Blog Response #1 - Reporting On Bin Laden's Death

Osama Bin Laden's death will no doubt go down as one of the most important stories in our nation's history.

The story of his capture is fascinating - as is the way the news of his murder spread online and on television.

Read the following story from the New York Times' Media Blog and write a 250-word response that answers the following questions:

How did you find out about Bin Laden's death? Where were you? After reading the article, what did you learn or find interesting about the way the news leaked out? How do you think most people found out? How would the news have spread differently if this event happened 15-20 years ago?

How The Osama Bin Laden Announcement Leaked Out

Response due: Friday, December 14 by 2 p.m.

Blog Response #2 - Are Documentaries Educational?

As we discussed in class, documentaries (and realtity television) have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. This trend has emerged for several reasons - cheaper production costs, the transparency that today's media affords us, and the discovery of interesting and controversial topics that relate to a wide audience. Many documentary filmmakers have stayed objective in their movie-making; others have used the documentary genre to prove a point, persuade an audience, or promote a conspiracy theory. This has sparked a debate as to what the word "documentary" now means.

For the blog, you will read the following article and write a 250-word response to the following question:

Should documentaries be objective? Does it matter if they are not? Can they be important and effective either way? Why?

Defining Documentary Film

Response due: Friday, December 14 by 2 p.m.

Blog Response #3 - Rebecca Black & The Power of the Internet

Love it or hate it, Rebecca Black's "Friday" song is an Internet sensation. The video for the song already has over 30 million views on YouTube and many believe that the song will end up as the most-viewed YouTube video of all time.

In the span of a couple weeks, the video has sparked two debates: Is this song the worst song ever? And, more importantly, what does this video say about the power of the media? Like Justin Bieber before her, Black went from an unknown 13-year-old to a star overnight. Could this have ever happened pre-YouTube or pre-Internet?

Read the following article about the "Friday" phenomenon and write a 250-word response that addresses the following questions:

Rebecca Black Means The (Internet) Fame Game Has Changed

What does Rebecca Black's fame say about the power of the Internet and social media? What are the positives of the power of the Internet? What are the negatives?

Response due: Friday, December 14 by 2 p.m.