Thinking Question # 6

One of the biggest media industries in the world is the movie industry, valued at $65 billion. This is the reason why we are concentrating our attention on Hollywood and Bollywood. Since nobody is watching an Indian movie this semester,  I chose to focus our blog on Bollywood.
Please look at slides 16-21 in the Imports_Exports PPT. You are also strongly encouraged to watch the Hello Bollywood documentary (30 minutes; here is the link) before answering the first question. You have a choice between two questions:

1. Discuss at least three ways in which Indian movies are different from Hollywood movies? 
2. Read the article on slide 21 - Can Bollywood go global? - and provide an answer to the question. What kind of a message was Bollywood sending when it held its annual awards in Tampa (see slide 20). 

Thinking Question # 5

This week I wanted to give you choices. Your blog only needs to answer ONE of the questions:

1. Go to the corporate web site for Univision, which, as we said in class, was linked to Mexico's Azcarraga family, and is now the 5th largest network in the US behind CBS, Fox Broadcasting, ABC and NBC.  Spend some time researching the company and its Hispanic market. In particular, you can explore the Hispanic Consumer and Local Media links. Then write a post about your observations.
2. Read the following article on Disney embracing telenovelas and write a post linking it to issues we've discussed in class (globalization, culture, counterflow, media giants)
3. The topic of narcotics caught your attention so let's continue it online. Here is a link to an interactive map of Mexican cartels http://www.americaabroadmedia.org/multimedia/mexico-map/index.html. At the bottom of the map you can find a link to an audio report talking about NAFTA, Mexico and the US. Examine those links and share your personal observations. This is not a strictly media-related report, but it provides an excellent overview of broader economic and political issues.

Thinking Question # 4

Your first task is to watch the Control Room documentary. The director is Jehane Noujaim, an Arab- American film director.

Here is the link the the full version.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/control-room/


The documentary raises a number of important questions about "truth" in reporting.  I hope that in your blog posts for this week you would address the following questions:

• What is your impression of Al Jazeera after watching this documentary? 
• If you agree that any war has human costs, why was the US media showing a "sanitized" version of the war? How is this in line with objective reporting? For additional information, see this NYT article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/world/americas/27iht-photos.1.20479953.html?_r=0

•  Is objectivity possible when covering military conflicts? 

Bonus question: (for extra 2 points)

• Explore the impact of visuals in covering war? (you can expand to other conflicts) 

You have till Sunday to complete this question. Follow the specifications:

• Each blog post has to be at least 250 words long. It also must be well thought out and written. I will take points off for poor organization and/or grammar.

Thinking Question # 3

This week we have been discussing financing of media. Although there are many methods, we placed emphasis on 5 main types. Your task this week is to describe and justify your vision for financing media. Given the fact that private media is financed in pretty much the same way across the world, you should focus on public broadcasting (TV and radio) or you could pick newspapers. Your "ideal" system could be applied to the USA or any other country.

Thinking Question # 2

In the past two weeks we have examined the cultural characteristics, underlying philosophies of media systems and regulation in different countries. Your task is to make a connection between these topics. In other words, can you make a connection between developmental philosophy and media regulation in a certain country (you should know which one), or social responsibility and media regulation in another country, etc. You need to pick only ONE philosophy and ONE country. I prefer that you do not discuss the country you will be presenting on. Try to draw specific examples from the text.

You have till Sunday to complete this question. Follow the specifications:

• Each blog post has to be at least 250 words long. It also must be well thought out and written. I will take points off for poor organization and/or grammar.

• Each blog post must be tagged "Last_name - Post # --list number of post here--). For example, my first blog post will be tagged "Stover - Post 1"

Thinking Question # 1

Find a point in the class reading from Thussu on the history of communication that you would like to comment on. I am not interested in you regurgitating the class material. I'd like you to pick a point and expand on it.

Here are some reminders:

• You need to link your blog post to the topic of the week.

• You only need to answer ONE of the questions.
  

• Each blog post has to be at least 250 words long. It also must be well thought out and written. I will take points off for poor organization and/or grammar.

• Each blog post must be tagged "Last_name - Post # --list number of post here--). For example, my first blog post will be tagged "Stover - Post 1"

• Blog # 1 is due by Sunday, midnight. Late posts will NOT get the full points.