Media ethic with Noam Chomsky

Philosophy 2582 - Media Ethics: Paper 1 (Noam Chomsky) 


June 17, 2018 by 11:59pm

*Policy on Late Papers I will accept your paper within one week of the due date but in this case I may not have time to provide extensive feedback.

Papers submitted on time will be marked and returned within two - three weeks of submission.

If you have a good reason for submitting your paper after the deadline please let me know in advance. You may be asked to provide a doctor’s note or other support documentation.

Instructions

1. Submit this paper through the Dropbox feature of the course. To access this, click on Dropbox in the grey, horizontal menu near the top of the screen.

2. Ideally, the paper should be submitted as a file in RTF or Microsoft Word format. Please do not submit files in WordPerfect (.wpd) or Microsoft Works (.wps) format since I will have a hard time opening these files. If you use one of these programs, please convert your file to RTF or Word format. You should also avoid PDF files since I need to be able to insert comments into your paper.

3. Please include your name in the title of the file you submit (i.e., the file should be called something like “JohnSmithEthicsPaper.doc”).

4. Please read the policy on late assignments (above) carefully.


 Length: 1500 - 2000 words

Topic If it is helpful, you can divide your paper into different sections.

Watch the Documentary Manufacturing Consent Noam Chomsky and the Media. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBhBfa6gK60

What, according to Chomsky, is manufactured consent, and what role does the media play in manufacturing it? Discuss with reference to two (or more, if you like) pieces of current news media (either print media or image/video based.

What is intellectual self-defense? What are some of the ways we can foster our own intellectual self-defense? You may find the article “The Importance of Intellectual Self-Defense” – found in the Readings and Assignments area – helpful with this section of your paper.

In your paper, please briefly address why these issues are ethical in nature. Part 1 of Unit 1 will be helpful here.

Secondary Sources 
 


Please use ONE outside text source on Chomsky in this assignment (scholarly article either online or from a journal in the library - text, interview, etc.) Please do not use Chomsky himself – but another writer/theorist. This is to help you understand some of the concepts involved here,

and also to help you understand that Chomsky’s views are often challenged.

Writing Advice 1. Never underestimate the importance of structure. Consider preparing an outline of your paper either before you write it or when you are in the process of revising it. If you can't give a clear, step-by-step breakdown of what you're trying to accomplish in the paper, it's probably not a very good paper. You should also remember the importance of a good, clear introduction and conclusion. Most good essays begin with a few introductory sentences that make it clear what is supposed to happen in the essay. Likewise, most good essays end with a few sentences that remind the reader of the main points made in the essay.

2. Connect your ideas. There should be no point in your essay that causes your reader to wonder why you've jumped from one idea to the next. Try to make the connections between the various things you have to say clear.

3. Don't forget that philosophy is primarily concerned with arguments, not just taking positions. If you want to take and defend a position on the topic you're dealing with, it's not enough to just say what you think, you need to tell me why you think it.

4. A good way of strengthening your presentation of your own view is to consider objections to it. Ask yourself how any reasonable person might object to what you're saying. If you don't have an answer to that objection, your assignment needs more work.

5. Write simply and clearly. Don't try to impress me with unusual words or complicated sentence structure. E.g., Why say 'it is the observation of this writer that ...' when 'my view is that ...' will do?

6. Avoid overblown introductions or conclusions. E.g., Don't begin your essay with some variation on 'Since the dawn of time mankind has looked up at the sky and wondered [insert name of philosophical question here]'.

7. Avoid dictionary definitions unless they're helpful. It's a cliché to begin an essay with something like 'The Oxford English Dictionary defines film as ...'.

8. Don't worry about writing from the first person point of view (e.g., 'I disagree'). Philosophers do this all the time (although this is not true in every discipline). However, don't get carried away with this. Often, referring to yourself is unnecessary. E.g., why say 'Where I think Plato gets things wrong is by claiming that...' when 'Plato gets this wrong by claiming that...' does exactly the same work? Generally, it will be clear that the view you're expressing is our own.

9. Remember that good arguments don't have to be boring. Try to write something the reader will enjoy as well as understand.

10. Most importantly, try to write in such a way that an intelligent person who had never considered the issue you are discussing would understand and be convinced by what you are saying.

Policy on Referencing For our purposes, formal references to the course notes do not need to be made unless you are directly quoting them. However, all use of the course readings or any outside source should be formally acknowledged regardless of whether you are directly or indirectly quoting. The format you use does not particularly matter, so long as you use it consistently and the format allows me to check your references. If you have already learned a referencing format that you are comfortable with (e.g., APA, MLA, etc.), feel free to use it.

When referencing the film, use the director’s name and the year. When quoting my just use my name and the year (2010).