Covid19 Effects and Purpose of Mass Media Essay
Media Discourse Analysis Prompt
topic Covid-19: Effects and Purpose of Mass Media
Rhetorical Situation. You are concerned about a social or political issueor
policy effecting your community, but you don’t know much about it, yet, and
there is a lot of misinformation out there.
Assignment. You will examine the issue of your choice through discourse
analysis of at least five media sources. Rather than attempt to discern the
“truth” about this issue, you will synthesize what is being said about it in
relation to social and political power. (Think about who benefits from the
policy/issue and who suffers because of it.) To do this, you will apply at least
one of the following critical lenses: feminism, Marxism, anti–racism,
post/anti–colonialism, and/or queer theory.
Technical Details.
• Write a minimum of 1,500 words or produce a 5–minute podcast
o podcast must include a properly formatted 3– to 5–page script
• Use a minimum of 1 photo.
• Use photo captions
Elements of Discourse Analysis. Discourse analysis emphasizes the
contextual meaning of language, especially the social/political aspects of
communication. Thus, in this assignment, you will analyze not just what your
sources say, but also:
• how they say it (i.e. tone)
• what assumptions they make about their readers
• how they produce, uphold, or contest social norms
• from what political positions/ideologies they speak/write
• what kind of knowledge/meaning do they create, collectively, about
your topic (i.e. what assumptions do they share and how do negotiate
the terms of the issue)
Content.
•Open with an attention–grabbing “lede” that describes the problem,
your method, your sources, and what you hope to uncover/discover.
• Summarize the critical theories you are applying
• Summarize and synthesize the media sources you are analyzing
• Focus on material that plays a key role in your interpretation
• Quote material directly from the texts and other related sources
• Research. What can you find out about the people involved? What are
the political, social, and economic positions of the
writers/speakers/guests/sources?
o Use at least five (5) sources
• Conclude by discussing the significance of your analysis in socio–
economic terms. Think about what your interpretation means to the
people effected by the issue/policy and how the issue/policy upholds
the status quo
• Format according to your preferred style (APA, MLA, Chicago)
