Instructors
Assignment Overview
This assignment is designed to engage students across a series of distinct yet connected questions regarding the similarities and differences in the manner in which “legacy” media and “emerging” media produce and disseminate news content. This assignment asks students to select a timely issue and examine how it is produced/delivered by “legacy” media and “emerging” media. Following the content analysis, students will be expected to offer their own critical analysis.
Definitions & Context for Instructors:
We define "legacy media" as traditional mass media organizations and formats. These are the media that circulated widely before the advent of digital communications. These include local and metropolitan newspapers (e.g., The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Houston Chronicle, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Dayton Daily News, etc), magazines (TIME, Newsweek, the Economist, National Geographic, The Atlantic, National Review, etc); television network news programs (ABC World News Tonight and Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News and Meet the Press, PBS News Hour); local TV news broadcasters (e.g., WCPO, WKRC, WLWT); local, national, and international radio news broadcasters (e.g., NPR, BBC, WLW Cincinnati), and cable TV news (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN). Legacy media are defined by the presence of paid, trained, professional staff and editors. They are predominantly "gated" institutions insofar as the media content they produce is selected and determined by the individuals who work for the institution. Importantly, many of these legacy institutions have migrated content and production into the digital sphere in recent years, so students will likely encounter many "legacy" media texts (e.g., online news articles, radio and TV stories in short, digital segments) online and on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
In contrast, we define "emerging media" as media as those that are created by newer, nontraditional media institutions and individuals and disseminated primarily on the Internet. These can include texts created by both media professionals and amateurs, but they are often characterized by looser, nontraditional, or nonexistent editorial standards. Emerging media include blogs, citizen journalism, social media memes and posts, amateur YouTube videos, digital and multimedia stories, independent podcasts and documentaries, and zines and webzines. Some emerging media organizations have grown into major online publishers, such as the Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, Buzzfeed, Breitbart, and The Drudge Report.
These categories are evolving and not mutually exclusive. For example, many legacy news outlets now produce blogs and social media content, and many emerging media producers (such as bloggers, independent podcasters and YouTube stars) employ editors and can be considered paid media professionals through the revenue they generate through media media products. Some emerging media outlets, such as Buzzfeed, employ full-time journalists and have garnered accolades for their investigative journalism. Students and instructors may find it useful to discuss and debate what constitutes legacy and emerging media.
Definitions for Students:
"Legacy media" - Traditional, mass media outlets and formats, print and broadcast journalism, "gated" media content, produced by paid, professionally trained staff and editors.
"Emerging media" - Born-digital and independently produced media content, such as blogs, social media posts, citizen journalism, amateur YouTube videos and digital stories, independent podcasts, and webzines. Often produced by amateur or independent media producers and with low to no oversight of professional editors.
Student Learning Objectives
Describe histories of “legacy” and “emerging” media.
Explain how “legacy” and “emerging” media operate as distinct business models.
Describe the roles“legacy” and “emerging” media play in engaging audiences on important issues of the day.
Use content analysis on media samples.
Demonstrate evidence of critical thinking in a self-reflection essay.
