Film
Festival - Broadcast News
Wednesday
- May 18, 2005
MAC Playhouse - 3:30 pm
- 6:15 PM
College Now Course - COM
11
Hosted by: Dr. Robert Singer, Professor of English
College Now English Course Coordinator
Professor Sam Taitt, College Now Communications Course Coordinator
About
the Movie: Broadcast News
Director, James Brooks 1987 - Rating R
Were you really
thinking about a career in the media? The "sparks fly" as two rival
male television reporters, one handsome and one talented, must find a way
to work together with a new female producer. Live...on the television...the
battle of style, ratings and the sexes!
About
the Presenter: Professor Sam Taitt
Professor
Sam Taitt is a communications specialist who has been a faculty
member in the Communications Department at Kingsborough Community College
for the past 9 years. Formerly he was CEO and General Manager of CBC TV &
Radio in Barbados, West Indies, and has completed several assignments as a
media consultant in Africa, China, South and Central America, Canada, and
throughout the Caribbean. He has been a consultant in several political campaigns
in the Caribbean and here in New York. Professor
Taitt likes nothing more than to watch the world of media "spin".
Extra Credit Assignments
Sample ACT Essay
Broadcast
News (1987) is a film set in the late 1980s that examines the business
of television news broadcasting as it focuses on the intersecting lives of
three involved professionals. Although there are many significant issues raised
in this film, such as demonstrating how network news is reported to the American
audience, there are also moments when the film examines interpersonal relationships
and how this affects the workplace. One especially important issue raised
in the film Broadcast News involves whether the news is meant just
to inform the television audience about important people and events, or is
it also a form of popular entertainment? Many media critics believe that the
nightly television news broadcast has become too entertaining, almost like
a situation comedy, and that it lacks a serious informative, educational manner.
Many other people find that this is not a problem and enjoy the "light
touch" when it comes to reporting events and even about the lives of
media personalities. Still, some others believe that broadcast news should
attempt to do both, inform and entertain its audience.
You have been asked to write a letter to your local newspaper in which you
will express your views concerning several issues that are raised in the film
Broadcast News. The first issue for you to consider involves the purpose
and role of television broadcast news. Should the evening news broadcast be
just informative, or entertaining, or both? Has television news become too
much like the rest of the evening's traditional entertainment programming
-- is Paris Hilton really newsworthy? Has the evening news broadcast too much
influence on the audience? Should we read about the news, in newspapers and
periodicals, as much as we watch television for information? Do television
reports have a responsibility to inform the audience when they interpret
rather than report events and information? Fully discuss your view;
you may refer to any form of media coverage, other opinions, and especially
the film, Broadcast News
Mini-Research Project
(NOTE: This
is NOT a research paper - it is a research-oriented, library experience
in which students gather and categorize information. They can prepare outlines,
note-cards, bibliography, cite references, or practice any combination of
these skills associated with preparing a research paper. The use of the Internet
is also encouraged.)
Prepare an investigative project that focuses on any one of the following
topics associated with or suggested by the film, Broadcast News..
a) the television rating system
b) sexism in the workplace
c) the decline in readership of print journalism
d) censorship of media violence and sexuality
Standard
College Essay
Many issues
arise from the analysis and discussion of the film, Broadcast News.
Some of these issues involve working closely and under pressure with people;
the censorship of controversial images and information; deciding what is newsworthy
and what is entertainment; communicating without editorializing; and the basic
need to set individual, professional moral codes of behavior for oneself.
In a full-length essay (approximately 400-500 words), later to be revised
for content and correctness, discuss any of the issues raised in the film
Broadcast News that you consider to be of special interest either for
yourself or for society. Explain why and how these issues are significant
not only in the film but also in relationship to your own life, society, or
even both. You may refer to this film or any form of media coverage and to
other people's opinions.
Event Photos Broadcast News - May 18, 2005
Dr. Robert Singer welcomes
students to the final movie of the year,
Broadcast News, shown in connection to the program's COM course.
Professor Sam Taitt, COM Course Coordinator and
Film Festival host, Dr. Robert Singer, talk about the film before it is screened.