21L.015 INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA STUDIES
20 February 1997
 
PAPER 2: SUGGESTED TOPICS

Due in section Thursday 27 February

  1. Discuss the radio recordings heard at last week's lab session in relation to one of the sets of questions about the recordings listed on the page for the lab.

  2. Write a report on the current state of either AM or FM waveband radio in the Boston area. Produce a list of the stations currently available, briefly identifying the station name and type of programming. Then discuss what you've found in relation to some of the following questions: national vs. local broadcasting; station/program audience(s); college radio stations and differences between them; forms of advertising and sponsorship; minority, foreign-language, or other non-American programmig; continuities with the historical development of radio in the US (e.g. program formats, scheduling). Are your overall conclusions positive or negative, and why?

  3. If you have a SW radio, do a scan on the SW radio band at a particular time of day (morning/afternoon/evening/night--choose a time when you find plenty of stations) and write a report on what you find. Try to identify as many stations as you can, and produce a list of those you identify. What kind of stations and programming are available? What aspects of these stations/programs do you find most interesting/surprising/disturbing, and why?

  4. If you're familiar with net-radio, discuss the current state of net-radio in relation either to this week's readings (Covert, Boddy) or the lecture. What possibilities for innovative radio programming are currently offered by the web? Are web-broadcasters making the most of the medium's potential for radio, or could more be done, and if so, what?

  5. Write an in-depth analysis of one particular radio show broadcast locally in the Boston area which you listen to regularly, paying attention to some of the following areas: range (local/national/global), scheduling (time-slot, regularity, duration), format (music, phone-in, etc.), content, audience. Why do you listen to this program? Why should we?

  6. If you're a DJ or amateur radio hobbyist, discuss your experience in relation either to this week's readings (Covert, Boddy) or the lecture.

Martin Roberts


mroberts@mit.edu