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For this mini-research assignment, we should like
you to choose a print magazine, journal or newspaper which is also published
electronically on the web. Read both versions as thoroughly as you can
for two or three days. Compare and contrast your experiences in reading
each version.
We'd like you to think about:-
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how you read each version (physically and intellectually)
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what kind of information you look for/acquire in each version
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the relationship between how you read and the kind of information you look
for/acquire/retain?
Learning Goals
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investigate the differences/similarities between print and electronic publication
of the "same" content
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investigate how new media, like online publications, change consumers'
relationships to older media
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discover the relationship between a medium and the kind of information
it distributes
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analyze the relationship between a medium and its consumers
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discover, by analyzing your own experience, what social, cultural and political
implications digital publication might have
Use the following questions to kickstart your investigation.
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First, think about the physicality of reading. Where do you read
each edition of your journal or magazine? What are the sensations that
surround you? How comfortable are you? How long do you read at a time?
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Next think about how you read. Do you follow the same pattern for
each version of the magazine or newspaper or does each medium create a
different pattern? Describe your patterns. For example, Lesley Smith begins
her reading of the daily print New York Times with the front page. In the
electronic version, she skims the front page, and reads first in detail
the areas of most interest to her - the Arts and Technology sections. Her
reading is more directed in the electronic version but less open to the
unexpected, which might be valuable.
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Now analyze the patterns of reading you identify, using evidence
to support your conclusions. Is your reading more broadly-based and general
in one medium than the other? Does one medium allow you greater investigation
in depth than the other? Do you finish the articles you begin, or do you
move on when you're bored?
Major events of the past year have affected us and the world profoundly.
How do you feel the various mediums are serving your need to be an informed
citizen? Which mediums provide information in a timely manner? Which
mediums do you trust more for accuracy?
Do you pay more attention to ads. (and other ephemerals) in one version
or the other? Do ads. influence you more in one version or the other?
What are the respective advantages and disadvantages of each medium
for you as a reader? For the magazine or newspaper itself? How do circumstances
(you're in a hurry, you want to relax, you're researching a news event
or a candidate) influence your choice of medium?
Don't forget to relate this assignment to the NCC competencies!
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