COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA

You will select a group in society that you think is marginalized (treated unfairly or faces inequality) and correlate the study of communication and intercultural communication to it. This will be a 5-page double spaced written essay. Select a group in society that you think is treated unfairly or faces inequality. You may choose any group that you believe faces inequality. For example, African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans, LGBTQ, immigrants, etc.…You must be able to prove these biases from a society based on research and evidence. To begin you will define communication and the importance of intercultural communication. You may discuss the historical aspects of intercultural communication and evolution over time. Then, discuss the marginalized group you selected and correlate it to a concept/chapter in the textbook. Discuss the origins (history: when, where, and how did they start) of this cultural group and the treatment that they have received past and present (when/where/why did the inequality start). Finally, provide suggestions on how (you think) the inequality can be ended or reduced. The analysis will be a 5-page typed (double spaced) paper about the topic. Remember to include an introduction, body, and summary in the paper. Please check your grammar and spelling by using Spell Check. The paper should be in proper MLA and include a title page and works cited (bibliography for sources) page. So, you should be submitting a total of 7 pages (1 title, 5 research, 1 work cited).

Communication and media have changed a great deal in just the past decade. Take a moment to think about mass media and some of the ways it influences American culture. Now think how it has affected you personally. Consider the advertisements, news stories, and other media images and content you have encountered or interacted with today. Reflect on the overall effect of these media. Are these positive messages, negative messages, or do they have another effect?

In this discussion, we will focus on best strategies for reaching these audiences. How would you communicate with various audiences? Would you use emails? Training videos? Manuals with graphics? Websites? Blogs? Other channels? For this discussion, pick two target audiences, one technical (customer support, research and development, etc.) and one nontechnical (management, marketing, sales, customers, etc.), and describe how you would educate them on a new technical product that was being developed and launched.

SELECTION: Choose a TedTalk according to your major or future career. If for some reason you do not see a TedTalk for your major, check the TedTalk website. ITEMS TO OBSERVE: While viewing the TedTalk, take notes on these items of the speaker and speech: Topic, general purpose, specific purpose, central idea/thesis Content and organization; use of visual aids Wording Delivery – vocal and physical; handling of speech anxiety Audience adaptation Techniques to help the audience listen Techniques to adapt to diverse populations in the audience Promoting solutions; handling of ethical issues WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT: Content and organization: What are the main points and supporting material? What are the strengths of the content and organization? Weaknesses? Content and organization: What are the main points and supporting material? What are the strengths of the content and organization? Weaknesses? Visual aids: What types of visual aids are used? If slides are used, how effective are the slides? How well does the speaker handle the use of slides? Delivery: What type of delivery is used? (impromptu, manuscript, memorized, extemporaneous? Discuss the speaker’s vocal and physical delivery? Appearance/dress? Effectiveness of the Speech: Effectiveness of the Speech: (a) critique the audience response to the speech, and (b) analyze the overall effectiveness of the speech This assignment should be written in formal essay style and should be typed, about 5-6 pages, not including the title and reference pages. Evaluation of the paper will be based on these criteria (200 points): Treatment of Topic/Organization (as described above) (160 pts) Mechanics and Delivery (grammar, spelling, neatness, APA/MLA style): (30 pts)

I need a PhD Research Proposal done for a program I am getting accepted to. I think 15 pages, with two pages or so of references, will get the job done. The topic I want to study is very, very timely and important. The study involves COVID-19, media, and racism: How Asians and Blacks were portrayed in the press. My study involves a comparison in coverage from a number of traditional newspapers and online media, and also would probe social media too, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. The study will be a qualitative content analysis with both online media and traditional media (print that is). Additionally, while the study will be a qualitative content analysis, it will also employ a discourse analysis to get a full picture of how the media really portrayed minorities in the news for news consumers. Note: The literature review will include two parts: (a) theory/theoretical concepts that link to the research; and (b) literature of research done in this field. For the research proposal this only needs to be brief. Moreover, since the study is analyzing race, the study should consider a decolonial angle. A case in point is South Africa, where they are busy decolonising degrees and decolonisation and Africanisation is huge there. Representation in the media – especially with race, makes this almost essential. So, this part needs to be included. The study will break-up my analysis over a year and how it was covered in phases: The start of COVID-19 in November (19′) in China/Asia; COVID hits Europe; COVID: The Americas and Africa; and, Coverage on the post-pandemic phase (assuming this will be later this year after the second-spike in cases which is expected to be in the fall, according to leading health agencies). My work will also include (before the analysis) an introduction, background, sample, methodology, and scope and limitations. This study will obviously include a conclusion too, perhaps also future considerations for research. The media of this study will involve a variety of agencies in the Western World: USA – The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post; Canada: The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Toronto Sun; United Kingdom: The Times, The Daily Mail, The Guardian. Online agencies will include a blend of outlets in the USA, Canada and UK, like Vice.com, Medium.com, Slate.com, Metro.co.uk., Mail Online, The Post Millennial, Yahoo, Buzz Feedand MSN. These sites also post to social media so an analysis of what they post and highlight will be probed. Important to highlight is the strengths and limitations of this study. Let’s start with strengths: the analysis focusses on major dailies around the world, and major online publications too. So, these outlets have scores of readers and plenty of influence on society; that is the media shapes the way we think, the way we see the world. Therefore, the media outlets being explored and how they covered COVID-19 and how they portrayed Asians and Blacks will underscore how racism still exists in the media narrative. The limitations of this work are obvious: the study does not explore broadcast news outlets, nor every single newspaper globally. With this, it would be impossible to measure everything out there: there is not enough room in this dissertation to fulfill all this, and the study of major dailies and popular online media agencies will be suffice to measure the so called ‘temperature’ on coverage and how monitories were portrayed. Also, this study will not include women or other races, as it is exploring a big landscape of minorities to begin with: Asians and Blacks. Here is a breakdown of the research proposal: • Dissertation title (I already have a title, so all good to go on this front) • Summary of topic • Short literature review • Expected contribution of the study • Methodology to be followed • Availability of the data • List of references • Reasons why you are interested in the topic So, what I have provided above the breakdown for the research proposal is what you can work off for each section. Also, each section needs a heading as per the headings listed above. Important to note, for the short literature review, I would include academics who identify what qualitative content analysis is and what discourse analysis is and how they will be employed into this study. You can also give some quick examples too of recent academic studies involving minorities in the news and how qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis has revealed how the media shows bias and how they portray Asians and Blacks as ‘outsiders’ in our society – how they are deviant, criminal, etc. Essentially, the qualitative content analysis and the discourse analysis are tools in ‘deconstructing’ the news, and how news serves as a filter to how others see the world and citizens. In the literature review, it is important to also highlight any studies/works related to the decolonial angle and its relation to the South Africa experience. Note, the expected contribution of this study will highlight the construction of news, and how the deconstruction, through a qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis, tells the story of just how minorities (Asians and Blacks) are portrayed in the news media, in this case with the coverage involving COVID-19. Moreover, the expected contribution of this study will help educate more journalists, academics, and citizens on how racism still exists in the news media and why we need to change this old way of thinking. And this study will even provide solutions to the problem at hand: more online publications to promote a more balanced news and to promote the efforts on Asians and Blacks; more academic studies on the matter; more global awareness to the issue of racism and how we need to change it; and a call to global leaders and corporations who own media to address the problem and employ more minorities as journalists and decision makers in the newsrooms or at the board level. Note, there is a heading in the proposal: Reason why you are interested in this topic. Here you can include that I have over 20 years of experience working in the media, both as a journalist and publicist. The study will allow me to make a solid and sound contribution to my fellow journalists, and society as a whole, and help others realize how racism still exists in the news and why we need to change the way in which the media cover major world issues, especially in the case of this pandemic. Also, as a publicist, many of my clients are Asians and Blacks in Canada and the USA, and in the columns’ I pen as a journalist I include minorities in a positive light as much as I can, so this study is my way of helping change the media narrative on a larger scale. I am a person who is innovative, believes in free speech and the rights of others, so my work will help identify the problem of racism and will offer solutions. I know this is a lot here, so if you have any questions, you can ask me anything you need. I will also need a good pool of references, not on the media coverage side (unless you decide to show explicit examples of past coverage on other issues relating to world affairs, etc), but for the areas of qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis. Please send in single spaced. I can double space. For referencing, please use MLA format.

Select three course concepts. In 500-750 words:Develop an analysis of how each concept speaks to the overall quality of this person’s work life.Explain why you selected these concepts.One to two sources are required for this assignment.

Discussion Prompts: This week we watched a 10-year-old documentary and a recently-written newspaper article on the ways class — particularly the working and middle class — is presented on TV. Both share the same general thesis: while American TV once presented more nuanced depictions of the working and middle class, during the last 25 years issues of class have vanished from TV. Characters on TV have become vaguely upper-middle class, and don’t outwardly worry about issues of work and money. For this week’s discussion I want you to base your blog post on the “your choice viewing” that you pick. Analyze the way class is presented on that show. Start by considering whether or not (and why or why not) “your choice viewing” supports the thesis presented by this week’s reading and documentary viewing. You can also address any other relevant points about class that are present in the show you analyze, including: • If/how finances are talked about. • If/how work is talked about. • What the show’s set and props (including clothes, furniture, technology, etc.) say about class and wealth. • How the show’s presentation of class, wealth, and work compare to “real life.” • Does the network a show is created for (network TV verses cable channels, and streaming platforms verse regular TV) make the show more or less likely to accurately address issues of class? Why? • Based on O’Donnell’s chapter on the business of TV (particularly her discussion of the way advertisements and ratings drive the content we see on TV), why might we reason that issues of class have disappeared from TV in recent years? Read: TV’s Dwindling Middle Class: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/magazine/tvs-dwindlingmiddle- class.html?_r=0 Read: O’Donnell Chapter 2 Watch: Your choice viewing. Pick any recent TV show that allows you to analyze class as it’s presented on that show. (Suggestions: a general-audience sitcom like Modern Family, Last Man Standing, The Conners or The Middle. More biting and niche shows like Shameless.)