Queens College

Second Paper Assignment on Media and Culture Industries

For this second essay, you will compare the one of the essay we covered in the “second third” of the class with the political-economy argument posed by Herbert Schiller.

Assignment

Writing in the 1980s, Herbert Schiller observes the increasing control of culture by a decreasing number of corporations that prioritize profit over the artistic or cultural value of a work. Does this argument update and reinforce the “mass culture” argument made by Adorno and Horkheimer nearly fifty years earlier?

Discuss how the author of the one of the following essays extends Schiller’s argument about media and culture industries at the turn of the twenty-first century?

  1. Michael Curtin, “On Edge: Culture Industries in the Neo-Network Era.”
  2. Tom McCourt and Patrick Burkart, “When Creators, Corporations and Consumers Collide: Napster and the Development of Online Music Distribution.”
  3. Tizania Terranova, “Free Labor: Producing Culture for the Digital Economy.”
  4. Mark Andrejevic, “The Work of Being Watched: Interactive Media and the Exploitation of Self-Disclosure.”
  5. Lawrence Grossberg, “The Affective Sensibility of Fandom.”

Sample Outline

  1. Introduction, based on your own ideas. Write this last.
  2. Summarize Schiller’s argument, including relevant quotes.
  3. Answer the question: *Does this reinforce, update, and extend the “culture industry” argument”?
  4. Analyze one of the other authors listed above: The work of _____________________________ extends this argument by…
    1. _____________________________
    2. _____________________________
    3. _____________________________
  5. Conclusion, not a summary.

Justice for Black Lives March, at CUNY Queens College, December 10, 12:15 PM

A student group at CUNY Queens College, QC Students Without Borders, has called on the QC faculty to rally students to protest the unindicted murders of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York City.

We are from a club called Students Without Border on the QC campus. As you may have heard the state has decided to not indict the officers who’ve murdered Michael Brown and also Eric Garner. The failure to indict these officers has shown once again that this criminal justice system doesn’t value black life. This is also seen with very similar cases of black youth being executed by the police forces such as Oscar Grant, Rahmarley Graham, Travyvon Martin, Shantel Davis, Akai Gurley and Tamir Rice.

Our club likes to bring social issues like these to the light which deserve mass participation from the people. We are issuing a wide call for an action on campus next Wednesday, December 10, during the free hour, 12:15–1:40pm, in the main cafeteria hall. Justice for Black Lives March [aims to] show, that although the courts may not value black life, at the very least Queens College can stand up and say we do.

Trying to Enroll in MEDST201W Media Criticism?

Over the last few weeks, I’ve received several emails about enrolling students in MEDST 201W Media Criticism for Spring 2015 at CUNY Queens College.

The class has an enrollment limit of twenty-two (22), which is significantly higher than in previous years when the limit was at 18. Due to the higher-than-usual enrollment for this course, I will not “over tally” this course. Enrollment will remain capped at twenty-two students.

If you need this course to graduate, please come to the first class session on Wednesday, January 28, at 1:40 PM. In almost every course, students drop and add in the days and weeks leading up to this semester, and there are a fair number of no-show students as well that I could drop from the course. With twenty-two spots in the course, I don’t see why this would be any different.

In the meantime, keep checking to see if anyone has dropped the course and left an open spot. If you really need this course, your persistence will be key to securing a spot for this course.

If you have any questions, please email me at juan.monroy@qc.cuny.edu.

Thank you and good luck.

Information Session: What Can I Do After Graduation?

Are you exploring career opportunities? Are you unsure about Graduate School or do you want to go to graduate school later? Are you passionate about a social or political issue and looking for a way to devote your full time to it?

Come explore these questions further at an upcoming information session sponsored by the Office of Honors and Scholarships.

Date
November 19th
Time
Free Hour, from 12:15–1:30
Location
Honors Hall Rm. 12

We will discuss one-year opportunities including public policy work, teaching, non-profit and community service. This session will be particularly useful for seniors, but all are welcome.

Please contact our National Fellowships Advisor, Dr. Moira Egan at moira.egan@qc.cuny.edu or (718) 997–2863 with any questions.

Producing Independent Movies

Queens College students, are you looking for an additional class?

Media Studies 265: Producing Independent Movies is about to be cancelled. It meets on Wednesdays from 1:40 – 4:20. It a class about how movies, TV and all of filmed entertainment is actually made.

Liz Foley, the instructor, offers the following pitch:

The class is a lot of fun and a provides hands on knowledge of how things get done in the business, including business planning, casting, putting together a team and much more. I love teaching it and I’d really like to save it. If three people register today or tomorrow, I can probably stave off it’s execution.

Sign up today.