COMM 186
Media, Ethics, and Digital Age: Case-Study Approach
Description: Lecture, three hours. To publish or not to publish? Study addresses questions of media ethics--and ethics more broadly--using case-study method to debate pressing issues from actual newsrooms. Students participate in Socratic discussion of fairness, bias, and personal and societal implications of printed, broadcast, and digitized word. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - This is one of the most engaging classes I'eve ever taken at UCLA. Stylized a little like one of those law school seminars you see on TV, Professor Goldman cold calls one her students to answer questions (if class participation is terrifying for you, this probably isn't the class) and draws members of the class into discussion. I think the real strength of this class is that there are no right answers: Goldman draws in the nuance of each individual case by allowing and encouraging people to argue both sides, without prejudicing the conversation on her own opinion. Her tests ask you to argue both sides of a fictional case, meaning that you need to be well versed in the key principles but do not need specific memorization to succeed in the class. The reading was required but not massively arduous – think 15-20 page case summaries each week. I would thoroughly recommend this class!
Spring 2025 - This is one of the most engaging classes I'eve ever taken at UCLA. Stylized a little like one of those law school seminars you see on TV, Professor Goldman cold calls one her students to answer questions (if class participation is terrifying for you, this probably isn't the class) and draws members of the class into discussion. I think the real strength of this class is that there are no right answers: Goldman draws in the nuance of each individual case by allowing and encouraging people to argue both sides, without prejudicing the conversation on her own opinion. Her tests ask you to argue both sides of a fictional case, meaning that you need to be well versed in the key principles but do not need specific memorization to succeed in the class. The reading was required but not massively arduous – think 15-20 page case summaries each week. I would thoroughly recommend this class!
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - He took over for Professor Goldman this spring, and no shade to him, but those were some big shoes to fill. If I hadn't had her for the first couple weeks of class, I think I would've loved him. I did like him, though, and I enjoyed the class. Whereas Professor Goldman liked to bounce from person to person, asking for an opinion and then asking for the opposite opinion in an unrelenting but strangely exciting way, Professor Newton was more laid-back. Each lecture, we'd discuss the topic at hand in terms of hypotheticals (i.e. What if it had been your sister who was kidnapped? What if this scandal had happened to the president instead of Hulk Hogan? What if we had 4 hands and 100 fingers? Just kidding on that last one). These hypotheticals were fun to discuss, but when it came time for the exams, it would be more helpful to know only the facts and the implications of those facts rather than opinions about hypotheticals. Of course, all of this is based on him not being the original teacher for the class. I'm sure hypotheticals do help a lot for his own exams. Overall, it was a fun time. Just be thorough in your answers for the exams, and take copious notes. He offered the exams online through Canvas, so that helped!
Spring 2023 - He took over for Professor Goldman this spring, and no shade to him, but those were some big shoes to fill. If I hadn't had her for the first couple weeks of class, I think I would've loved him. I did like him, though, and I enjoyed the class. Whereas Professor Goldman liked to bounce from person to person, asking for an opinion and then asking for the opposite opinion in an unrelenting but strangely exciting way, Professor Newton was more laid-back. Each lecture, we'd discuss the topic at hand in terms of hypotheticals (i.e. What if it had been your sister who was kidnapped? What if this scandal had happened to the president instead of Hulk Hogan? What if we had 4 hands and 100 fingers? Just kidding on that last one). These hypotheticals were fun to discuss, but when it came time for the exams, it would be more helpful to know only the facts and the implications of those facts rather than opinions about hypotheticals. Of course, all of this is based on him not being the original teacher for the class. I'm sure hypotheticals do help a lot for his own exams. Overall, it was a fun time. Just be thorough in your answers for the exams, and take copious notes. He offered the exams online through Canvas, so that helped!
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