Thinking Critically 1

For this assignment, you will choose and answer 3 questions based on the reading and viewingassignments listed below.

Each answer should be a minimum of 3 paragraphs that are 3–5 sentences in length.

Read Chapter 1 of the Straubhaar et al. text.  

Describe what convergence has meant in your life and how it affects you.
Does the SMCR model adequately explain social media?
Is social media a fundamentally new type of communication or not? Justify.

Read Chapter 2 from the Straubhaar et al. text.

How has the hegemony of ideas affected you personally?

Read Chapter 3 of the Straubhaar et al. text.

Which culture should receive the most credit for the invention of printing? Explain.
Debate the following proposition: Books are an obsolete medium.

Read Chapter 4 from the Straubhaar et al. text.

What is the proper role of a free press in a democratic society?
Go through your local newspaper—in print, on the Internet, or mobile device—and describe the objective of each section. How do local newspapers differ from national ones in content?
What does it mean for journalists to be the watchdogs?

Read Chapter 5 from the Straubhaar et al. text.

How do conglomerates affect print publishing? What are the positives and negatives associated with conglomerates?

View the videos The Future of Journalism and Hate the media? So do I and I’m a reporter.

Discuss your position on the place for investigative journalism in the future. Explain how you either agree or disagree with Tom Rosenstiehl when he says digital technology caused the problems in current journalism BUT that digital technology will also solve the problems?
If you agree with Abbie Boudreau about the problems in media today, give some examples of what you might do to repair the problems and restore respect to journalistic endeavors.