Lesson Plan: Sept. 2, 2026
Reminder: To download a lesson on this site, you have the day of the lesson and next day. This is especially important for all with excused absences.
Reminder: Thanks for getting the dates absent for activities. Watch the late appearances and especially know that if you are on your phone or computer, you may have lost participation points already. That’s an important part of your grade.
Reminder: You still have two weeks to get your choice approved by Sept. 16.
Find the professional you wish to shadow. Thanks to those who already submitted the name and occupation of your professional.
Semester Project
A Conversation with observation of one Communications employee or a Newsmaker . This will involve interviewing an expert and shadowing that person at work. You will then write a 750-word paper with optional photos/attachments/video.
Step One: To Choose a Communications Professional or Newsmaker. Get your topic’s person approved by September 16 by instructor. (Note: As of Sept. 2, every student who suggested a professional was approved to go ahead).
Research the person and organization. Keep good notes and good contact information. Call or email your person to ask if they will assist you and when you can meet her or him (or them).
Project finished and due Nov. 9: Email to Hank Nuwer Hjnuwer@alaska.edu. Photo or video of project subject optional but recommended to accompany story.
Reminder: last assignment. You have a choice of two topics: one on sports and one on the Arctic.
Short assignment for next class on Sept. 4. Finish reading Chapter One, Baran textbook. If you are finished with Chapter One, please start Chapter Two. If you’ve done the reading of both chapters and handed in all assignments for me to grade this weekend by Sept. 4, you have a breather from Sept. 5 to Sept. 8.
MWF: Choose Essay Question A or B fand write at home.
A). Huge changes have occurred in North American Sports. Your essay is to quote newsmakers on EITHER the easy access to sports gambling opportunities online OR the first consequences and developments regarding the payment of college athletes.
B) Compare the changing environmental realities in the Arctic and break it down according to Lasswell’s definition by quoting any Arctic newsmaker in the news in 2026.*
*Link fyi: Google Books has all Life Magazines for free, including the article on the Arctic:
Canvas: Quiz delayed until after Chapter Two. The quiz will combine Chapter One and Two.
–Policy: taking things from my office. Take and photocopy or take notes at my desk, Gruening Room 510 A.
–Our experiment in how a story changes as it goes around the room. In a word, Whoa! Results read aloud.
Study Guide: Reading
Introduction to Mass Communication, Stanley Baran
Today’s Agenda
Finish up Chapter One in textbook. On Sept. 4, we begin Chapter Two.
Goal: Things can change for the better with worldwide cooperation.
- A real threat confined and controlled
Y2K Mobilization: (Year 2000 and computer programming)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GON13xlaMfc
Ozone layer: Another threat met by the world
- Who does it: Encoding is done by the sender. Decoding is done by the receiver.
- Direction: Encoding starts the message moving outward from a mind. Decoding takes the incoming message inward to be understood.
- Main Action: Encoding changes abstract thoughts into concrete symbols, words, or gestures. Decoding translates those symbols, words, or gestures back into usable meaning.
Goal: Encoding prepares a thought for travel across a channel. Decoding recovers the original intent of the thought.
Changes in culture. Legalization of sports betting???? Reformers like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)?
Reforms: The Meredith family, ordinary truck driver.
Textbook: Culture: learned behaviors of a group or team. (definition)
- Shared Values: The core rules or principles that guide how a group makes decisions.
- Daily Habits: The regular routines, rituals, and ways of communicating.
- Common Purpose: The main goal or mission that unites every person on the group.
- Psychological Safety: A safe feeling that lets people share new ideas or admit mistakes without fear.
- Winning games solidifies that culture; losing either bonds or breaks.
- Why Team Culture Matters
- Builds Trust: Team Members feel secure and respected by their peers and leaders.
- Boosts Productivity: Clear rules and shared goals help projects move faster.
- Keeps Good Talent: People stay longer at jobs/schools where they feel included and valued. https://thecordovatimes.com/2024/10/30/commentary-hazing-legislation/
Adam Oakes
Current events:
Osgood-Schramm model of mass communication. Creating shared meaning between the mass media and their audiences.
Culture: learned behavior of a given social group.
Comparison of networks will show you that common coverage is disappearing at the larger networks. People selecting news stations that give the worldview their audience prefers.
Recent comparison.
Fox: game show announcer in trouble
CBS
In a capitalist system, private individuals and businesses own the means of production, rather than the government.
Politicians denounce socialism
China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-vote-condemns-socialism-supports-save-act/
- Protests in Texas over voting changes
A culture’s values and beliefs reside in the stories it tells.
Celebrity
Charlie Kirk (Tyler Robinson)
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Tupac
https://abcnews.com/US/elated-relieved-tupacs-family-reacts-guilty-verdict/story?id=136110396
_______
1959-2026. How big toymakers have responded to their changing audiences,
Next section of class: Comparing changes in a shared culture by looking at the manufacturing and promotion of new dolls. Toys continue to be made even as societal values such as growth of feminism and equal rights occur.
Who (Said it, backed it, opposed it?)
Said what (summarize the issue)
Through what channel or channels?
To whom
With what possible effect (so far. Longterm?)
1959 Mattel Barbie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8-avPUxyno
1960 – 1968: Tiny Tears doll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVmAchyA9Hk
1978 Stretch Armstrong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBRBaEXsrJE
African-American dolls representing real women
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/v6LwTLDyT2I
- GI Joe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRnXYV2eA7w
Refrigerator Perry, 1987.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JHjwtq97rE
Mattel: 2016 Barbie. 2023
[a] is a 2023 satirical fantasy comedy film directed by Greta Gerwig. Starring Margot Robbie as the title character and Ryan Gosling as Ken,
2025
KPop Demon Hunter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZUKI1q2RE0
The Gutenberg Population
Movable Metal type
Intended for Bibles. Literacy rates very low. Soldiers, monks, royalty
Unintended consequence: for hundreds of year, books became the medium
https://study.com/academy/lesson/video/johannes-gutenberg-inventions-facts-accomplishments.html
Media Literacy
Resisting Hoaxes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_Fi6g0p_Eo
2025-2026. Misinformation abounds
https://www.pbs.org/video/spreading-misinformation-1750279026/
Week of Aug. 31 (MWF) Lesson Plan
Attendance
Collect any uncollected assignments.
Pass Around:
The ARCTIC
Life magazine: 1954. Lost time to act to preserve planet: 1954-2026 Regarding global warming and the Arctic.
Lesson: How a story changes: Lesson
|
Argentina superstar Lionel Messi announced that he is retiring from his country’s national team. |
Sports: Make an error or enjoy a trumph and the whole world of fans knows it.
Scoreboard Operator: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1447177703910852
Culture: Respect for fans
LeBron James chose to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers in July 2026 rather than returning to the Miami Heat or other suitors.
The announcement was accidentally leaked by Miami and retracted–too late. Here is what happened:
The Los Angeles Rams had a big announcement to make on Sunday, but they found time for a little trolling first. Just before confirming Aaron Donald’s return, the team took a shot at the Miami Heat over their infamous LeBron James press conference error.
Before revealing Donald was officially coming back, the Rams posted on X: ‘Anybody know how to set up a YouTube live stream without it going public? Need to test for something.’
The joke was aimed directly at the Heat, who accidentally posted a scheduled YouTube stream titled ‘LeBron James Introductory Press Conference’ while waiting for James to make his free agency decision in July.
Sports:
How the I-Phone has changed sports: LeBron from Cleveland to Miami. Heat (also highly criticized for Public Relations handling)
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/05/21/iphone-17-pro-to-make-sports-history/
LeBron announcing leavetaking from Cleveland
Cleveland fans reaction to LeBron announcement.
Following favorite teams on an iphone.
1985 and 1986: My long interviews with Joe Paterno (Inside Sports and Success, a business magazine) and key source Jerry Sandusky.
TOPIC: Athletes must be paid. Joe Paterno’s interviews with Hank Nuwer, 1984 and 1985
Today, 14 years later–back in the news: https://6abc.com/post/jerry-sandusky-speaks-pennsylvania-prison-ahead-court-hearing-am-innocent-man-exclusive/19753051/
2011: Joe Paterno & Penn State Commentary: Nuwer frequently used his platform to critique the “toxic culture” of big-time college football. Following the 2011 Jerry Sandusky scandal that brought down longtime Penn State coach Joe Paterno, Nuwer wrote heavily about the dangers of institutional power worship. He notably drew parallels between how Penn State mishandled the athletics scandal under Paterno and how universities routinely try to shield their reputations during tragic fraternity or athletic hazing scandals.
Current event: Grand Canyon flooding deaths:
One person has died and about 15 people may be missing at the Grand Canyon after a flash flood tore through the national park, destroying footbridges and forcing the evacuation of dozens of hikers and campers, according to park officials.
https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/phantom-ranch-flood-unaccounted-hikers/
A 46-year-old man’s body was recovered near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River in a flood-related death, park officials said Sunday night.
The park service said a previous figure of 20 missing or unaccounted for was a working estimate.
Discussion of Chapter One: Need to know
Harold Lasswell’s simplified definition of communication.
Ties into a current event.
History: Lake Ontario was not named by a single explorer; rather, the name originates from Indigenous Iroquoian languages—specifically Huron, Wyandot, or Wendat words like Ontarí’io or Kaniatarí:io. The Indigenous terms translate to “lake of shining waters,” “great lake,” or “beautiful water”.
Previously, the President mandated that Denali in Alaska be referred to as Mt. McKinley, an assassinated president who never visited Alaska or the Yukon.
Some History: 2015
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 20, 2025, to rename Denali back to Mount McKinley, sparking widespread opposition and political pushback from Alaskans, Indigenous groups, and state lawmakers.
Photos by Hank Nuwer, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Who (President Donald Trump)
Says What? (Proclamation: Lake Ontario is now Lake America)
Through which channel? Presidential decree. See below
Sec. 2. Lake America. (a) The body of water currently known as Lake Ontario is a tremendous asset to the United States and part of our Nation’s heritage. With the deepest parts of the Lake’s waters lying within United States territory, the United States claims most of the Lake’s volume. The Lake has long been an integral asset to American exploration, settlement, commerce, and defense. From the colonial period through the early republic, the Lake served as a critical artery for American trade, commerce, and military logistics, including the establishment in Oswego of a historic fort and the first United States port of call from the St. Lawrence Seaway, shipbuilding and naval operations during the War of 1812 at Sackets Harbor and other New York posts, and the movement of goods, settlers, and later industrial cargoes that linked the interior of the United States to eastern markets and the Atlantic. Maritime commerce on the broader Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system — of which the Lake is the easternmost and gateway segment — continues to generate substantial economic activity for the United States, supporting hundreds of thousands of American jobs and billions of dollars in annual economic output, cargo value, and related business revenue, with our ports, carriers, and States deriving a significant share of the system’s benefits in iron ore, limestone, coal, agricultural products, and other bulk commodities. Water from the Lake is used to supply nuclear, natural gas, and oil-fired power plants and to supply municipal drinking water to nearby communities. United States domestic and cross-border shipping activity on the Great Lakes system has historically underpinned regional manufacturing, steel production, agriculture, and energy supply chains in several States, reflecting the strategic and economic importance of these waters to the United States that continues to this day. The Lake will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping America’s future and the global economy. In recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people, I am directing that the Lake officially be renamed as Lake America.
To Whom: For starters, Google Maps. For most part, it seems to be ignored by most international powers and recognized international maps; Atlases.
With what effect? Has the move alienated beloved and traditional neighbors? Has it tarnished or enhanced the president’s image? Was it a wise and admirable, carefully considered announcement?
Con: Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Sunday said that President Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America” resembled “something out of ‘Saturday Night Live.’”
Ford slammed Trump’s trade war with Canada that placed a 50 percent tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods.
“I just don’t see the purpose. It’s absolutely backwards,” he said. “It was like something out of ‘Saturday Night Live’ when he signed a document saying ‘change to Lake America.’ No one’s going to call it Lake America. It’s been Lake Ontario for hundreds of years. It’s going to continue to be Lake Ontario.”
Ford called the tariffs and renaming “so, so disappointing, because I love the U.S. I love the American people. Canadians love the American people.”
“We differentiate between a great American people and the president,” he added.
Next section:
Short assignment for next class. Finish reading Chapter One, Baran textbook. If you are finished with Chapter One, please start chapter two.
MWF: Choose Essay Question A or B for September 2. Quiz now will be on Friday.
T TH: Choose Essay Question A or B for September 3. Quiz now will be end of class, Sept. 3.
A). As the Video we watched today, demonstrated, huge changes have occurred in North American Sports. Your essay is to quote newsmakers on EITHER the easy access to sports gambling opportunities online OR the first consequences and developments regarding the payment of college athletes.
B) Compare the changing environmental realities in the Arctic and break it down according to Lasswell’s definition by quoting any Arctic newsmaker in the news in 2026.
Who (Said it, backed it, opposed it?)
Said what (summarize the issue)
Through what channel or channels?
To whom
With what possible effect (so far. Longterm?)
In this class, all semester, we will individually consider shifting and ever-changing mass media: radio, tv, books, sound recordings, computer networks, print publications, movies, etc.
Culture: learned behavior of a given social group.
Study Guide: Reading
Introduction to Mass Communication, Stanley Baran
First graded assignment: Answer this question in 200 to 250 word words and print your answer and bring to class on August 27, please: We Americans traditionally have prided ourselves on our pluralism, our diversity, and the richness of the cultural heritages represented within our borders. What do protests and counterprotests over various issues tell us about the values, beliefs, and cultural identities the participants are trying to communicate? How might different groups interpret the same protest differently? Perhaps when you answer this question think about what the text says about encoding and decoding. A protester may think, This sign communicates X. Someone watching television may decode that same sign as Y. A counterprotester may interpret the sign as Z. How might an objective journalist view protests and counterprotests?
Chapter One, Part One
- 4. Media influence and presence.
- 4. very bottom: Definition of communication
- 5. Understanding communication through 5 points of Harold Lasswell.
- 6. Top. What does it mean that a message is encoded? What does it mean that a message is decoded and when does decoding occur?
- 6. What are common types of mass media?
- 7. What is an example of “feedback” applied by TV executives that can affect programming?
- 7. Know James W. Carey’s cultural definition of communication.
- 7. What is culture? Be able to explain fully.
- 9. How do media professionals create a shared culture? How do people share that culture created by the media?
P.10-11. Is it possible that some people resist the dominant culture? What are influencers?
- 12. What are bonded cultures/co-cultures?
- 14-15. Mass Communication As Cultural Forum.
What are some companies and entities that have seen changes because the evolving culture demanded change(s)?
- 14 and P. 15. Estimate how much time you spend in a week watching TV or shows on the Internet; listening to radio; playing games, etc. Bring to class total and breakdown/
- 16 and 17. All of the role of technology and the role of money.
- 20 Know the influence of print. What reasons can there be why newspapers often fail and that page count totals are far less than a decade or two decades ago.
- 19-21 All of the Industrial revolution. Gutenberg Revolution
P.21: Media literacy. What is evidence of media influence for good or bad?
- 22-23 Know the 8 elements of media literacy.
- 23-24 Know the 6 points (Elements of Media Literacy)
- 23 How do we combat fake news?
- 24 Know the 4 bullet points at the bottom of the page.
Go over the review points on page 25.
Know these key terms on page 26: feedback, encoding, decoding, medium and media and mass medium, mass communication, culture, media literacy.
Good morning, all. Here is the study guide for Stanley Baran text, Chapter Two, “Convergence & the Reshaping of Mass Communication.”
- 30 Read the last two paragraphs on p. 30 to see this chapter’s learning objectives.
- 31. Key years in Timeline: 1945, 1974, 2019
- 32. What is the main point? Media industries are in transition. Changes to movies, corporate ownership, newspapers, radio, TV are in transition. And as we discussed in class, content producers compete to please audiences and combat the competition. As a result, some longtime forms of mass communication like print newspapers have seen dwindling readership.
- 33. What do we know since 2020 (Covid pandemic) about ticket sales at movie houses, record sales, the four major broadcast networks, newspaper revenue, radio. FM listener. Please read also the last paragraph on p. 33.
P, 34 Terms to know: convergence.
- 35 Read closely last three paragraphs and the top of p. 36. Term to know: consolidation; news deserts, conglomeration (p. 36),
- 37 Read the three paragraphs under “Enter Your Voice” on p. 37.
Important concepts. All of Page 38 and top pf P. 39 Terms to know: audience fragmentation, niche marketing, targeting, streaming ad insertion, Nichefication. Know all of bottom half of p. 40 and top of p. 41. Be aware how the distinctions among forms of media have disappeared or are disappearing.
Consider the questions in the second last paragraph on p. 42, namely “What are the likely consequences etc.”
Bottom section of Page 43 and top of page 44: “The Result.”
The point of page 44: loss of voter confidence and competence; disinformation; messages that confirm consumer/audience biases.
- 45 Top: Content producers can now be lone individuals. Can you pinpoint some voices online who put out their own web pages? Could be musicians (not their labels but individuals), authors, activists, entrepreneurs.
Definitions: P. 45: payola, hypercommercialism.