Taking Sides : Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Mass Media and Society

by ALEXANDER ALISON

• ISBN13: 9780073044026
• ISBN10: 0073044024
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-08-06
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin

Summary

This debate-style reader is designed to introduce students to controversies in mass media. The readings, which represent the arguments of leading scholars and media commentators, reflect a variety of viewpoints and have been selected for their liveliness and substance and because of their value in a debate framework. Taking Sides actively develops critical thinking skills by requiring students to analyze opposing viewpoints and reach considered judgments.

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Introduction: Ways of Thinking About Mass Media and Society	xv
PART 1 MASS MEDIA'S ROLE IN SOCIETY	1	(91)
Are American Values Shaped by the Mass Media?	2	(24)
Yes: The Mind Managers (Beacon Press, 1973)	4	(8)
Herbert Schiller
No: ``Television as a Cultural Forum: Implications for Research,'' Quarterly Review of Film Studies (Summer 1983)	12	(14)
Horace Newcomb
Paul M. Hirsch
Is Television Harmful for Children?	26	(24)
Yes: On Media Violence (Sage Publications, 1999)	28	(13)
W. James Potter
No: The Case for Television Violence (Sage Publications, 1999)	41	(9)
Jib Fowles
Is Emphasis on Body Image in the Media Harmful to Females Only?	50	(20)
Yes: ``Stuck in the Model Trap: The Effects of Beautiful Models in Ads on Female Pre-Adolescents and Adolescents,'' Journal of Advertising (Summer 1997)	52	(10)
Mary C. Martin
James W. Gentry
No: ``Turning Boys Into Girls,'' The Washington Monthly (May 1998)	62	(8)
Michelle Cottle
Do African American Stereotypes Still Dominate Entertainment Television?	70	(22)
Yes: Primetime Blues: African Americans on Network Television (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001)	72	(8)
Donald Bogle
No: ``Gimme a Break!'' The New Republic (March 5, 2001)	80	(12)
John McWhorter
PART 2 MEDIA ETHICS	92	(62)
Should the Names of Rape Victims Be Reported?	94	(16)
Yes: ``Naming the Victim,'' Columbia Journalism Review (July/August 1991)	96	(3)
Michael Gartner
No: ``Naming and Blaming: Media Goes Wilding in Palm Beach,'' The Nation (June 24, 1991)	99	(11)
Katha Pollitt
Should Tobacco Advertising Be Restricted?	110	(20)
Yes: ``RJR Nabisco's Cartoon Camel Promotes Camel Cigarettes to Children,'' Journal of the American Medical Association (December 11, 1991)	112	(7)
Joseph R. DiFranza
No: ``Cowboys, Camels, and the First Amendment ---The FDA's Restrictions on Tobacco Advertising,'' The New England Journal of Medicine (December 5, 1996)	119	(11)
George J. Annas
Is Advertising Ethical?	130	(24)
Yes: ``How Advertising Informs to Our Benefit,'' Consumers' Research (April 1998)	132	(10)
John E. Calfee
No: ``The Squeeze,'' Columbia Journalism Review (September/October 1997)	142	(12)
Russ Baker
PART 3 MEDIA AND POLITICS	154	(66)
Does Electronic Media Enhance Political Knowledge?	156	(20)
Yes: ``Media Participation,'' in New Media and Society, 3, 357-380	158	(8)
Erik P. Bucy
Kimberly S. Gregson
No: ``Effects of Electronic Media on Democratic Attitudes,'' www.civic.org/papers_oct99_owens.html (7p)	166	(10)
Diane Owen
Is Negative Campaigning Bad for the American Political Process?	176	(22)
Yes: ``An Exploration of the Effects of Negative Political Advertising on Political Decision Making,'' Journal of Advertising, 31:1, Spring 2002, 13--25	178	(15)
Bruce E. Pinkleton
Nam-Hyun Um
Erica Weintraub Austin
No: ``Lessons from Negative Campaign Advertising,'' USA TODAY Magazine	193	(5)
Ruth Ann Lariscy
Spencer Tinkham
Do the Media Have a Liberal Bias?	198	(22)
Yes: Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News (Regnery Publishing, 2002)	200	(7)
Bernard Goldberg
No: Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. (Dutton, 2003). pp. 1-3, 288-303	207	(13)
Al Franken
PART 4 REGULATION	220	(62)
Should Internet Access Be Regulated?	222	(22)
Yes: ``Filtering the Net in Libraries: The Case (Mostly) in Favor, ``Computers in Libraries (March 1998)	224	(6)
Michael A. Banks
No: American Civil Liberties Union, from ``Censorship in a Box: Why Blocking Software Is Wrong for Public Libraries,'' in David Sobel, ed., Filters and Freedom: Free Speech Perspectives on Internet Content Controls (Electronic Privacy Information Center, 1999)	230	(14)
Should Freedom of Speech Ever Be Restricted?	244	(22)
Yes: ``Freedom of Speech, Cyberspace, Harassment Law, and the Clinton Administration,'' www.law.ucla.edu	246	(10)
Eugene Volokh
No: Edison and Jacobs Media Research, from ``Indecency Survey,'' www.edisonreasearch.com	256	(10)
Should the FCC Liberalize Ownership Rules?	266	(16)
Yes: ``Yes, The FCC Should Relax Its Ownership Rules,'' Congressional Digest (October 2003)	268	(5)
Michael K. Powell
No: ``The Making of a Movement: Getting Serious About Media Reform,'' The Nation (November 2003)	273	(9)
Robert W. McChesney
John Nichols
PART 5 MEDIA BUSINESS	282	(64)
Is Economics the Bottom Line in the Newsrooms of Today?	284	(28)
Yes: ``Can the Media be so Liberal? The Economics of Media Bias,'' Cato Journal (Winter 2001)	286	(15)
Daniel Sutter
No: The Project for Excellence in Journalism, from ``The State of the News Media 2004,'' www.stateofthenewsmedia.org	301	(11)
Do the Media Introduce Us to New Ways of Thinking About Things?	312	(18)
Yes: ``The Laptop Brigade,'' Vanity Fair (April 2004)	314	(7)
James Wolcott
No: ``Little Murders,'' Columbia Journalism Review (January/February 2004)	321	(9)
Jesse Suneblick
Can the Music Industry Survive, Despite Technologies that Facilitate Downloading?	330	(16)
Yes: ``Where Will the Music Be Coming From,'' The New York Times Magazine (March 17, 2002)	332	(6)
Kevin Kelly
No: ``Online Entertainment and Copyright Law: Coming Soon to a Digital Device Near You,'' Statements from the Hearing Before the Committee on the Judicicary, United States Senate (April 3, 2001)	338	(8)
Hon. Orin G. Hatch
Hon. Patrick J. Leahy
Hank Barry
PART 6 THE INFORMATION SOCIETY	346	(40)
Can Privacy Be Protected in the Information Age?	348	(18)
Yes: ``Privacy and the New Technology,'' The Nation (February 28, 2000)	350	(8)
Simson Garfinkel
No: ``The End of Privacy,'' Forbes (November 29, 1999)	358	(8)
Adam L. Penenberg
Are People Better Informed in the Information Society?	366	(20)
Yes: ``The Internet Reborn,'' Technology Review (October 2003)	368	(8)
Wade Roush
No: ``Party On, Dudes!,'' The American Spectator (March/April 2002)	376	(10)
Matthew Robinson
Contributors	386	(5)
Index	391