MILANO GRADUATE SCHOOLSpring 2010

Media Advocacy & Social Marketing # 4302

Tuesdays, January 26 – May 11, 2010 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.Room 1107 – 6 East 16th Street, NYC (between Union Sq. & Fifth Ave.)

Instructor: Bonnie McEwan 917-693-0940 (cell) 212-229-5400 x1618 (office)Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Room 703 at 72 Fifth Ave. mcewanb@newschool.edu bmcewan@nyc.rr.com

Course SummaryMedia advocacy is the strategic use of mass media to influence policy. Social marketing is the strategic application of marketing principles to influence human behavior. Media advocacy targets the broad, social environment. Social marketing targets specific, individual human behaviors. Each is a useful tool for helping nonprofit and public organizations, advocacy groups and social movements forward their missions. Taken together, these complementary techniques form a powerful mechanism for promoting social change.

This course examines various media theories and their application to social change strategies as practiced by groups around the world. It employs a global, cross-cultural perspective to look particularly at community and alternative media, which are generally more accessible and multi-faceted than are mainstream, corporate outlets.

Students will have hands-on opportunities to apply effective media and marketing techniques by working with a client organization: The New School’s Sustainability Advisory Committee (SAC), which seeks to establish sustainable structures, processes and behaviors throughout the university campus.

We will also consider some of the ethical dilemmas that arise when government agencies engage in social activism and when commercial marketing and media techniques are applied to complex issues of social and public policy.

This course may be applied to the Certificate in Politics and Advocacy. It also fulfills the international course requirement. Assignments and GradingThis course is highly participative. Students are expected to complete the assigned readings on schedule, attend class as well as additional client meetings, and offer original contributions to class discussions. Note that 70% of

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the final grade is based on client work and class participation. Please do not register unless you are prepared to participate fully.Media Advocacy and Social Marketing…Syllabus as of 1-9-10…Page 2

Grading FormulaIssue paper: 30% of final gradeClass participation: 35% of final gradeClient work: 35% of final grade

Incompletes are granted only in cases of medical emergency or bereavement.

Issue PaperEach student will select an issue or topic currently in the news and write an 8 to 10 page paper analyzing how the media frames and reports that issue. Students are expected to support their views with citations from the course readings, as well as additional sources identified by the student’s own research. Suggestions for paper topics may be found at the end of this syllabus. Papers should be formatted using MLA style and submitted in hard copy at the beginning of class on March 9.

Required TextsGlobal Activism, Global Media. de Jong, Wilma, Martin Shaw, and Neil Stammers, eds. London: Pluto Press, 2005.

Understanding Community Media. Howley, Kevin, ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2010.

Fostering Sustainable Behavior. McKenzie-Mohr, Doug, and William Smith. Gabriola Island, BC, Canada: New Society Publishers: 1999.

There will also be a readings packet available through the library’s e-reserves; additional readings may be assigned in class. All sources consulted in developing this syllabus are listed in the attached bibliography.

Class Schedule

Session 1 – January 26Course Overview Introductions, Client Background, Team AssignmentsDefining Media Advocacy and Social MarketingReading (distributed in class): Signorile, Michelangelo. Lights, Camera, ACT UP in Queer in America, pp. Assignment to be completed by 2/2: Meet in project teams to get acquainted.

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Media Advocacy and Social Marketing…Syllabus as of 1-9-10…Page 3

Session 2 – February 2Mainstream Media, Community Media and Social Change Reading: de Jong, Introduction, pp. 1-14 and Media and the Global Public Sphere, pp. 34-49; Howley, Introduction, pp. 1-22, Democratic Potentials of Citizens’ Media Practices, pp. 32-40, Collaborative Pipelines, pp. 53-62 and Civil Society and the Public Sphere, pp. 71-77

Session 3 – February 9Social Marketing, Market Research and Behavior Change Reading: McKenzie-Mohr, Fostering Sustainable Behavior and Uncovering Barriers and Benefits, pp. 1-45; in e-Reserve: McQuarrie, Secondary Research and Customer Visits, pp. 53-82, in The Market Research Toolbox; and e-Reserve: Sargeant, Social Marketing: The Marketing of Ideas, pp. 217-251 in Marketing Management for Nonprofit Organizations.

Session 4 – February 16Meet the Client: The New School Sustainability Advisory Committee (SAC)

Session 5 – February 23Activism in Mainstream Media v. Activism in Alternative Media: Case StudiesReading: de Jong, Dying for Diamonds: The Mainstream Media and NGOs: A Case Study of ActionAid, pp. 95-109 and The World Development Movement: Access and Representation of Globalisation in the Mainstream Press, pp. 125-132; Howley, Alternative Media and the Public Sphere in Zimbabwe, pp. 87-105 and Ethnic Community Media and Social Change, pp. 250-258; and e-Reserve: VanDam, “Where News Comes From” in New York magazine, 10-26-09

Session 6 – March 2Techniques of Media Advocacy and Social MarketingReading: McKenzie-Mohr, Influence Tools, pp. 46-121; in e-Reserve: Rados, David. Advertising in the Social Sector, pp. 140-153, in Fine, Social Marketing, and Wallack, Lawrence, et. al., Media Advocacy Case Studies, pp. 155-200 in Media Advocacy and Public Health.

Session 7 – March 9 Design and Evaluation of Social Marketing and Media Advocacy InitiativesReading: McKenzie-Mohr, Building Effective Programs, pp. 122-139; in e-Reserve: Wallack, Lawrence, et. al., Evaluating Your Media Efforts, pp. 129-139 in News for a Change.**Issue Paper Due**

March 16 –SPRING BREAK– NO CLASSES

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Media Advocacy and Social Marketing…Syllabus as of 1-9-10…Page 4

Session 8 – March 23Ethics of Media Advocacy and Social MarketingLaw & Order episode to be viewed in class: “The Human Flesh Search Engine.”Reading: e-Reserve: Murphy, Patrick E. and Paul N. Bloom. Ethical Issues in Social Marketing, pp. 68-78, in Fine, Social Marketing.

Session 9 – March 30Local Media’s Global Impact Reading: Howley, “Asking We Walk”: The Zapatista Revolution of Speaking and Listening, pp. 348-371Guest Speaker: TBD

Session 10 – April 6Work Session on Client Projects

Session 11 – April 13Documentary Video for Social ChangeReading: Howley, A Participatory Model of Video Making: The Case of Colectivo Perfil Urbano, pp. 259-267Guest Speaker: Patrick Kwan, NYS Field Director, Humane Society of the US

Session 12 – April 20The Changing Media Landscape & Activism on the NetReading: Howley, Closings and Openings: Media Restructuring and the Public Sphere, pp. 318-340; de Jong, Activist Media, Civil Society and Social Movements, pp. 149-164; Transgender Activism on the Net, pp. 179-193; and Civil Society Organisations and the Internet: The Case of Amnesty International, Oxfam and the World Development Movement, pp. 208-222; in e-Reserve: Manjoo, Farhad, Where Wikipedia Ends in Time magazine, 9-28-09.

Session 13 – April 27Group presentations to client

Session 14 – May 4Group presentations to client

Session 15 – May 11Course Evaluations and The Two-Sentence Takeaway

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Media Advocacy and Social Marketing…Syllabus as of 1-9-10…Page 5

Ideas for Paper Topics

Select a global issue such as climate change and compare/contrast the way it is presented by media in two or three different nations.

Identify a community media outlet that is working to raise awareness of an under-reported issue. What approaches is the outlet using to highlight the issue? Assess the level of impact that the media outlet is, or is not, making on its intended audience.

Analyze how the current US healthcare debate is reported in a mainstream versus an alternative US media outlet. Or analyze how non-US media are covering the debate versus the way it is covered here in the US.

Analyze the news coverage of a local incident that raised issues of national and/or global interest. For instance, how did news coverage of the shootings at Virginia Tech impact security at colleges around the world? If the coverage were reported differently, would its impact have been different as well?

Compare news coverage of the train bombings in Madrid in 2004 and in London in 2005. How do you think cultural, social or political differences between the two nations affected the news coverage, if at all?

Pick any big, international news story from the latest New York Times (nytimes.com) web site. Compare the way it is covered to the way that same story is covered on the latest version of Al Jazeera’s site. (aljazeera.net)

Consider how the religious, cultural or social norms of a community impact the way that local (or neighborhood) media report on current events. Is the coverage biased or merely targeted to a specific type of audience? At what point does meeting customer needs become pandering to special interests? Is there a difference?

Advertiser-supported media, at least in the US, is a business model that is clearly in trouble, perhaps even dying. Is this a good or a bad thing and why? What other models might replace it?

There are some places in the world where low literacy rates make it challenging to keep people informed. Choose an issue and suggest alternative media formats that might be employed to reach people who have difficulty accessing traditional print media.

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