Possible+Lessons

Ongoing media study idea: a modification of the New York Times Student Challenge []

Comparing Headlines from different newspapers (content, style, graphic element)

How song lyrics define a generation, era, political movements

News magazine cover comparison

News story comparison on some event

Tracking a TV show and ads

Celebrity on cover

Ads that tell stories

Archetypes: e.g. the Outsider, in various media texts

Photo cropping, manipulation (ethical implications)

Facebook persona – who do you portray yourself to be?

Dramatization of real historical events (9/11 coverage told 5 different ways, e.g.)

Media journal – inventory

Timing length of news stories – time assigned – analyze – agenda setting

Compare actual product to the commercial

Out Foxed, Merchants of Cool, Reporting America at War, Control Room

Newspaper design – layout

Analyze brochures. Examine a company’s branding.

TV show review for product placement

Ownership of media

Making a movie trailer.

Tracing roots of musical genres – choose artist, research who that artist modeled himself after (remixing, transforming – where are the roots of the story?). Reuse of musical patterns, riffs – who owns that?

Digital Nation (PBS)

Merchants of Cool (PBS) Analysis of videogame images

How sports are packaged – what is chosen to replay? How does the media package sports? Why are sports stars celebrity

The creation of a celebrity. How does that happen?

Ads for different demographics

Categorize genres with screen shots of media texts Purpose: entertain, inform, persuade

Creating games (for girls)