed readings per week.
The course consists of lectures, lecturettes, guest lectures from industry professionals, seminar discussions, online discussions, film viewings, research work, and creative work.

IV. Topic Outline
1. Week 1 (June 11): Global Media, Mediated Globe
• Introduces course aims, methods, and requirements: Why study the media in the context of globalization? Why study the globe in the context of mediation?
• Introduces the study of globalization from various academic disciplines and positions “traditional” globalization studies alongside a media and cultural studies framework

2. Week 2 (June 18): Homogenization and Heterogenization
• Discusses a key debate in globalization studies: Does globalization make the world the same or different?
• Introduces the concepts of time, space and place
• Case studies: Starbucks, Airports, Blogs
• Key readings:
a. De Block, L. & D. Buckingham (2008). Global Children, Global Media. London: Palgrave. (Chapter 1)
b. Rantanen, T. (2005). The Media and Globalization. London: Sage. (Chapter 3)

3. Week 3 (June 25): Proximity and Distance
• Reflects on the media’s role in a globalizing world: What does it mean to say that we live in a mediated world?
• Introduces the concepts of mediation, digital divide, political economy
• Case studies: Disney, Coca-Cola, the Olympic Games
• Key readings:
a. Barnett, C et al. (2006). A Demanding World. London: Open University Press. (Chapter 2)
b. Dayan, D. & E. Katz. (1992). Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Chapter 2)

4. Week 4 (Jul 2): Reflections and Representations
• Underscores the value of the study of representations in the context of globalization: How does the media include and exclude through the power of representation?
• Introduces the method of discourse analysis
• Case studies: Time magazine article on Chinese toys, Transformers, ID4, George Bush on Iraq War
• Key readings:
a. Macdonald, M. (2003). Exploring Media Discourse. London: Arnold. (Chapter 1)
b. Silverstone, R. (2006). Media and Morality: On the Rise of the Mediapolis. London: Polity. (Chapter 3)

5. Week 5 (Jul 9): Us and Them
• Develops a critique of the processes of Other-ing present in popular media representations: How does the media construct the Other as tooclose or too FAR?
• Introduces the concepts of Orientalism, compassion fatigue, media fatigue, and proper distance
• Case studies: Lost (ABC), American Idol (Fox), Hurricane Katrina
• Key readings:
a. Silverstone, R. (2006). Media and Morality: On the Rise of the Mediapolis. London: Polity. (Chapter 2)
b. Chouliaraki, L. (2008). “The Media as Moral Education.” Media, Culture & Society, 30(5).

6. Week 6 (Jul 16): Student Presentations
• Students select text/s from television, films, newspapers, websites and present an analysis of how their chosen media text/s construct(s) the Other

7. Week 7 (Jul 23): Being and Becoming
• Discusses the slippery concept of “identity” in relation to theories of modernity: How do audiences reflect on who they are in consuming global media?
• Introduces the rich tradition of audience studies and its contribution to our understanding of identity
• Case studies: Dallas, teen “dollmaker” websites
• Key readings:
a. Gillespie, M. (2005). Media Audiences. London: The Open University Press. (Chapter 4)
b. Willet, R. (2008). “Consumer Citizens Online: Structure, Agency and Gender.” In Buckingham, D. (ed.) Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. Boston, MA: MIT Press.

8. Week 8 (Jul 30): The National and the Global
• Guest Lecturer: Nicole Curato, PhD, Birmingham University
• Exposes the “nation” as a cultural and mediated narrative
• Introduces the concepts of imagined community and banal nationalism
• Discusses a key debate in globalization studies: How powerful is the nation in a globalizing world?
• Case studies: National YouTube stars (Cebuano prisoners and Janina San Miguel)
• Key readings:
a. Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined Communities. London: Verso. (Chapters 1-2)
b. Madianou, M. (2005). Mediating the Nation. London: UCL Press. (Chapter 2)

9. Week 9 (Aug 6): Motion and Migration
• Guest Presenters: Abigail Yao, MA, University of London; Megha Amrith, PhD, University of Cambridge
• Discusses how the concept of “diaspora” disrupts fixed notions of nation, culture, identity, and the media: How do migrants negotiate attachments to home and host countries through media consumption?
• Case studies: Desperate Housewives controversy, Malu Fernandez
• Key readings:
a. Corpus Ong, J. (2008). “Watching the Nation, Singing the Nation: London-Based Filipino Migrants’ Identity Construction in News and Karaoke.” Communication, Culture and Critique.
b. Yao, A. (2008). “Pinay Brit Blogger: Blogs, Identities and Filipino Women in the UK.” MA Dissertation Submitted to Institute of Education, University of London.

10. Week 10 (Aug 13): Student Presentations
• Students present bottom-up case studies that explore media power in the contexts of identity, nation, and/or diaspora

11. Week 11 (Aug 20): Voice and Visibility
• Discusses the impact of identity politics and resistance movements in the global stage: Can the Other speak in a global media environment? And when the Other does speak, who listens?
• Discusses issues of self-representation, culture jamming
• Lecturer presents his tentative ethical theory for the media hinged on the dialectic of voice and visibility
• Case studies: ChikaTime blog, Perez Hilton
• Key readings:
a. Mitra, A. (2001). “Marginal Voices in Cyberspace.” New Media & Society, 3(1).
b. Peters, J.D. (2001). “Witnessing.” Media, Culture & Society, 23(6).

12. Week 12 (Aug 27): Catastrophe and Celebrity
• Reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of the news industry in eliciting compassion for vulnerable others: How are audiences positioned as both powerful and powerless in their reception of distant suffering?
• Case studies: photographs of Darfur, disaster news coverage, Make Poverty History
• Key readings:
a. Nash, K. (2008). “Global Citizenship as Show Business: The Cultural Politics of Make Poverty History.” Media, Culture & Society, 30(2).
b. Corpus Ong, J. (2008). “Children Watching Children: How Filipino Kids Represent and Receive News Images of Suffering.” Journal of Children and the Media.

13. Week 13 (Sep 3): Tour of GMA Network

14. Week 14 (Sep 10): Hostility and Hospitality
• Invited Speakers: Zebunnisa Burki, Editor, South Asian Journal, Pakistan; Howie Severino, Journalist, GMA Network
• Brings to fore the agenda of morality and ethics in studying the news: Can we construct a global media ethics? What philosophical tradition is best in evaluating the work of the media? Should we demand journalists to accept the superhuman challenge?
• Case studies: about-to-die photography, Anderson Cooper
• Key readings:
a. Cooper, A. (2001). Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival. New York: Harper Collins.
b. Zelizer, B. (2002). “Photography, Journalism, and Trauma.” In Zelizer, B. & S. Allan, S. Journalism After September 11. London: Routledge.

15. Week 15 (Sep 17): Cosmopolitans and Locals
• Guest Lecturer: Jason Cabanes, MA, Ateneo de Manila
• Opens up the debate on cosmopolitanism and its possibilities or impossibilities: How can the media facilitate, if at all, a cosmopolitan conscience?
• Case studies: Filipina tourists, nurses, and domestic helpers
• Key readings:
a. Corpus Ong, J. (2008) “Where Is the Cosmopolitan? Locating Cosmopolitanism in Media and Cultural Studies.” Media, Culture & Society.
b. Tomlinson, J. (1999) Globalization and Culture. Cambridge: Polity. (Chapter 6)

16. Week 16 (Sep 24): Free Cut

17. Week 17 (Oct 1): Creative Projects Presentations

18. Week 18 (Oct 8): Life and Death
• Presents a summary of the course and provides suggestions as to its application in everyday life: Why is the study of the media in relation to globalization a matter of life and death?
• Reflects on the significant contribution of the late Roger Silverstone, “the violent prophet” of media studies
• Key readings:
a. Orgad, S. (2007). “The Internet as a Moral Space: The Legacy of Roger Silverstone.” New Media & Society, 9(1).
b. Dayan, D. (2007). “On Morality, Distance and the Other: Roger Silverstone’s Media and Morality. International Journal of Communication (1).
c. Peters, J.D. (2007). “A Recent Chapter in the Messianic Tradition?” International Journal of Communication (1).

V. Course Requirements
1) Final Paper - 35%
2) Creative project – 25%
3) Participation – 20%
4) Quizzes – 20%

1 - The final paper is a small-scale research paper to be accomplished individually or in groups of three (maximum). Each individual is expected to write 3000 words for the paper. The Lecturer will present topic guides by Week 5.

2 – The creative project (documentary, fiction film, ad campaign, webisodes, website, “media event”, debate, etc) is an attempt to challenge students to become effective and responsible media producers in the age of globalization. The objective of the creative project is to provoke further debate on a specific issue (or issues) discussed in class. This is to be accomplished by groups of not more than five (5) students. Examples of creative projects may be: 1) a Philippine AdBusters-type of blog, 2) a fashion show that exhibits the homogenization vs heterogenization debate, 3) a documentary that represents distant suffering using the concept of proper distance, 4) a reality TV program that tries to find the “ultimate cosmopolitan.”

3 – Participation takes into account classroom discussions and online discussions. Students are expected to display critical thinking, wide reading, and the ability to link concepts from the various lectures and even from their other classes.

4 – There will be at least four quizzes throughout the term. Quizzes can be essay-based or can take the form of class presentations, such as in Weeks 6 and 10.

VI. Biographical Notes
Jonathan Corpus Ong is a PhD Candidate in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. He is one of only 100 students in his batch with the prestigious Bill Gates Scholarship. He has an MSc in Politics and Communication (with Distinction) from the London School of Economics and a BA in Communication (summa cum laude) from the Ateneo de Manila University. His industry experience includes becoming the youngest manager at GMA Network, media planning at McCann-Erickson Phils., and working as a research assistant at the BBC. His research interests are on media and morality, media and migration, and mediated public participation.