Reference no: EM13973425

In MISS REPRESENTATION, writer/director Jennifer Siebel Newsom claims that the media are to blame for women's lack of power in American society. David Gauntlett's article "Ten Things Wrong with the Media 'Effects' Model" makes an argument against the notion that media have such definitively strong effects on people's thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

Drawing closely on Newson's film and Gauntlett's article, your task is to stage a conversation between Gauntlett and Newsom. You can frame this as an interview, where you are the interviewer, a dinner conversation between the two, a play, a talk show, or whatever gets the two talking. The goal is that you a) establish what each one is arguing and b) reveal the ways in which their claims are at odds with each other.

What would Gauntlett have to say about the claims Newson's film makes? What might Newsom say to Gauntlett about media effects in relation to women?

Be sure to include quotes from the article and references from the film.

For an extra challenge, you may wish to add a third conversant--Mark Fowler, former chair of the FCC, who famously argued that televisions are just another electronic device and do not need regulation. What might he have to say about Newsom's claims about the effects of media images on women's power? Would he agree with Gauntlett? Where might they differ? (You might wish to return to the Crouteau and Hoynes article for support here).