One of the best ways to grasp new concepts is to apply them in a real-world context, so for the duration of the quarter, we will ask you to choose a media company (see “Media Company OPTIONS” under Week 4) that will serve as your touch point for exploration. You will complete two 500-700 word “mini-essays” that will draw from course concepts, and will allow you to explore how those concepts and apply them to your media company.

• Mini-essay B is due Friday, May 29, 11:59 pm (Media Professionals or Ideology).

You must include (3) concepts or terms from the textbook, highlight them in bold font in your essay so we can identify them, define them using the textbook, and apply them using external sources (popular press, etc.). We will provide a list of possible concepts related to the essay topic. 

For the second essay, you explore your chosen media company (same company you examined in Media Company Mini-Essay A) and issues related to either MEDIA PROFESSIONALS or IDEOLOGY. Depending on your company, it might make more sense (based on recent policy updates, organizational changes, noteworthy texts that they’ve produced, scandals, etc.) for you to choose one theme (media professionals or ideology) over another. Do some brainstorming to narrow your focus before you decide; check out articles in the popular press, the company’s website, etc. 

Similar to the first essay, we’ve narrowed down concepts for you to choose for your essays.

If you choose media professionals as your theme, select (3) of the following concepts to apply to your essay: compliance, preemption, reinterpretation, challenge, convention, objectivity, agency, structure, beat, round. Please focus on a specific organizational change or controversy in your media company.

If you choose ideology as your theme, select (3) of the following concepts to apply to your essay: ideology, ideological analysis, signification, hegemony, normalization, norms, stereotype, representation. Please select a specific text (film, television show, song, video game), created by your media company, to analyze for ideological issues, or, if your media company supports a specific ideology (based on outside evidence beyond your own opinion), you can also explore this. 

NOTE: For the conclusion, please restate your thesis/major points and reflect on how your findings relate to the issue of socialization and/or culture. 

Organization: Your essay MUST be organized – with a thesis statement – around your theme. Review the rubric, as well as any feedback on your first essay to ensure that you’re on the right track.

Suggested outline (use as subheads):

1. Introduction & thesis statement around major concept of ownership of your company
2. Media company – brief description & more details of ownership structure
3. Three concepts: define
4. Current news/information about company (external sources)
5. Application of each concept to company ownership using external sources; also implications
6. Conclusion: Discussion of how the concept of “agency” relates to your media company and ownership structure.

Format Specifications: Heading, Times New Roman, 12-pt font, flush left, double-spaced, APA internal citations, APA end references, uploaded to Canvas.

Sourcing Specifications: Use your textbook as well as (2) additional credible sources.

Important: Please see the course APA Style Handout for guidance about how to cite your sources for these assignments, both in the text and the reference list at the end of the essay. Additionally, it is important that you treat each of these essays as a FORMAL writing assignment and do not use conversational language or personal reflection. Unless asked otherwise, do not rely on personal beliefs or experiences to substantiate your claims; instead, please find outside sources such as newspaper or magazine articles (or trustworthy websites!) to support your arguments.

To find external sources about your company, see the MFJS 2210 Library Guide (DU Libraries Database)  (see Course Resources in Modules), which has information about finding newspaper articles, academic journal articles, etc..  For further assistance, contact Jenny Bowers, MFJS reference librarian at:  [email protected].