Communication and Dramatic Arts Department

Course Description

The course will cover the dynamics of contemporary electronic media. The course will examine the following rapidly evolving technologies: Terrestrial AM and FM radio, HD Radio, Satellite Radio, Internet Radio, Digital High Definition (HD) Television, Cable TV, Direct Broadcast Satellite TV, Internet/broadband Webcasting, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Broadband over Power Line (BPL), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), Satellite-based Broadband, Peer-to-peer File Sharing, Blogs, Wikis, RSS News Feeds and Podcasting. The course will cover the historical influences and contemporary issues in programming, technology, regulation, and the business of media. The course will also explore the future in this ever-changing field. Students will gain hands-on experience at the school district’s FM radio station.

Textbook: Exploring Electronic Media: Chronicles and Challenges. Peter B. Orlik, Steven D. Anderson, Louis A. Day, and W. Lawrence Patrick

Periodicals: Mediaweek (mediaweek.com), Entertainment Weekly (EW.com)

Media Current Events: Any media current events worthy of discussion will be covered at the beginning of each class. Feel free to bring in any articles you read in print media or from reliable websites.

Discussion Topics Take One: Bringing Electronic Media into focus; Components of communication; Communications vehicles; The broadcast and nonbroadcast electronic media. Take Two: Technological chronicles; Channels and the electromagnetic spectrum; Television broadcasting; Electronic recording-audio; Electronic recording-video; Cable television; Satellite technology; Analog vs. Digital; Digital television. Take Three: Content chronicles; Radio’s gilt-edged years; Post-war adaptations; Radio’s second half-century; Television at center stage; Content for the second and third screens. Take Four: Regulatory chronicles; Early electronic media regulation; Radio regulation’s foundation in the United States; Political programming and the public sphere; Policing new technologies. Take Five: Business chronicles; The mass audience; The rise of the network model; Cable flexes its muscles; New technologies change the business; Vertical integration as a survival strategy. Take Six: Technological challenges; Changes to traditional media; Device convergence; The internet and broadband; Internet applications. Take Seven: Content challenges; Video news issues; The incredible sports hulk; Reality vehicles and Product placement; The ethnic and global dimension. Take Eight: Regulatory challenges; History’s legal lessons; Beyond broadcasting, laws for new media; Convergence and the legal landscape. Take Nine: Business challenges; Consumers and advertisers; Restructuring the media landscape; Living in a personal media world; What’s ahead.

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Communication and Dramatic Arts Department

Course Description

Students may apply to be on the staff after taking either Fundamentals of Radio Broadcasting or Exploring Electronic Media. The WBFH Station Manager selects the WBFH Staff and enrollment is limited. Staff students are scheduled for one class hour per day to the radio station and must be available for additional time after school as required by the staff. The student will gain actual hands-on experience in many aspects of radio broadcasting while on-the-air on the school district’s FM radio station. This course may be re-elected for additional credit.

Reference Textbooks: Exploring Electronic Media, The Radio Station

Periodicals: Mediaweek (mediaweek.com), Entertainment Weekly (EW.com)

Media Current Events Any media current events worthy of discussion will be covered at the beginning of each class. Feel free to bring in any articles you read in print media or from reliable websites.

Requirements

1. Students are required to complete four productions and four objectives each of the scheduled due dates. Students must complete a minimum of 24 productions by the end of the semester. Students must complete all the objectives by the end of the semester.

2. Students must attend each monthly Staff meeting.

3. Students must host or co-host a two-hour show each week as well as class hour shows as scheduled by the program director.

4. Student must supply their own headphones to use in the studios and on remotes.

5. Student must keep all Staff handouts in a binder.

6. Student must attend meetings of the departments they are a member of and complete work assigned to them by the department director.

7. Student must follow all FCC rules, WBFH station rules, and all school rules as outlined in the Code of Conduct book. These apply not only in the station but at any WBFH sponsored event like a remote broadcast, a social event or a field trip.

8. Student must adhere to the Clean Air Policy for everything that goes over the air.

9. Student must make an all-out effort to attend WBFH Staff social events.

10. Student must meet with instructor for a grade conference at the end of each quarter and at the end of the semester to determine a letter grade for the class.

Plus/Minus: Students who contribute above and beyond the call of duty will receive “plus” points. Conversely, students who fail to follow the rules may receive “minus” points. Plus/minus points will be part of the grade conference with the instructor.