Final due May 4

Here it is... due Tuesday May 4th by midnight

Pick two questions to answer. Each should be about two double-spaced pages.

1. (Chapter 16) You're the mayor of Des Moines and you believe the Des Moines Register has written something libelous against you! Explain what five things must you prove, what the paper can do to defend itself and whether the case of NY Times v. Sullivan will help YOU.

2. (Chapter 19) 2. Please describe how a media researcher would describe violence in the media and its effect on viewers according to these theories: socialization theory, catharsis theory, stimulation theory, and agenda setting theory.

3. (Chapter 18) Ownership of the press can be public (the government) or private (corporations). Control can be centralized (government controlled) or decentralized (little or no government control). This gives us four different possible combinations. The United States, the U.K., China, and Mexico each have a different combination of these two variables. Which combination would be best for modern-day Iraq and why?

4. (Chapter 17) You are the editor of the campus newspaper. One of your reporters has just written a series of articles describing apparent health-code violations in a popular off-campus restaurant. This particular restaurant regularly buys full-page ads in your paper. After you run the first story in the series, the restaurant owner calls and threatens to cancel all her ads unless you stop printing the series. The ads are a significant part of your paper's budget.
Take each of the five principles on p. 390-391. How would each tell you to act? Then, use the model for individual ethical decisions on p. 391-393 to decide your course of action.