The United States has always been a story of diversity and evolving identity — from the roots planted many generations ago by Native Americans, immigrants and enslaved peoples to the fresh traditions brought by those arriving from all over the world. Journalists must have a solid understanding of the communities that make up America today, including awareness about our enmeshed histories. Together these provide a vision of how to report fairly and fully within any beat. This course examines the media’s role in shaping perceptions about social groups and the inequities that trouble our nation, their root causes, and potential solutions. During the semester, students will go out into the neighborhoods to report on issues across differences of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.
Course objectives
- Evaluate news values in the context of diverse human experiences, identities and cultures.
- Develop research skills to enhance interviews and community awareness, using resources such as ethnic media and the U.S. Census.
- Improve interviewing skills with careful listening and sources from a range of perspectives.
- Recognize power relationships, including the relative privilege or marginalization of social groups, including one’s own.
- Recognize, report on, analyze and discuss structures that lead to inequity and injustice.
- Identify media practices, frames and other effects that shape perceptions about difference, inequity and appropriate policies in areas such as health, education, crime and government.
- Appreciate the importance of journalism in a democratic society, especially as related to representations of race, gender, generation, geography, religion and physical ability.
- Appreciate and engage with the ethical issues and personal challenges posed by reporting across social difference.
Course design
This course will acquaint students with covering diversity across multiple aspects of identity and their intersections, with example application areas in health, education, criminal justice and government. Students will develop their knowledge of theoretical frameworks, gain skills and practices, and learn how to apply all three in reporting and writing in core beat areas.
Course materials
Suggested class materials include general texts that supply a theoretical framework, book chapters, and print or online readings that apply to class topics, and films. We recommend that students follow news coverage of their communities of interest and comment on it depending on the class topic. Instructors can guide students to relevant articles or ask students to do their own research. Readings can be selected from those suggested based on the emphasis of the course designed. Separately, several books are proposed for the instructor’s use and selected chapters may lend themselves to student use as well.
Readings
Suggested chapters from the following books are listed with the relevant class.
- Clint C. Wilson, Felix Gutierrez and Lena M. Chao, Racism, Sexism and the Media: Multicultural Issues Into the New Communications Age, 2012.
- Sally Lehrman, News in a New America, Knight Foundation, 2006. To request copies, contact publications@knightfdn.org.
- Sue Ellen Christian, Overcoming Bias: A Journalist’s Guide to Culture and Context, 2011.
- Herbert Gans, Democracy and the News, 2003.
- Maurianne Adams, et al. Readings for Diversity and Social Justice, 2013.
- Patrick Lee Plaisance, Media Ethics: Key Principles for Responsible Practice, 2009.
- Coverage of community issues, News Trust website… MORE
– See more at: http://journalistsresource.org/syllabi/syllabus-reporting-race-gender-and-diversity-in-america?utm_source=JR-email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=JR-email#sthash.U7nn6aHg.dpuf
The United States has always been a story of diversity and evolving identity — from the roots planted many generations ago by Native Americans, immigrants and enslaved peoples to the fresh traditions brought by those arriving from all over the world. Journalists must have a solid understanding of the communities that make up America today, including awareness about our enmeshed histories. Together these provide a vision of how to report fairly and fully within any beat. This course examines the media’s role in shaping perceptions about social groups and the inequities that trouble our nation, their root causes, and potential solutions. During the semester, students will go out into the neighborhoods to report on issues across differences of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.
Course objectives
- Evaluate news values in the context of diverse human experiences, identities and cultures.
- Develop research skills to enhance interviews and community awareness, using resources such as ethnic media and the U.S. Census.
- Improve interviewing skills with careful listening and sources from a range of perspectives.
- Recognize power relationships, including the relative privilege or marginalization of social groups, including one’s own.
- Recognize, report on, analyze and discuss structures that lead to inequity and injustice.
- Identify media practices, frames and other effects that shape perceptions about difference, inequity and appropriate policies in areas such as health, education, crime and government.
- Appreciate the importance of journalism in a democratic society, especially as related to representations of race, gender, generation, geography, religion and physical ability.
- Appreciate and engage with the ethical issues and personal challenges posed by reporting across social difference.
Course design
This course will acquaint students with covering diversity across multiple aspects of identity and their intersections, with example application areas in health, education, criminal justice and government. Students will develop their knowledge of theoretical frameworks, gain skills and practices, and learn how to apply all three in reporting and writing in core beat areas.
Course materials
Suggested class materials include general texts that supply a theoretical framework, book chapters, and print or online readings that apply to class topics, and films. We recommend that students follow news coverage of their communities of interest and comment on it depending on the class topic. Instructors can guide students to relevant articles or ask students to do their own research. Readings can be selected from those suggested based on the emphasis of the course designed. Separately, several books are proposed for the instructor’s use and selected chapters may lend themselves to student use as well.
Readings
Suggested chapters from the following books are listed with the relevant class.
- Clint C. Wilson, Felix Gutierrez and Lena M. Chao, Racism, Sexism and the Media: Multicultural Issues Into the New Communications Age, 2012.
- Sally Lehrman, News in a New America, Knight Foundation, 2006. To request copies, contact publications@knightfdn.org.
- Sue Ellen Christian, Overcoming Bias: A Journalist’s Guide to Culture and Context, 2011.
- Herbert Gans, Democracy and the News, 2003.
- Maurianne Adams, et al. Readings for Diversity and Social Justice, 2013.
- Patrick Lee Plaisance, Media Ethics: Key Principles for Responsible Practice, 2009.
- Coverage of community issues, News Trust website.
– See more at: http://journalistsresource.org/syllabi/syllabus-reporting-race-gender-and-diversity-in-america?utm_source=JR-email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=JR-email#sthash.U7nn6aHg.dpuf