PERSUASION AND THE PUBLIC MIND: Recent Episodes

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• Persuasion and reasoning.
• Media literacy and digital citizenship.
• Decoding media messages.
• Recognizing fake news.
• Algorithms and social media.
• Media literacy advocacy.

Interview with: Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, Executive Director, National Association for Media Literacy Education; Tim Borchers, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Peru State College

Resources: Media Literacy, by James Potter (book);

How Fantasy Becomes Reality, by Karen Dill (book);

Persuasion in the Media Age, by Timothy Borchers (book);

NAMLE.net, website for the National Association for Media Literacy Education + affiliated media organizations;

medialiteracynow.org, website for Media Literacy Now, current media literacy legislation by state;

factcheck.org, A project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center;

Freepress.net, getting citizens involved in media decisions;

Snopes.com, a fact checking website;

Eff.org, nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, defending digital privacy, free speech, and innovation;

TED.com, TED Talks about algorithms and social media;

Key Questions to ask when analyzing media messages:

Audience & Authorship-

• Who paid for this?
• Who made this message?
• Why was this made?
• Who is the target audience and how do you know?
• Who might benefit from this message?
• Who might be harmed by it?
• Why might this message matter to me?
• What kinds of actions might I take in response to this message?

Messages & Meanings-

• What is this about and what makes you think that?
• What ideas, values, information and/or points of view are overt? Implied?
• What is left out of this message that might be important to know?
• What messaging techniques are used?
• Why were those techniques used?
• How do they communicate the message?
• How might different people understand the message differently?

Representations & Reality-

• When was this made?
• Where or how was it shared with the public?
• Is this fact, opinion, or something else?
• How credible is this and what makes you think that?
• What are the sources of information, ideas, or assertions?

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• Differences between campaigns and movements.
• Persuasive techniques-strategies used for campaigns & movements.
• Media coverage of campaigns and movements.
• Strategies for effective presentations.
• Making strategic decisions.

Interview with: Tim Borchers, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Peru State College

Resources: Persuasion in the Media Age, by Timothy Borchers (book);

Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution, edited by A. Boyd and D. Mitchell (book);

Prime Time Activism: Media Strategies for Grassroots Organizing, by Charlotte Ryan (book);

The Art of Protest, by T.V. Reed (book);

Roots to Power: A Manual for Grassroots Organizing, by Lee Staples (book)

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• The advertising creation process.
• The target audience.
• Advertising strategies.
• Creating lifestyles/values through advertising.

Interview with: Tim Borchers, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Peru State College

Resources: Persuasion in the Media Age, by Timothy Borchers (book);

Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture, by Stuart Ewen (book);

Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture, by Arthur Asa Berger (book);

Visual Persuasion: The Role of Images in Advertising, by Paul Messaris (book);

The Public Mind, with Bill Moyers (PBS Video);

The Persuaders, with Douglas Rushkoff (Frontline/PBS Video)

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• The role of feelings, needs, and values in the persuasion process.
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
• The social construction of affect.

Interview with: Tim Borchers, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Peru State College

Resources: Persuasion in the Media Age, by Timothy Borchers (book);

Persuasion: Social Influence and Compliance Gaining, by R. Gass and J. Seiter (book);

Social Psychology, by Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, Nisbett (book);

A Theory of Human Motivation, by Abraham Maslow (book or Kindle edition)

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• The variables that influence how people communicate.
• Compliance gaining strategies.
• Detecting deception.

Interview with: David Keating, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, California State University, Northridge.

Resources: Duped: Truth-Default Theory and the Social Science of Lying and Deception, by Timothy Levine (book);

Persuasion in the Media Age, by Timothy Borchers (book);

Persuasion: Social Influence and Compliance Gaining, by R. Gass and J. Seiter (book);

Influence: Science and Practice, by Robert Cialdini (book);

The Dynamics of Persuasion, by Richard Perloff (book)

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• How do audiences think about messages?
• Polling-Data Analysis-Ratings.

Interview with: Tim Borchers, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Peru State College

Resources: Persuasion in the Media Age, by Timothy Borchers (book)

Inside Prime Time, by Todd Gitlin (book)

The Public Mind: Pt. 2 Leading Questions, with Bill Moyers (PBS Video)

The Persuaders, with Douglas Rushkoff (Frontline/PBS Video)

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• Defining culture and popular culture.
• Media communication & cultural values/beliefs.
• Consumer culture and multiculturalism.

Interview with: Tim Borchers, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Peru State College

Resources: Persuasion in the Media Age, by Timothy Borchers (book)

Captains of Consciousness-Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture, by Stuart Ewen (book)

Culture Inc.-The Corporate Takeover of Public Expression, by Herbert Schiller (book)

Media and Cultural Studies, Edited by Durham and Kellner (book)

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• Telling stories.
• Stylistic language.
• Electronic eloquence.
• The relationship of language to ideology and power.

Interview with: Tim Borchers, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Peru State College

Resources:Persuasion in the Media Age, by Timothy Borchers (book)

The Press Effect: Politicians, Journalists, and the Stories that Shape the Political World, by KH Jamieson and P. Waldman (book)

Packaging the Presidency: A History and Criticism of Presidential Candidate Advertising, by KH Jamieson (book)

Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda, by Noam Chomsky (book)

Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear, by Frank Luntz (book)

The War of Words, by Kenneth Burke (book)

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• Elements of image composition.
• Techniques used to create meaning or attract attention.
• The functions of visual signs.
• Perspectives on image analysis.

Interview with: Michael Martinez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Journalism & Electronic Media, University of Tennessee

Resources: Visual Communication-Images with Messages, by Paul Martin Lester (book)

Visual Persuasion-The Role of Images in Advertising, by Paul Messaris (book)

The Public Mind-Image & Reality in America, with Bill Moyers (PBS Video)

All Consuming Images-The Politics of Style in Contemporary Culture, by Stuart Ewen (book)

Visual Intelligence-Perception, Image, & Manipulation in Visual Communication, by Ann Marie Seward Barry (book)

Truth Needs No Ally-Inside Photojournalism, by Howard Chapnick (book)

Visual Communication Theory and Research: A Mass Communication Perspective, by Sharia, Bock, Wanta (book)

Public Opinion-The World Outside & the Pictures in our Head, by Walter Lippmann (book)

Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal & Visual Representation, University of Chicago Press (book)

Get the Picture: A Personal History of Photojournalism, Random House Publishers (book)

On Photography, by Susan Sontag (book)

The Family of Man-Photographic Exhibition Created for the Museum of Modern Art, by Edward Steichen (book)

Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture, by M. Sturken and L. Cartwright (book)

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• Our perception of persuaders created by media.
• Characteristics of credibility.
• Mediated information.
• Creating an image for individuals and organizations.
• Unknown sources of information.

Interview with: Tim Borchers, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Peru State College

Resources: Persuasion in the Media Age by Timothy Borchers (book)

Persuasion: Social Influence & Compliance Gaining by R. Gass & J. Seiter (book)

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• Mediated reality.
• Media as a product designed to attract audiences and sell advertising.
• Trade offs for our new media options.
• How economic, social, and political forces can influence the news.

Interview with: Tim Borchers, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Peru State College

Resources: Persuasion in the Media Age, by Timothy Borchers (book)

Boxed In: The Culture of TV, by Mark Crispin Miller (book)

Constructing the Political Spectacle, by Murray Edelman (book)

Finding Truth in Fiction: What Fan Culture Gets Right & Why It's Good to Get Lost in a Story, by Karen Dill-Shackleford & Cynthia Vinney (book)

The Power of Movies: How Screen & Mind Interact, by Colin McGinn (book)

Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do, by B.J. Fogg (book)

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• Neuroscience methods and equipment.
• Role of brain regions and neural signals in determining behavior change.
• Variables involved in the decision making process.
• Effective media presentations from a neuroscience perspective.

Interview with: Cristophe Morin, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Media Psychology, Fielding Graduate University; CEO/SalesBrain

Resources: The Persuasion Code: How Neuromarketing Can Help You Persuade Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime, by C. Morin and P. Renvoise (book)

Introduction to Neuromarketing and Consumer Neuroscience, by T. Ramzoy (book & Kindle Edition)

Persuasion: Theory and Research, by D. O'Keefe (book)

Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind, by Gazzaniga and Mangun (book & Kindle Edition)

Neuromarketing, by L. Zurawicki (book)

Methods in Social Neuroscience, by Eddie, Harmon, Jones (book)

The Persuaders, with Douglas Rushkoff (Frontline/PBS Video)

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• The persuasion industry and ethical challenges.
• Ethical standards and approaches to making ethical decisions.
• Evaluating the ethics of media messages.

Interview with: Chad Painter, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Dayton

Resources: Media Effects: Issues and Cases, by Patterson, Wilkins, Painter (book)

Persuasion Ethics Today, Edited by M. Duffy & E. Thorson (book)

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• Essential aspects of a useful theory.
• Media theories and audience oriented theories.
• Theories involving strength of media effects on the audience.

Interview with: Tim Borchers, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Peru State College

Resources: Persuasion in the Media Age, by Timothy Borchers (book)

Social Psychology, by Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, Nisbett (book)

Social Psychology-Revisiting the Classic Studies, Edited by J. Smith & A. Haslam (book) A review/discussion of 15 classic experiments covering behavior, cognitive dissonance, conformity, obedience, tyranny, group relations & conflict, group decision making, stereotype formation and much more.

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• What are media cultures and how do they affect us?
• Ways of thinking about and understanding information.
• Defining persuasion and propaganda.
• Characteristics of persuasion.
• Objectives for persuaders.
• Evaluating and understanding the persuasion process.

Interview with: Tim Borchers, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Peru State College

Resources: Persuasion in the Media Age, by Timothy Borchers (book)

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, by Marshall McLuhan (book)

Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman (book)

Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion, by A. Pratkanis & E. Aronson (book)