OAMW 2035 - Media and narrative center - How to read and decode the news

OBJECTIFS DU COURS / COURSE GOALS With a news cycle that never stops and the bustle of social media, the ever growing quantity of information available to us is overwhelming. So where does a news consumer begin? What qualifies as news? How can we tell what's true? How can we distinguish the important from the banal? Looking at key elements of journalism, participants in this workshop will develop skills for critical thinking that will help them become better informed so that they can make better decisions. Descriptif du cours / Course description Session 1 : Introduction: What kind of a news consumer are you? What is news? What is news literacy? Session 2 : What sets journalism apart: What makes journalism different from entertainment, publicity, propaganda, raw information, etc. Session 3 : Separating news from opinion: How can you differentiate news from opinion? Session 4 : What's newsworthy? Who decides what's “fit to print?” And what “play” a story gets? How has this evolved in the digital age? Important vs. interesting – is there a difference? Session 5 : Dissecting a news story: Who are the sources, cross referencing, what's new, why is it important, to whom? What's missing from the story? What questions does it raise? How might the story evolve? What should we keep an eye out for tomorrow? Session 6 : Mid-term exam Session 7 : It's the economy – Assessing the impact of news events on the economy, and that impact on our daily lives. Session 8 : Motive: What drives a media? Commercial benefit? Political agenda? Social responsibility? A combination? A look at news media business models and how they are evolving Session 9 : Balance and bias: What makes a news story balanced? What about a news media? And what about the bias of news consumers? Session 10 : Confidence crisis: Confidence in media is at an all-time low. Why? What can be done to improve this? Session 11 : Social media trends: Echo chamber or wide and varied platform? How to know whom to trust? Session 12 : Final exam Biographie enseignant / Biography Anaïs Bordages is a freelance writer, film and TV critic, and specializes in the intersections between culture and society. She covers film, TV and pop culture for Slate.fr and collaborates with many publications, including Konbini, ELLE or Urbania. She is the co-host of two podcasts, AMIES and Peak TV, both produced by Slate.fr. She co-founded BuzzFeed France, where she was deputy editor in chief and editor of the Entertainment section. She is the co-writer of a book called Petit Éloge des anti-héroïnes de séries.

Linda HERVIEUX

Atelier

English

Spring 2023-2024

Students will be graded (out of 20). The criteria are below ( may be changed by the teacher if needed): 1) Participation 10% 2) Homework 30% (Class presentations and short assignments) 3) Midterm 30% 4) Final 30%