People and the Environment: Mass Media Perspective
Small group: Tuesdays 5:30-6:45, Bg 209

Instructor: Louise Mengelkoch Office Hrs: M-F 1-3
Office: Bg 214 e-mail: lmengelkoch@bemidjistate.edu
Phone: 755-3358
“Tell it like it is, without fear or favor.”
Michael Frome, Environmental Journalist


Course Objectives
This is a small group section of the interdisciplinary course, People and the Environment, and will provide more specific focus in pursuing the overall objectives of the course. That is, this section will pursue how the news and entertainment mass media portray environmental issues. Basing our inquiry on the tried and true basic questions asked by journalists around the world for hundreds of years, we will grapple with the following questions:

Who tells us about environmental issues?
What do they tell us?
Where do we find this news and information?
When do we find it?
Why are these issues covered (or not covered) in the way they are?
How do these media professionals do their work?
How do we respond?

Texts:

Please choose ONE of the following two articles to order on-line (available only in hard copy). The price is $6.50 and includes shipping. Here’s the URL: https://secure1.startribune.com/company/ic/home/newspaper/special_reprints_new.htm

1. “The Minnesota River in Crisis,” a reprint from the Star Tribune, 1999.

OR

2. "The State We're In: A Star Tribune Report About Conservation," 2001, a reprint.

3. Daily editions of the New York Times
You are required to buy a subscription to the New York Times (available through the bookstore -- sign up IMMEDIATELY). Cost: approximately $27.50.

I will NOT allow you to substitute articles from the on-line edition which you print off yourself. These two editions are quite different from each other. Whoever pays the cost of printing (either you or BSU or someone else) would pay more than the cost of the subscription anyway.

4. Sustaining the Earth. (This is for the large-group portion of the course, but I just wanted to mention it so you don’t forget. It is available in the bookstore.)

Assignments and grading for small- and large-group portions of the course:

1. 30%: Environmental Media Journal. This should include the following:

*All the articles on environmental issues you find in the New York Times, neatly clipped and put in your journal.

*Include either 1 or 2 above in this journal.

*These articles should be arranged according to the topics in your textbook for the large group (Sustaining the Earth). You should have a 250-word response in each section. For example, type a response to the all the articles about solid and hazardous waste, about biodiversity, about water, etc.

*The front page of your Media Journal should include a 500-word essay summarizing what you learned from all these articles, especially as they relate to the course.

Your journal should be in a 3-ring binder or something that keeps everything in order and is easy for me to read. It should be "reader-friendly" and attractive, which is always an important thing in mass media. It should have a title and a subtitle. I will show you an example in class. Due date: last small group meeting. Your journals will be ready for you to get back the day of the large-group final.

YOU ARE ALLOWED TO DO THIS PROJECT WITH A PARTNER. HOWEVER, KEEP IN MIND YOU BOTH RECEIVE THE SAME GRADE, NO MATTER WHO DOES THE WORK. YOU ARE ALSO BOTH REQUIRED TO DO ALL THE READING.

See below for an alternative to the Media Journal.

2.10%: Attendance. I will take attendance in the small-group sessions.

3. 10%: Participation. This will be determined by scores on weekly quizzes about environmental stories in the news. Each week, two of you will work together to create a five-minute quiz on articles in the previous week’s Times. Please bring along all the relevant NY Times articles from the previous week for discussion and, as assigned, the Star Tribune article.

4. 35%: Large-group tests,

5. 15%: large-group attendance. Please sit in my section during the large-group presentations. I will take attendance at these sessions.

The final exam for the large group is Tuesday, Dec. 19, 1-3 p.m. There is no exam for the small-group portion of the course.

IMPORTANT: ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY TO THE MEDIA JOURNAL!!!

Attend the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists with me in Burlington, Vermont October 25-29. Check out the organization’s website at www.sej.org. Report on the trip either with a PowerPoint presentation to the small or large group, or write a 500-word op-ed piece for the Northern Student or a newspaper of your choice. This is going to be an awesome conference, and it’s very student-friendly. Here’s a breakdown of the cost:

Airfare: $550 from Bemidji (approximately)
Conference fee: $65 (includes some meals)
Hotel: $87 per night (single or double)
Extra field trips (see conference website): $25-$50

Financial aid may be available for those who need it.

NOTE: If you go to this conference, you must still read the NY Times articles and bring them to class each week. You are excused only from the journal assignment.