For Students

Textbook Applications

Every chapter in The Mediated World contains application exercises for you, the reader, to delve deeper into the topics. Below are the applications from the textbook that require you to go online, gathered together on one convenient page. Watch and listen using the links below, and go beyond the theory.

Chapter 2

The Third Frontier (p. 27)

Listen to Richard Louv talk about nature deficit disorder in this interview.

Q2.7: What is the biophilia hypothesis?

Multitasking (p. 35)

Listen to a report on National Public Radio about multitasking.

Q2.11: Why does Miller say “The brain is very good at deluding itself”?

Chapter 3

Study Illuminates How Babies Learn to Speak (p.49)

Listen online to Michelle Trudeau’s radio report.

Q3.2: According to Kuhn’s research, how does a baby move from speech perception to speech production?

Chapter 4

Language Acquisition and Literacy (p. 63)

Watch the author discussing language acquisition and literacy while reading to his son and having a conversation with his daughter.

Q4.5: In what ways do the interactions between the author and his son illustrate how we learn through repetition, rhythm, and conventional language? In what ways is the author’s daughter operating in the pre-literate and literate mindset?

Chapter 6

Objectivity (p. 119)

Read the top political stories from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Q6.4: Can you discern a political bias? Explain your answer.

Chapter 8

The Telegraph versus Texting (p. 181)

How does the telegraph measure up against the speed of text messaging? Watch a video of a race between telegraph operators and cellphone texters to find out.

Q8.2: Who is faster?

Chapter 9

Emile Berliner (p. 197)

Listen to some of Berliner’s recordings online, such as “The mocking bird” or “Sweet, sweet love”.

Q9.1: How does the quality compare to today’s recordings?

How a Hit Song is Made (p. 217)

Listen to a report by National Public Radio on how a hit song is made.

Q9.10: Were you surprised by what you learned? Explain your answer.

Scat (p. 212)

Watch a video of Ella Fitzgerald demonstrating “scat,” the improvised method of singing notes along with the melody.

Q9.8: Compare what you hear with a contemporary song.

World Music (p. 226)

Go to National Public Radio’s web page for a good introduction to world music.

Q9.14: What do you think of this genre?

Chapter 11

Early Movies from Black Maria (p. 251)

View one or more early movies from Edison’s studio at the Library of Congress website.

Q11.2: How does the quality compare to a film you can create yourself, say, on a smartphone?

The Great Train Robbery (p. 254)

Watch that famous ending scene.

Q11.5: A century ago, that scene made moviegoers jump for cover. Why are we no longer surprised and astonished by it? And what astonishes us today?

“You Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet” (p. 256)

Watch the first words in motion picture history, Al Jolson introducing “Toot Toot Tootsie” in The Jazz Singer, 1927.

Q11.7: Try to imagine hearing words and images together on the big screen for the very first time. How do you think the experience might affect you?

Early Lumiere Films (p. 253)

Watch the earliest films of the Lumiere brothers.

Q11.3: Try to write a reaction to one of the films as if you were seeing a motion picture for the first time.

Le Voyage dans la Lune (p. 254)

Watch “Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon)”.

Q11.4: How does this film differ from the ones you viewed by Edison and the Lumieres?

“Who’s on First?” (p. 259)

Watch Abbott and Costello’s classic skit.

Q11.8: Do you think it has stood the test of time? Explain your answer.

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

The 1992 Town Hall Debate (p. 294)

Watch Bush and Clinton answer questions during the 1992 debate.

Q12.5: What do you think of their answers?

Linear Television (p. 298)

Watch the “Administrative Vice” episode of Dragnet.

Q12.7: How does the style differ from today’s style of video?

Chapter 13

Production Notes (p. 313)

Watch Production Notes on YouTube.

Q13.2: Were you surprised by what you saw? Why or why not?

“Imported from Detroit” (p. 328)

Watch the “Imported from Detroit” ad.

Q13.9: Did the ad change your impression of the “Motor City”? Explain your answer.

Chapter 15

Hustler v. Falwell (p. 369)

Listen to the oral arguments in Hustler v. Falwell.

Q15.2: As a judge, how would you have ruled in this case, and why?

Smoke in the Eye (p. 380)

Go to the website of Smoke in the Eye, the documentary about how CBS News and ABC News failed to adequately cover the tobacco story, and read about how these two companies covered big tobacco.

Q15.9: What should journalists do to convince us that they are covering businesses in a fair way?

The People vs. Larry Flynt (p. 370)

A great movie about the First Amendment, The People vs. Larry Flynt, depicts the struggles of the pornographer to get his message out. The second half of the film concentrates on the famous Supreme Court case. Watch a clip from the film.

Q15.3: Do you agree with the argument made by Hustler’s lawyer? Explain your answer.

Chapter 16

Warrantless Wiretapping (p. 389)

Read The New York Times report on the warrantless wiretapping by James Risen and Eric Lichtblau.

Q16.1: Just for a moment, imagine that you have been summoned by the president of the United States and told that your story is hurting America. How would you react?

Investigative Reporting on Walter Reed (p. 395)

Read The Washington Post’s report by Dana Priest and Anne Hull on the difficult conditions that veterans faced at Walter Reed.

Q16.6: In what ways does journalism like this improve conditions? Explain your answer.

Schwarz’s Reporting about Concussions (p. 402)

Read some of Schwarz’s articles about concussions by going to his website.

Q16.12: Since Schwarz’s reporting, schools and teams have developed many new rules for dealing with head injuries. What rules have you heard about at your schools or in the sports that you follow?