diversity and media
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Assessment 2 Instructions: Diversity and the Media
Write a 6-8-page essay analyzing a chosen diversity issue covered in the media.
In this assessment, you will have the opportunity to take a deeper look at the connection between the media and the cultural diversity of U.S. society. You will discuss how a current program or article in current news media approaches diversity-related issues and explain how we can use the sociological perspective to better understand both the portrayal of diversity-related issues and the media’s broader role in U.S. society. Effectively evaluating the accuracy of the information provided in your chosen media piece will require some additional research and fact checking, something that sociologists also do when they are weighing the validity of opposing arguments.
Demonstration of Proficiency
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:
• Competency 1: Describe theoretical ideas of power in relation to policy.
• Discuss sociological theories appropriate for promoting understanding of a diversity concept.
• Discuss how a media piece may affect or might have been influenced by policy and/or power.
• Competency 2: Identify historical and contemporary influences of discrimination in U. S. culture.
• Discuss how minority and dominant groups are portrayed in a media piece to understand influences on discrimination.
• Competency 3: Analyze the effects of social policy using aggregated data.
• Analyze data that is appropriate for supporting or refuting the central tenets of a media piece.
• Competency 6: Communicate effectively.
• Write coherently to support a central idea in appropriate format and with few errors of grammar, usage, and mechanics.
Instructions
Choose a news media piece from a reputable source that is focused on an issue related to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, physical or mental disability, or social class. Examples of acceptable media include newspaper articles, editorials, and radio or television news segments. Write an essay in which you complete the following:
• Briefly, in one or two paragraphs, summarize the main events or issues presented in the specific media piece you have chosen and describe how they relate to cultural diversity studies.
• Compare and contrast how minority and dominant groups are portrayed in your chosen media article or program.
• Consider how your source material demonstrates this dominant/minority group differentiation. For example, is there differentiation along racial or ethnic lines, or other variables, such as gender or social class?
• Discuss at least two sociological theories that are most appropriate to understanding the diversity issues in your chosen media piece. Include specific relevant examples from the article or program to illustrate your points. Examples of theories include:
• Functionalist perspective.
• Conflict perspective.
• Labeling theory.
• Marx’s and Weber’s theories of inequality.
• Park’s race relations cycle.
• Gordon’s theory of assimilation.
• Human capital theory.
• Scapegoat theory.
• Authoritarian personality theory.
• Exploitation theory.
• Contact hypothesis.
• Noel hypothesis.
• Blauner hypothesis.
• Culture of poverty theory.
• Do one of the following—choose which is appropriate for your chosen article:
• Discuss how one or more of Merton’s four categories of prejudice and discrimination apply to the media piece you chose.
• Explain whether assimilation or pluralism best describes how race and ethnic relations are presented in your media piece.
• Find and analyze two credible sources of data (statistics) that are appropriate for supporting or refuting the central tenets of your chosen media article or program.
• If data is cited in your media piece, you may go to that source and analyze it yourself; then consult an additional source that supports or refutes the data presented.
• Make sure to include citations for any sources used.
• Discuss how the content of the media piece may affect or might have been influenced by power. For example, consider how individuals in power influence decisions regarding how issues are portrayed.
• This can include corporate executives, lobbyists, special interest groups, or those who own a particular newspaper, channel, or media conglomerate.
• Suggest, in your concluding paragraph, a viable policy strategy—one that could be implemented at the local, state, or federal level—for addressing the particular diversity-related issue presented in your news article or program.
Additional Requirements
• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• Length: 6–8 pages, not including title and references pages.
• Format: Include a title page and reference page, and format the paper and your citations according to current APA style and formatting guidelines.
• Sources: Cite the chosen article or program and at least two additional scholarly sources.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.
Portfolio Prompt: Save this assessment to your ePortfolio.
RESOURCES : CURRENT ANALYSIS
For this assessment, you will be doing a content analysis of a specific media program or article. Below are resources that discuss the key elements of an effective content analysis.
• Collins, R. L. (2011). Content analysis of gender roles in media: Where are we now and where should we go? Sex Roles, 64(3/4), 290–298.
• This article examines research on the use of quantitative content analyses in the study of gender stereotyping in the media.
• How to Do a Content Analysis
• This Capella resource shows how to conduct a content analysis involving visual media.
Resources: Prejudice, Stereotypes, and Discrimination
These resources examine sociological concepts relevant to the study of media—including stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination—as they connect to different forms of diversity.
• Cooky, C., Wachs, F. L., Messner, M., & Dworkin, S. L. (2010). It’s not about the game: Don Imus, race, class, gender and sexuality in contemporary media. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27(2), 139–159.
• This article examines how the media uses “frames” to portray diversity and social inequality.
• Critical Media Project. (n.d.). Class. Retrieved from http://www.criticalmediaproject.org/cml/topicbackground/class/
• This article focuses on how social class is portrayed in today’s media.
• Deggans, E. (2014, December 6). Four lessons from the media’s conflicted coverage of race. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/12/06/368713550/four-lessons-from-the-medias-conflicted-coverage-of-race
• This article offers a critique on the media’s recent portrayal of racial issues.
• Healey, J. F., Stepnick, A., & O’Brien, E. (2019). Race, ethnicity, gender, and class: The sociology of group conflict and change (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.
• Chapters 3–5.
• This textbook explores diversity from a sociological perspective.
• Institutional Discrimination in the News | Transcript.
• This montage features television, print, and radio news stories about institutional discrimination.
• Merton’s Typology of Prejudice and Discrimination | Transcript.
• This resource describes Merton’s categories for labeling prejudice and discrimination, along with examples of scenarios that apply his typology.
• Zayani, M. (2011). Media, cultural diversity and globalization: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 18(2), 48–54.
• This research article discusses the media’s role in promoting an understanding of cultural diversity.
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