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Student Update: 8-2007 Summary of Research Topics Alan
Furst War Correspondents in his Novels America's Presstime: How Images Of Baseball Reporters Have Shaped the Perception of Our National Sport and The Profession Of Journalism by Chad Sabadie, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, December, 2004. The image of the baseball sportswriter as presented in film shows that these sportswriters will do whatever it takes to get the story. Sacrifices must be made, but the news must get out to the public. These conflicting images of antagonistic, friendly, arrogant, confident baseball writers have shaped the public's perception of the journalists who write about baseball in print and on the air. Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson’s Gonzo Journalist in the Movies by Maya Meinert, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, July, 2006. Hunter S. Thompson created and embodies what is called “Gonzo” journalism, an account of events with the journalist as protagonist telling the story from his experience as opposed to a fly-on-the-wall account of events. The image of the Gonzo journalist in what is deemed Thompson’s fiction is the one most people know today: the drug-addled, paranoid, borderline-psychotic journalist who, despite his outlandishness and blatant disregard for rules, somehow comes up with a story for publication. The Gonzo approach to journalism is obvious in Thompson’s pieces written as articles for news publications. But as popular culture has embraced Thompson’s work and style, Hollywood has adapted some of his work into film. Columnists At War: The Image of Dueling Newspaper Columnists in American Film and Television, by Scott Martindale, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, July 2006. Newsrooms are often places of conflict in American films and television, with the biggest and most entertaining fights reserved for two competitive, sparring colleagues. Newspaper columnists, long portrayed in popular culture as sassy, quick-witted journalists, serve as ideal characters for creating tension, arguments and rivalry inside and outside the newsroom. Their dueling is lighthearted, comical and sometimes wildly exaggerated, lending itself well to eventual reconciliation, romance or, at the very least, a love-hate relationship. The Devil Is in the Details: How The Devil Wears Prada Brands the Image of the Fashion Journalist by Priscilla Hwang, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, June 2007. Author Lauren Weisberger unveils the glossy and superficial world of fashion magazines through the eyes of Andrea “Andy” Sachs, a serious college graduate who unintentionally ends up working for Miranda Priestley, the terrorizing and powerful editor-in-chief of the fictitious Runway magazine. Miranda makes it her job to make life hell for her employees. Through the course of a year, Andrea finds herself overlooking everything she believes in to please Miranda and becomes the one thing she always despised - a Runway girl. Giving Everything For One Good Quote: The Turbulent World of Miami Crime Reporter Britt Montero by Eric Berkowitz, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, July, 2006. In eight novels featuring Miami police reporter Brit Montero, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Edna Buchanan has created an alter ego -- a flawed, driven, lonely woman whose obsessive nature is satisfied only by chasing down Miami’s worst people. Montero has little use for anything that gets in the way of the job, whether it be meddling editors or men that can’t keep her pace. And like Buchanan, Montero is deeply attached to the city of Miami, a place where violence, murder and magic are everyday occurrences. Going Down to South Park: Reporting the News on Television’s Most Politically and Socially Irreverent Animated Series by Todd Smilovitz, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, July, 2006. The image of the journalist on South Park is not one to be proud of. Journalists appear on more than half of the episodes in the show’s first nine seasons, but they are mostly purveyors of news that is opinionated, baseless, soft, sentimental, naïve, late-breaking and/or sensationalistic. Behind all of this shallow reporting is a quest by news media for ratings: the profit motive distorts news. The fact that almost all South Park journalism is broadcast news, which naturally tends to focus on sound bites rather than in-depth analysis, only enhances this effect. Whether the image of the journalist on South Park is a reflection of the modern American media, or vice versa, is left unsettled and to the eye of the beholder. Appendix: Additional Images of Journalists in South Park by Todd Smilovitz is also included. The
Good, The Bad and The Ugly: How the Television Show Ugly Betty Depicts
Fashion Magazine Journalists
by Dawn Temples, graduate student, Annenberg
School for Communication, University of Southern California, June
2007. In the flashy, fast-paced world of fashion journalism, Betty
Suarez struggles to prove that what’s inside a person is just
as important as what they wear. As a budding journalist with a dream
job, she exemplifies a fish-out-of-water with her braces, glasses
and lack of fashion sense. Determined to work her way up at MODE
magazine, Suarez tackles any task she’s given, from picking
up laundry to single-handedly orchestrating a celebrity-baby cover
shoot. Successful women at MODE are cut-throat and demonstrate many
masculine characteristics that female journalists have portrayed
in both television and movies of the past. Suarez contemplates throughout
the show what sacrifices she’s willing to make to become a
successful female journalist and eventually reach her goal of starting
her own magazine. Also available: Annotated
Appendix of
Ugly Betty Episodes. Hacks, Heels and Hollywood: How Accurately Do Recent Film Portrayals of Women Journalists Reflect the Working World of Their Real-Life Counterparts? by Sarah Herman, a student at Bournemouth University, England, UK studying for a degree in BA (hons) Multi-media journalism. Heroes at the Push of a Button: The Image of the Photojournalist in Videogames by Jake Gaskill, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, June 2007. Videogames are able to offer experiences that are incapable of being duplicated, while at the same time never threatening film’s significance in popular culture. Both media are made stronger by the presence of the other, and because of that, they often employ similar approaches to genre and narrative technique. It is the goal of this discussion to examine the techniques, styles, designs and narrative devices that videogames employ, specifically in games featuring journalists as their heroes, so that we might have a clearer understanding of how videogames are shaping the image of the journalist in popular culture. In a time in history when the credibility of journalists and the news media is threatened regularly, and in a time when rapidly changing technologies are allowing audiences to experience stories in new ways, the potential for a drastic shift in the image of the journalist by way of new technologies, such as next-generation gaming systems, is more possible than ever. In order to get a better understanding of how videogame journalists/heroes relate to other forms of fictional journalists/heroes, we will examine the common characteristics of both heroes and journalists, specifically character design, location and the methods by which hero journalists acquire information, transmit the truth to the public, and ultimately the impact journalists and their stories have on their worlds. These characteristics will also be examined in terms of how they have been defined by movies, videogames, comic books and other media. How the Image of the Female Hip-Hop Journalist Brought the ’Hood to Mainstream America by Kimberly Wynne, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, June, 2007. The life of a hip-hop journalist seems glamorous. In popular culture, it is portrayed as endless nights of club-hopping, schmoozing with rappers and big-name celebrities, and doing interviews in stretch limousines while drinking bottles of expensive champagne. But this isn’t so, especially for a female hip-hop journalist. In the TV series Living Single which aired from 1993 to 1998 and in the movie Brown Sugar which debuted in movie theaters in 2002, the image of the female hip-hop journalist is turned upside down. Her nights are spent alone, pining away for an unavailable, male best friend who only sees her as his “sister.” To gain credibility in the male-dominated industry of hip-hop, the female reporters trade in their femininity for baseball caps, baggy jeans, and sneakers. They are the constant subject of sexual advances and male chauvinism—a chauvinism that women in hip-hop call standard in a musical genre where women are objectified and treated as shiny, new accessories to be hung like jewelry from a performer’s neck. The
Image of the Journalist and the News Media in the Feature Films Image Versus Reality: Women Journalists in Film and on the Home Front, 1940-1945 by Emily Lerner, an undergraduate seniors honor thesis done for History 492, Professor Lois Banner, at the University of Southern California, May 2, 2006. Journalism is often stereotyped as a man’s profession, not fit for women. This assumption, however, could not be further from the truth. While men may have founded newspapers and held management positions earlier than women, this is no indication that women were not—and are not—prominent within the profession. In fact, women have been working on newspapers alongside men since the beginning of the appearance of broadsides and other circulars, and in the United States at least since the colonial era. Especially during World War II, as men went off to war, women filled in, working every newspaper job from producing the paper to reporting on events and writing editorials. This senior honors thesis focuses on the issue of the involvement of women in journalism during World War II. Much writing has been produced on women’s entry into professions like medicine and law as men went to war and left many positions open in these fields. Yet despite the acknowledgement by historians of journalism that the numbers of women in journalism did expand in this era explorations of the details of their involvement is sparse. Many of the studies of women journalists in World War II focus mostly on foreign correspondents during the war, spending little time discussing the role of women running newspapers or working for them on the home front. In Your Face: La Dolce Vita and the Unleashing of Paparazzi by Natalie Finn, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, December, 2004. Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita in 1960 both coined the term “paparazzi” and ensured that those tabloid photographers who specialize in celebrity news will forever be known in derogatory terms. The animalistic, parasitic portrait Fellini painted laid the foundation for the 2004 film Paparazzi to skewer and roast their image. A Journalist in the Rough: How Reporter Eve Diamond Blurs the Line Between Professional Standards and Personal Life All in Pursuit of a Story by Amanda Pazornik, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, July, 2006. Denise Hamilton, former Los Angeles Times reporter and author of the five-part mystery series featuring Eve Diamond, says Eve is her wilder alter ego. “She dodges more bullets than I ever did as a reporter, collars more bad guys and alas, saves more innocent people than I ever did.” Eve Diamond has three basic goals as a reporter: “I would break stories, get noticed and work my way up the ranks.” As she goes about reporting and solving mysteries, she mimics the earliest female journalists in film in the 20th century and this analysis shows how and why. Journalistic Reality as Material for Hollywood: Comments on Investigative Journalism in Film, by Cordula Nitsch, University of Augsburg, Germany, 2005. An investigation of two American films, All the President's Men and Veronica Guerin. If anyone chooses to enter journalism because of their fascination with journalistic film heroes, they will probably be quite disappointed with the outcome. The average journalist’s life is hardly as varied, exciting and dangerous as the one shown in these movies. Knowing Good Sex Pays Off: The Image of the Journalist as a Famous, Exciting and Chic Sex Columnist Named Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s Sex and the City by Bibi Wardak, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, June 2007. The sex columnist for the New York Star is unmarried, career-oriented and unsure if she will ever have a traditional family. Just like other modern sob sisters, she is romantically unfulfilled and has sacrificed aspects of her personal life for professional success. Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker in HBO’s hit television show Sex and the City (1998-2004) portrays a stereotypical image of female journalists found in television and film. She and other female journalists in the series struggle to balance a successful career and satisfying romantic life. The series examined the fast-paced lives of Bradshaw and friends Samantha Jones (a public relations executive played by Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York (an art gallery director played by Kristin Davis), and Miranda Hobbes (an attorney played by Cynthia Nixon). The four friends gossip about awful encounters with men, and their experiences inspire Bradshaw to write a new column during each episode where she asks questions about relationships. Law & Disorder: The Image of the Journalist in the Television's Law & Order Series by Caley K. Cook, a thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Southern California in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Print Journalism), 2007. There isn't much to like about most of the journalists in the Law & Order version of New York City. Manipulative journalists abuse the power of the press and rarely repent their sins. Anonymous journalists populate the show with hordes of cameras, microphones and flashbulbs. The easy manipulation of media -- tricking the press into reporting untruths or publicity students -- is common. Law & Order even forces a discussion of journalistic ethics and traditions. With only a few watchdog journalists in the storylines, many of these journalists aren't very likable. Some star reporters do shine through, breaking important stories, protecting their sources or pursuing a crooked cop, but those instances are few and far between. In a show that bills itself as "ripped from the headlines," the audience may be balancing its opinions of journalists on a show that has trouble drawing a line between fact and fiction. Lou Grant: A Journalist's Journalist -- An Analysis of the Character Who Spanned Two Successful Television Series and Became a Hero to a Generation of Real-Life Journalists and Would-Be Journalists by Debra Marisa Greene, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, July, 2006. Lou Grant is depicted as a gruff and, at times, bad-tempered journalist. But beneath this rough exterior lies a compassionate man. He greatly cares for his colleagues and, especially, for journalism itself. As news director of WJM and later city editor of the Los Angeles Tribune, he is a journalist committed to his field. Grant is a heroic journalist, always striving for the highest standards of journalistic ethics. Also included is a bibliography and episode summary of Lou Grant as featured in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant. Moonlighting as a Gutsy Gumshoe: The Bailey Weggins Story by Lawrence Lloyd, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, July, 2006. In Kate White’s novels, Bailey Weggins is not a trailblazing journalist who focuses on solving crimes. In each of White’s novels, Bailey “happens” to be at the center of each murder – either because she knows the victim or is close to the people involved. Bailey views journalism as her occupation and window into human behavior; sleuthing is secondary. The journalists in these books aren’t particularly compassionate or hateful, but human. On The Shoulders of Giants: How Aaron Sorkin’s Sports Night Portrayed the Sports Journalist as a Modern, Educated Professional While Still Fitting the Classic Molds of Journalists in Popular Culture by Eric Alvarez, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, June 2007. Aaron Sorkin’s Sports Night focuses on the events that unfold in the newsroom of a nightly sports highlight show. The impulse of the series stems from the relationships amongst the show’s two anchors, three producers and its managing editor. As individuals, the journalists are smart, talented and dedicated in their professional lives. Yet, despite their capabilities and professionalism, each echoes characteristics and faces problems similar to those of journalists in classic popular culture. They often put the job over their personal lives and struggle when faced with the consequences. But in the end, they always tend to band together as a newsroom family. Quite Frankly Family Guy: The Image of the Journalist in Fox’s Popular Animated Series by Matt Ryan, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, July, 2006. Journalism as depicted in the highly popular animated television show, Family Guy, is humorous but often unethical, racial and sensational. News in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island, is mostly delivered through the local television station, Quahog Channel 5 News, where anchors Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons are the most recognizable characters. The Scoop on The Simpsons: Journalism in U.S. Television’s Longest Running Prime-Time Animated Series by Stephanie Woo, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, December, 2004. Journalism as depicted in the popular and long-running television program, The Simpsons, is often dumb, unethical and sensational. News in Springfield is easy to create and manipulate, but some journalists use the media to both entertain and help the public. Kent Brockman,, a vain, buffoonish television news anchor, is the most recognizable member of the sitcom's press corps. Seen Better Days: The Portrayal of Journalists in Carl Hiaasen Novels by Cortney Fielding, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, July, 2006. The lead reporters in four Carl Hiaasen mystery novels are all good guys who’ve made bad decisions. While they all have different demons to battle, Hiaasen uses similarities within their personalities and story lines to paint a consistent image of a lonely and imperfect, but honest and capable journalist whose conscience compels him to do the right thing. Above all, Hiaasen’s reporters have a respect for their trade that won’t let them walk away from its ideals when they walk out of the newsroom. Smallville: The Mythology of Perry White by Junelle Mallari, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, December, 2004. Daily Planet editor Perry White emerged as a brusque, sharp-tongued character in 1940 and has remained so into the 21st century with the WB's television program, Smallville. This article looks at Perry White's images in the comics, radio, cartoons, movie serials, films and television from the last 65 years and reconciles them with the most recent image of White as depicted in a Smallville episode. The Stringer by Joshua Talley, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, December, 2004.Part watchdog, part underdog, Jack McMorrow proves one tenacious son of a bitch when tailing a story. The protagonist of Gerry Boyle's mystery series brings to backwoods Maine a nose for news honed on New York City's streets. Mystery aficionados will recognize hints of Marlowe and McGee in this investigative journalist -- a fascinating image of the journalist in popular culture. Trenchcoats Are Not Just For Spies: How Journalists Fought Against Evil in World War II as Portrayed by Novelist Alan Furst by Yael Swerdlow, graduate student, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California The inner life of a journalist is required by the ethics of the trade to stay hidden. Timeless debate over whether or not a reporter can be balanced, fair and objective stems from accusations that a journalist is unable to set aside who they are, and what they believe in to do their jobs as trusted members of the Fourth Estate. Journalists are expected to witness history, not actively work to change its course. Alan Furst’s novels question that dictum. What happens to the image of the journalist in popular culture when the journalist becomes an active participant in the fight against evil? The hidden life of the journalist then becomes the clandestine life of a spy. "Whose Side Are You On?" Representations of Journalism of Attachment and Detachment in the Movies, by Graham Fraser, a dissertation in part fulfillment of the regulations for the BA (Hons. Degree in Journalism, Napier University, 2006. The journalism of attachment is an idea from veteran war correspondent Martin Bell, who argues that journalistic objectivity in war is inappropriate and unworkable. With his supporters, he argues for a moral journalism that tries to get closer to the truth. However, his opponents believe that such an adoption of subjective reporting is very dangerous. Fraser looks at the issues of objectivity in war reporting and its particular representation in two Hollywood films, Under Fire, and Salvador. Click here for a Bibliography for Dissertation.
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