INSTRUCTOR: Jack Lule PH: (610)758-4177 EMAIL: JL0D@lehigh.edu (where 0 is zero)

On this page are the assignments for Monday and Thursday of Week Two.

DEADLINES: A reminder -- each week I will post reading and writing assignments by Monday, 7 p.m. and Thursday, 7 p.m.

You should have the Monday assignments completed by Thursday, 7 p.m. You should have the Thursday assignments completed by Monday, 7 p.m.

WEEK TWO, MONDAY: Our topic last week introduced us to U.S. coverage of international affairs. This week, we look more closely at U.S. news, particularly an interesting concept called -- "the CNN effect."

Many people think that U.S. television images of international events -- especially on CNN -- can influence and shape U.S. foreign policy. They think that television images of starving people forced the U.S. government to send troops and aid to Somalia. They think that television images of the slaughter in Rwanda forced the United States to take action.

Is it true?

Two researchers have studied the CNN effect. They've interviewed journalists, U.S. officials, government workers in other nations, and people who work for international relief agencies.

They both agree: U.S. television does NOT determine or dictate foreign policy. We'll look closely at how they reached this conclusion. And we'll see what they say about the real relationship between television and foreign policy.

Your assignment has four parts:

1) Read closely the article, "Television and Foreign Policy," by Nik Gowing of ITN's Channel 4 News in London.

2) Follow that with the second research study, "The CNN Effect," by Warren Strobel, White House correspondent for the Washington Times.

3) Send me an email message that answers this question: Gowing and Strobel both agree that television does not have a large influence on foreign policy; yet they acknowledge that TV pictures do have emotional impact; so how do U.S. policy makers handle the CNN factor? How do they respond to television's pictures?

You don't need a long answer. Two screens -- 400 words or so -- are fine. If direct email doesn't work from this link to jl0d@lehigh.edu, then just use the usual network email.

4) For our conference discussion, let's discuss this issue. The United States is now the lone superpower, the nation best capable of aiding humanitarian crises around the world. Many people in Communist North Korea are facing starvation. Hundreds of thousands of people could die. U.S. news media have given the crisis some coverage but now face a decision. Should they continue to press the issue? Should the U.S. news media TRY to play a humanitarian role and try to force the U.S. government to respond to the possible starvation? Or should the U.S. news media remain distant and objective; they've covered the story already -- does their responsibility end there?

Remember, to attain the best grade for conference discussions: You should post once early, before midnight Wednesday, responding to the assignment and perhaps making reference to the readings. Then before Thursday, 7 p.m. you should post again, to the same conference, commenting on one or more of your classmates' postings.

WEEK TWO, THURSDAY: We will now look even more closely at our week's topic: the relationship between news and international affairs.

Specifically, we've been reading about and thinking about what people have called "the CNN factor." Many people think that U.S. television images of international events -- especially on CNN -- can influence and shape U.S. foreign policy.

Researchers say the subject is much more complicated. Indeed, it's possible that U.S. foreign policy is using CNN to achieve its goals. The issue is crucial and still unresolved.

TRAVEL TO CNN

For the research component of this class, I want us to travel to CNN and get a better understanding of this influential network. Though a trip to Atlanta and Washington would be nice, we will travel to CNN through the power of cyberspace.

The network has a fairly interesting CNN Studio Tour. Follow this link through five brief screens that explain the scope of CNN's operations.

You will also learn more about the network by following The Anatomy of a Story.

Though both these features are promotional in nature, they do indeed tell -- and reveal -- much about CNN and its philosophy toward news coverage.

I'm interested in what you learned from the sites. Please email me a quick reaction or response. You don't need anything long. One screen -- 200 words or so -- is fine. If direct email doesn't work from this link to jl0d@lehigh.edu, then just use the usual network email.

FIRST RESEARCH ESSAY

With this background and with our week of reading and research behind us, I would like you to undertake your first research essay.

You have three research essays for this semester, each worth 20 percent of your grade, as the syllabus states.

The research essays are quite different from your email responses to me and our conference discussions. Rather than your personal thoughts and opinions, you will need to review our previous readings, perhaps look at other research, and organize a well-written essay based on what these researchers have found and proposed.

The research essay should be about 1,000 words, perhaps 4 to 5 screens. You can send it to me via email or post it to the conference discussion if you'd like others to see.

The essays need to be written with care. Email is often "allowed" to be somewhat sloppy with bad grammar and spelling. These essays should be done more carefully.

One big hint to help you write and edit carefully: Keep your paragraphs small online. Long blocks of online writing are difficult for you to edit. Mistakes easily slip by.

Notice how my paragraphs are usually just two or three sentences long. You will also write more clearly that way.

Another hint: Save your file somewhere. Something always seems to go wrong for some people when they write long messages. You should save your essay to a file as you're writing it.

If you're writing in Lehigh's network, you can save to a file in your account by hitting F2 or Shift F1 depending on where you're working.

If you're adept enough at uploading, you can write your essay in a wordprocessing format like WordPerfect and just upload it to the network.

"The CNN Factor"

Now that you're familiar with some of the issues surrounding "the CNN factor," I would like your first essay to look more closely at this important concept.

Many people , including Washington officials, are convinced that CNN affects foreign policy. They just don't know how.

Write the essay as an introduction to "the CNN factor." You'll want to define the CNN factor. You'll want to say why some people think it's a problem. You'll want to say why others don't think so. There are many ways to proceed.

Just keep in mind that you're writing a research essay. You're trying to summarize and show what people have found on this important topic.

You'll want to quote the writers of the articles and people who have been quoted in the articles. You don't need footnotes or endnotes. But show clearly where your information came from.

You'll first want to go back to the article, "Television and Foreign Policy," by Nik Gowing of ITN's Channel 4 News in London. Then review "The CNN Effect," by Warren Strobel, White House correspondent for the Washington Times.

Make note of what they say. What precisely is the CNN factor? What are the issues?

You may also want to look at "The Media as Humanitarian Factor," an article based on a workshop about the CNN factor. Any other articles or research on the CNN effect that you can find on your own would certainly gain you extra credit but it's not necessary.

There's a lot of material here. Take some time before you write to organize what you found. Have an audience in mind, like a parent or a friend to whom you have to explain all the subtleties of this important issue.

You have lots of time -- till Monday 7.m. Take your fun tour of CNN and the anatomy of a story first. Send me your email response. Then, without a conference discussion going on, you can spend the rest of the time on your essay.

Feel free to write if you have questions.

return to JOUR/IR 246 International Communication