This document provides guidelines for a research paper assignment on how mass media or mass media technology has impacted culture in a significant way. Students are instructed to write a 5-page research paper on one of the seven major mass media channels (print, recordings, cinema/film, radio, television, internet/video games, mobile) or a specific mass media message. The document provides examples of past successful paper topics and suggests several potential topics addressing different ways mass media has impacted areas like education, social lives, the military, and body image. Students are reminded that culture is defined as learned social group behavior impacted by communication, including mass media.

1. How has a Mass Media
Message and/or a Mass
Media Technology
impacted culture in a
significant way?
COMM 101 RESEARCH PAPER

2. How has Mass Media/Mass Media Technology impacted
culture in a significant way?
• USING STANDARD MLA GUIDELINES (see link above for more info),
COMPOSE A RESEARCH PAPER APPROXIMATELY 5-PAGES / 1,500
WORDS IN LENGTH USING AT LEAST 3 CREDIBLE, PUBLISHED, AND
LEGITIMATE SOURCES BASED ON THIS TOPIC:
• +++CHOOSE AN EXAMPLE OF/FROM ONE OF THE SEVEN MAJOR MASS
MEDIA CHANNELS AND EXAMINE HOW IT HAS SHAPED CULTURE IN
WHAT YOU DETERMINE TO BE A
SIGNIFICANT/MEANINGFUL/IMPORTANT WAY.
• FOR INSTANCE, YOU CAN WRITE ABOUT HOW MOVIES AS A MASS
MEDIA CHANNEL SHAPED CULTURE IN A SIGNIFICANT WAY, OR YOU
CAN WRITE ABOUT HOW A SPECIFIC MASS MEDIA MESSAGE LIKE
“STAR WARS” SHAPED CULTURE IN A
SIGNIFICANT/MEANINGFUL/IMPORTANT WAY.
COMM 101 RESEARCH PAPER

3. How has Mass Media/Mass Media Technology impacted
culture in a significant way?
• THE SEVEN MAJOR MASS MEDIA CHANNELS:
• Print
• Recordings
• Cinema/Film
• Radio
• Television
• Internet/Video Games
• Mobile
• REMEMBER: Culture is defined as the learned behavior of
members of a given social group and that culture is learned
and maintained via communication of all kinds, including
mass media communication.
COMM 101 RESEARCH PAPER

4. How has Mass Media/Mass Media Technology impacted
culture in a significant way?
• How the Harry Potter books changed/increased the reading
habits and ability of children
• How the rise of Television impacted obesity rates in the
United States
• How the Printing Press led to the American Revolution
• How the Internet has changed the way Americans consume
their mass media
• How Disney movies have impacted culture
• How Cable Television changed the TV culture landscape
• How Video Games have impacted the military
PAST RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS

5. •So how do you find
topics?
•In addition to things that
come up in the course,
simply pay attention!
POSSIBLE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS

6. REAL WORLD EXAMPLE
• MASS MEDIA MESSAGE: Study finds fame-seeking mass
shooters tend to receive more media attention
• MASS MEDIA CHANNEL: Internet (based on a published report)
• Based on evidence from the perpetrators’ own words, suicide
notes, manifestos, homemade videos, police documents, and
online profiles, the researchers identified 45 fame-seeking mass
shooters and 263 non-fame-seeking mass shooters.
• About 96% of fame-seeking mass shooters received at least one
mention in the New York Times, compared to about 74% of their
counterparts. The New York Times also tended to dedicate more
articles to fame-seeking mass shooters.
• “Fame-seeking shooters incur high victim counts, and receive
disproportionately higher levels of media coverage. As such, the
media is reinforcing their initial motivations, and potentially
contributing to copycat criminality,”

7. REAL WORLD EXAMPLE
• “While the ‘No Notoriety‘ campaign and ‘Don’t Name Them‘
movement have been vital for reducing attention to
perpetrators — and focusing on victims — there is still a
need for further understanding of responsible reporting of
mass shootings.”
• This a prime example of how MASS MEDIA functions as a
SOCIETY’s nervous system – messages and information
about important issues like mass shootings is shared and
disseminated via mass media channels to and from
individuals to society at large and conversations result. This
is an especially interesting case because it is not only using
MASS MEDIA to talk about a societal issue, the issue itself
concerns MASS MEDIA and the impact it has on said issue.

8. REAL WORLD EXAMPLE
• This might lead you to think
about the relationship between
criminals and the MASS MEDIA
and how it impacts culture and
society. For instance, Rolling
Stone got a lot of negative
attention when it put one of
the “Boston Marathon
Bombers” on its cover. The
mayor of Boston said the
decision was "ill-conceived, at
best, and reaffirms a terrible
message that destruction gains
fame for killers and their
'causes'"

9. REAL WORLD EXAMPLE
• Another Boston official said,
“Rolling Stone has marketed
Tsarnaev as a hero, a
misunderstood teen, a product
of two incompatible cultures.
He is not. He is a coward and a
murderer who is appropriately
facing the death penalty for his
crimes.“
• Others found the photo to be
too flattering and portrayed
him almost like a rock star or
teen idol.

10. REAL WORLD EXAMPLE
• The Boston Punk band said,
"Rolling Stone you should be
ashamed. How about one of
the courageous victims on your
cover instead of this loser scum
bag!“
• Again, examples of how MASS
MEDIA functions as society’s
nervous system, carrying
messages and information from
and to all parts of the body that
is our society.

11. How has Mass Media/Mass Media Technology impacted
culture in a significant way?
• Mass Media/Technology and Multitasking
• Mass Media/Technology and Addiction
• Mass Media/Technology and Social Lives
• Mass Media/Technology and Working Lives
• Mass Media/Technology and the Military
• Mass Media/Technology and PTSD
• Mass Media/Technology and Education (gamification)
• Mass Media/Technology and Virtual/Augmented/Mixed
Reality
POSSIBLE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS

12. How has Mass Media/Mass Media Technology impacted
culture in a significant way?
• Mass Media/Technology and “producing, maintaining,
repairing, and transforming reality”
• Mass Media/Technology and Childhood Heroes
• Mass Media/Technology and Digital Piracy
• Mass Media/Technology and Corporate Dominance
• Mass Media/Technology and Public Trust
• Mass Media/Technology and Censorship
• Mass Media/Technology and Journalism
POSSIBLE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS

13. How has Mass Media/Mass Media Technology impacted
culture in a significant way?
• Mass Media/Technology and Satire
• Mass Media/Technology and Collecting/Obsession
• Mass Media/Technology and Body Image
• Mass Media/Technology and Media Representation
• Mass Media/Technology and The Cultural Importance of
Film
• Mass Media/Technology and Product Placement
• Mass Media/Technology and CGI/Special Effects
• Mass Media/Technology and Musical Cultures
POSSIBLE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS

14. How has Mass Media/Mass Media Technology impacted
culture in a significant way?
• Mass Media/Technology and Fashion
• Mass Media/Technology and Hoaxes/Deep Fake Videos
• Mass Media/Technology and The Cultural Impact of
Television
• Mass Media/Technology and Advertising
• Mass Media/Technology and Subliminal
Messages/Advertising
• Mass Media/Technology and Video Games
• Mass Media/Technology and The Internet Age
• Mass Media/Technology and Mobile/App Culture
POSSIBLE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS

15. •AGAIN - THESE ARE SIMPLY SUGGESTIONS
- PLEASE PICK A TOPIC YOU'RE ALREADY
INTERESTED IN - IF YOU HAVE ANY
QUESTIONS, JUST ASK!
•ALL RELEVANT INFO CAN BE FOUND IN
THE COMM 101 RESEARCH PAPER
CONTENT AREA ON BLACKBOARD
•DUE BY END OF SEMESTER
POSSIBLE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS