SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

CMNS 431-4

NewsWatch CANADA
NEWS RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS -- HEALTH IN THE MEDIA

Prerequisites:

Permission of the instructor is required on the basis of 75 credit hours, including at least one methods course (CMNS 260, 261, 363 or equivalent), a CGPA of 3.0, and excellent writing skills. A journalism studies course (CMNS 235, 331 or 335) is recommended. Also, while basic statistical skills are an asset, they are not assumed; more important for the technique of content analysis are the psychological prerequisites of patience and attention to detail. Please contact the instructor for further information.
Overview and objectives of course
NewsWatch Canada is a media-monitoring project in the School of Communication. We research blind spots and double standards in news media coverage of important public issues. The course offers you an exceptional opportunity, within a guided and collegial framework, to develop skills in conducting media research from conceptualization and design to analysis and reporting of results.
This year NewsWatch Canada is working on a major project on news coverage of health issues. In the seminar you will work in groups of two or three to undertake quantitative studies of health issues on the editorial, sports, entertainment and lifestyle pages of major Canadian dailies.
Quantitative content analysis consists of a number of steps: first, selecting a research question; second, operationalizing it by preparing a study plan which selects a sample of articles (which database, newspapers, monitoring period, sample size?) and determines the relevant categories (which variables and values?); third, preparing a code sheet and undertaking an intercoder reliability test; fourth, coding the articles; fifth, analyzing the data by hand or by computer; sixth, preparing draft tables, report and executive summary; and seventh, preparing the final report.
Much of the preliminary work (steps one - three) will already be done in the context of the larger project. The work we do in the seminar will be incorporated into the major study and reported in our various presentations and papers.
Because of the unavoidably heavy workload in this course you are strongly urged to take an extra two-credit Directed Studies course (CMNS 480-2) so that the credits more closely match the work load. The additional work would be a minor expansion of the project. Or you can take a three-credit Directed Studies course (CMNS 481-3) to do a qualitative analysis of your work.

Format:

A four-hour weekly seminar is scheduled, although we may not take the full four hours each week. Your attendance and participation is essential to the project's success.

Course Readings:

Gina Bailey & Robert Hackett. A NewsWatcher's Guide to Content Analysis. NewsWatch Canada, 1997. Available for purchase in class.
Robert Hackett & Richard Gruneau, with Donald Gutstein, Timothy Gibson & NewsWatch Canada. The Missing News: Filters & Blind Spots in Canada's Press. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 1999.
a Courseware package available for purchase in the Bookstore.

Assignments and grades:

(subject to discussion and confirmation at the first class).

Attendance and participation 15%
Written study plan (preliminary and final versions) 20%
Intercoder reliability tests 10%
Written research report (draft and final) 45%
Executive summary (draft and final) 10%

The week-by-week schedule will be determined at the first class.

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will follow Policy T10.02 with respect to "Intellectual Honesty," and "Academic Discipline" (see current Calendar, General Regulations).