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Culture,Socialization,andPolicy
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raisetheirgrade.Invariably,somestudentsturninpoorlyreasonedandlazypapersthat
makeaverysuperficialanalysisoftheculturalproducttheyareexamining.Explaining
theassignmentinthecontextofthesetofkeyquestionsfromNAMLEshoulddramati-
callyclarifyforstudentstheexpectationsoftheassignment.
Tissemester,20studentscompletedtheassignment.Duetogenerousgradingon
mypart,thelowestgradewas70/100,whilethehighestwas95/100.Tenstudentsearned
scoresinthe1990s,whilenineearnedscoresinthe1980s.Te70/100paperinterpreted
(poorly)thecontentofanABCNewsreport,andoferedsuperficialcomparisonof
acomedymovieabouttherstblackpresidentcalledHeadofStateandBarackObama,s
electionin2008.Manyofthe80/100papersmisinterpretedtheassignmentandlooked
atnewsmedia,orpunditsaswell.AlthoughIhavenotkeptstatisticssinceIstarted
assigningthispaper,itdoesappearthatthenumberofstudentsusingnewsmediahas
increasedrecently.Perhapsthisisduetothecontinuedblurringofthelinebetween
hardnewsandentertainmentvariouslyknownas“infotainment”andsofnews,and
typifiedbysuchTVshowsastheDailyShowandmoviessuchasFahrenheit9–11.
Finally,the90/100paperseachchosesomethingfromtheclearlyentertainmentmedia
andbroughtsignificantanalysistobearonthemessage,whytheydisagreedwithit,
andhowtheirdisagreementtintotheiroverallideologicalframework.Perhapswith
NAMLE,sassistance,nextfallsemestermorepaperswillreachtheseheights.
Discussionandconclusion
Telinksbetweenpopularcultureandpoliticscontinuetogrow.Specifically,theevi-
dencesuggeststhatcelebritiesmaysometimesinfluencethepoliticalbeliefsofyoung
peoplethroughtheirendorsementsofspecificideas.Teresearchpresentedhere
indicates,however,thattheprocessremainsacomplicatedone.Resultsofapost-test
onlyexperimentindicatedthatyoungpeopleexposedtoaCBSNewsvideoexplain-
ingCalifornia,sProposition8weremovedtowardincreasedsupportforgaymarriage.
SeanPenn,sOscarnightspeechappearedtohavelittleefect,however.Tisisbecause,
despitetheotherlimitationsofthemethodusedhere,itdoessimulatetheactualTV
watchingexperiencequitewell,withviewers,lteringoutunwantedcontent.Young
conservativeswhoopposegaymarriageelectednottowatchPenn,sspeech,thereby
severelylimitingtheactor,sinfluence.
References
Agrawal,Jagsish,andWagnerA.Kamakura.1995.Teeconomicworthofcelebrityendorsers:An
eventstudyanalysis.JournalofMarketing,59(3),56–62.
AnnenbergPublicPolicyCenter.DailyShowviewersknowledgeableaboutpresidentialcampaign,
NationalAnnenbergElectionSurveyshows.AnnenbergPublicPolicyCenter.http://www.
annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/naes/2004_03_late-night-knowledge-2_9-21_pr.pdf.(accessed
February28,2005).