Film Festival - Wag
The Dog
Wednesday - December 10, 2003
MAC Playhouse - 3:30 pm - 6:15 pm
College Now Course - Communications
Hosted by: Dr. Robert Singer, Professor of English
College Now English Course Coordinator
Professor Sam Taitt, College Now Communications Course Coordinator
About
the Movie: Wag The Dog
Director, Barry Levinson 1999 - Rating R
A Hollywood
producer meets a Washington spin-doctor. When they get together, they can
make you believe anything. After being caught in a scandalous situation days
before the election, the president does not seem to have much of a chance
of being re-elected. One of his advisors contacts a top Hollywood producer
in order to manufacture a war in Albania that the president can heroically
end, all through the manipulation of the mass media.
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. These assignments have included setting
up a radio station, advising on TV and radio programming and producing TV
documentaries.
Extra Credit Assignments
Sample ACT Essay
We depend
on the various mass media for information about events in and outside of the
United States. This information influences, and often shapes our view of our
country and of the world, and helps us determine our position on issues that
affect us, or those around us. The media indeed shapes our reality. While
accusations of bias are often leveled at the print media, TV stands above
the fray. Its unique ability to provide graphic supporting images contributes
to its near invincibility as the most credible mass medium for news.
Does Wag The Dog suggest chinks in TV's credibility armor? Is the deception
as evidenced in the film only likely to occur in the "movies?" If
the answer is no, would TV be the dog that is wagged, or the tail that wags
the dog? Write an essay of approximately 400-500 words on the issue of "Deception
in the Media." The essay should discuss the questions raised in the above
paragraph, relate them to the issues listed below and compare some of the
issues to any situation, past or current, in the American experience that
was media-influenced.
Issues:
*Political campaign strategy - Comment on how the usual strategies
of "attack your opponent" or "defend your candidate's record"
were, or were not, used in the film. Explain the phrase, "Don't change
horses in mid-stream."
* Importance
of the Timeline
* Use of Technology
* Role of the Mass Media - Were the media experts duped, or were
they compliant disseminators of news fed to them. Did they jump at the opportunity
for sensationalism?
* Wag the Dog - Discuss the involvement that TV and public
relations media played in the film.
Mini-Research Project
Utilizing
the library and its resources, and/or material from the Internet, prepare
an investigative project that focuses on any of the following topics associated
with or suggested by the film Wag The Dog:
a) the (first) Gulf war
b) the existing Iraq war
c) the advertising industry
d) the Bill Clinton situation
e) propaganda films
Standard College Essay
Many issues
arise from the analysis and discussion of the film Wag The Dog. Some
of these issues involve the power of the media in American culture to affect
our values, the belief in "objective" reportage, censorship of news
and information, and in general, the rationalizations society makes for going/not
going to war. 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 Wag The Dog that you consider to be of special interest
either for yourself or for society. Explain why and how the issues are significant
not only in the film but also in relationship to your life, the American experience,
or both. You may also refer to past or present historical experiences as presented
in any form of media coverage or other opinions.
Event Photos
Wag The Dog - December 10, 2003
Film Festival co-hosts
Professors Sam Taitt and Robert Singer
at the opening of "Wag The Dog".
Professors Taitt and Singer
discuss the
film before the screening.
COM 11 teachers Ms. D'Anna,
Mr. Menscher (E.R.Murrow HS),
and Mr. Hoffman (Tottenville HS) with COM Course Coordinator
Sam Taitt (2nd from left).
Some movie goers gather before the screening.