Journalism 570ab
SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM
USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION
JOUR 589 Specialized Reporting: The Changing U.S. Population (3 units)
Schedule/Syllabus Spring 2011
Day/Time: Wednesday, 10 am -12:40 p.m.
Classroom: ASC 328
Instructor: Roberto Suro, Professor
Telephone: 213-821-6263
E-mail: suro@usc.edu
Office: ASC 332C
Office Hours: Wednesday, 2:30 to 4:30 pm and by appointment
Course Description:
Immigration and other forms of population change are transforming communities across the nation and across the world. The effects can be seen in schools and in the labor force, in religion, popular culture and in the streets. Demographic transformation is one of the defining characteristics of our age. Our notions of nationhood, citizenship, family and community are all in flux as a result. That much is guaranteed, and yet demographic change can be difficult to depict in news stories and to account for in public policies. It is the cumulative effect of many individual events—births, deaths, families moving from one place to another—that are often unremarkable when seen one at a time. It usually happens slowly and without the kind of set-piece events—news conferences, trials, elections—that easily generate coverage. Yet when it gathers momentum, it becomes of vital interest to audiences. Journalists are not alone in facing this challenge because understanding population change is becoming an essential skill in an increasing variety of professions. This is a great historical event, a great news story and policy challenge, unfolding day by day, bit by bit before our eyes.
This course will teach the basic tools and techniques of demography so that students can utilize a variety of population statistics to produce their own tabulations and also intelligently question specialists who manipulate complex data. It will examine important depictions of population change in journalism, policy analysis and the social science literature so that students emerge with a thorough understanding of the demographic transformations taking place in the U.S. and around the world today, their causes and effects. As a course in specialized journalism, the objective is to provide students with the knowledge and skills to produce ground-breaking work on immigration and other forms of population change and to enhance coverage of the many other kinds of stories that are now influenced by population dynamics.
Though numbers are important, population change involves much more than statistics. By moving from one country to another, by deciding to have children or not, individuals with little money and no political power can change history, and so it is an intimate human story. It also involves broad social processes. Immigration is both a catalyst and a byproduct of economic, political, cultural and environmental developments on a global basis. Finally, population change has concrete consequences for citizens and governments. The current debates over immigration law in the U.S. and in Europe are only the most obvious examples of the impact on a broad range of public policy issues. This course will examine population change across all these dimensions: as an empirical phenomenon, as an individual matter, as a social process and as a matter of public policy. Moreover, the course will assess the role of the news media as a social and political actor in regard to immigration. Journalistic depictions of immigration have a direct influence on the ways that newcomers and a host society view each other, offering a vivid opportunity to study the news media’s effects on public opinion.
The course will be a combination of lecture and seminar. The instructor will provide direction, but the students will be constantly engaged in developing course materials, leading discussions and critiquing each others’ work.
Readings will range across journalism, policy studies, the social science literature and literary non-fiction. The course work will challenge students to engage and analyze the world that is changing around them. Los Angeles will serve as our laboratory. This syllabus is structured around several elements that will be carried forward throughout the semester.
• The development of basic skills in the use of population statistics: Students will gain familiarity with the most important products of the U.S. Census Bureau and other major sources of data on demographic change and will learn to use such data in their own writing.
• An examination of the population dynamics at work in the U.S. today, including aging, life expectancy, fertility and internal migration but with a heavy emphasis on international migration: This will involve readings in some of the essential and most accessible social science literature to develop knowledge of the demographic trends that have shaped the U.S. populations and to acquire analytical frameworks for assessing those trends.
• A reflection on news media portrayals of immigration: The class will conduct critical analyses of numerous examples of news coverage in order to understand how journalistic narratives help shape public perceptions.
• Developing policy analysis skills: The class will examine several of the most important contemporary controversies over immigration policy in the United States and Europe with the objective of developing analytical skills.
Course Requirements:
The course will combine a variety of class formats as necessary: lectures by the instructor, presentations by individual students, in-class work by students in teams and group presentations as well as seminar discussions. As such, full attendance at all class sessions and active participation are essential to fulfillment of the course requirements. Any anticipated absences should be cleared with the instructor in advance. Punctuality is essential. Tardiness and unexcused absences will count against the class participation grade.
This course can only meets its goals if all students contribute to class sessions attentively and energetically. The students and the instructor can learn from each other only if the classroom conversation is continuous, respectful and concentrated. In addition students will be making both individual and group presentations on a regular basis. All written work for this course will be shared with the entire class electronically and will be discussed in class.
Readings are listed in the week-by-week class descriptions. Each class session will be comprised of several modules that will include lectures and discussions led by the instructor as well as student presentations and student-led discussions. Rather than a single, large, final individual project, the student work in this course will be comprised of a continuous stream of smaller assignments that will be discussed and evaluated in the classroom. Students will have the opportunity to revise all assignments after they have been presented in class. Written assignments and presentations are as follows. Further details on the assignments and the delivery schedule will be provided by the instructor.
• Media Portrayals: The class will maintain a group blog--“Covering Immigration”--that will collect and examine journalism about international migration. The overall objective is to probe the ways that media coverage shapes public perceptions. Each student will be responsible for originating three posts per semester and commenting three times. Posts should be at least 150 words and should include observations about the quality of the reporting, the form of the piece and its portrayal of the subject matter. Each student will be called on to discuss a recent post and lead a 15 minute discussion during class once a semester.
• Demographic Trends: There will be a sequence of three inter-related assignments focusing on the impact of demographic change in Los Angeles,
o Written assignment—Los Angeles in Flux: Apply at least two of the major demographic trends identified in the Brookings Institution’s “State of Metropolitan America” report to Los Angeles and assess the implications. (1,000 to 2,000) words.
o Team Presentation—Community Profile: Operating in teams of three, students will prepare a demographic profile of a community in the Los Angeles area to be selected in consultation with the instructor. The profile will include designated census information as well as reporting gathered on site, and it will reflect analytically on major demographic trends highlighted in the course work. The profiles will be presented to the class and will form the subject of a class discussion.
o Written Assignment—Community Responses: A portrait of a community leader or not-for-profit organization that is engaged with some aspect of demographic change in one of the three communities profiled. The subject could be an elected official, an immigrant home-town association, an advocacy group or a school parents association. The objective is to examine how demographic change produces policy challenges and how a community responds. (1,500 to 3,000) words
• Immigration Policy: Each student will create a resource page on the class website regarding an aspect of immigration policy to be assigned by the instructor. The page will aggregate news stories, policy studies, statements by policy makers and advocates etc. Students will also prepare a short (750 word) policy brief on the issue and then lead a class discussion on it. The written assignment can take the form of op-ed piece or a memorandum. Regardless of the form it should briefly summarize current US policies, describe the major proposals currently under discussion, portray at least two points of view on the issue and offer recommendations.
• Reading Social Science: Each student will lead a class discussion on a work of empirical research assigned by the instructor which is related to the major theme of a week’s class. In advance the student will prepare briefing notes for the class that summarize the conclusions, present at least three of the major findings, describe the methodology and make an analytic statement about how it relates to the course material.
• Written assignment—Between Here and There: Using Andrew Lam’s “Perfume Dreams” as a point of departure students will write an essay reflecting on the interplay of transnationalism and assimilation. (1,000 to 2,000) words.
Grading:
|Class participation |10 |
|Media blog |15 |
|Empirical paper presentation |10 |
|Resource page |10 |
|Community profile |10 |
|LA in Flux |10 |
|Community Responses |20 |
|Between Here and There |15 |
Course Readings:
(Several works written by the instructor will be assigned. Students are expected to approach them as critically as any other readings. Also, students will be expected to suggest readings )
Required
--Alden, Edward, et al, U.S. Immigration Policy. New York. Council on Foreign Relations. 2009
--Berube et al. State of Metropolitan America: On the Front lines of Demographic Transformaton. Washington, DC. Brookings Institution. 2010
--Castles, Stephen and Mark J. Miller. The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World. New York. Guilford Press, 4th edition. 2009
.--Lam, Andrew. Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora. Berkeley: Heyday, 2005.
--Instructor will provide copies of the Council on Foreign Relations and Brookings Institution books. In addition instructor will provide either URL’s or digital copies for articles and excerpts marked with an asterisk (*) in the weekly readings below.
Supplementary
--Bodnar, John. The Transplanted: A History of Immigrants in Urban America. Bloomington: Indiana U P, 1985.
--Chang, Iris. The Chinese in America: A Narrative History. New York: Penguin, 2003
--Higham, John. Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925. New Brunswick: Rutgers U P, 2002.
--Huntington, Samuel P., Who Are We: The Challenges to America’s National Identity. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
--Klein, Herbert S. A Population History of the United States. New York, Cambridge U. P. 2004
--Myers, Dowell. Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America. New York: Russell Sage, 2007.
--Portes, Alejandro, and Ruben G. Rumbaut. Immigrant America: A Portrait. Berkeley: U of California P, 3rd edition, 2006
--Simon, Rita J., and Susan H. Alexander. The Ambivalent Welcome: Print Media, Public Opinion and Immigration. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1993
--Suro, Roberto. Strangers among US: Latino Lives in a Changing America. New York: Vintage, 1998.
--Tienda, Marta and Faith Mitchell (eds.). Hispanics and the Future of America. Washington: The National Academies P, 2006
--Waldinger, Roger and Mehdi Bozorghmer, eds. Ethnic Los Angeles New York: Russell Sage, 1996.
School of Journalism Policy on Plagiarism/Academic Integrity:
Plagiarism is defined as taking ideas or writings from another and passing them off as one’s own; in journalism, this includes appropriating the reporting of another without clear attribution. The following is the Annenberg School of Journalism’s policy on academic integrity as published in the University catalogue: “Since its founding, the USC School of Journalism has maintained a commitment to the highest standards of ethical conduct and academic excellence. Any student found guilty of plagiarism, fabrication, cheating on examinations, or purchasing papers or other assignments will receive a failing grade in the course and will be dismissed as a major from the School of Journalism. There are no exceptions to the school’s policy.”
Statement for Students with Disabilities:
Any students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability are requested to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP when adequate documentation is filed. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. The DSP office is located in Student Union room 301 and the phone number is (213) 740-0776.
Internships:
The value of professional internships as part of the overall educational experience of our students has long been recognized by the School of Journalism. Accordingly, while internships are not required for successful completion of this course, any student enrolled in this course who undertakes and completes an approved, non-paid internship during this semester shall earn academic extra credit herein of an amount equal to one percent of the total available semester points for this course.
Instructor Bio:
Roberto Suro holds a joint appointment as a professor in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the School of Policy, Planning and Development at the University of Southern California. He is also managing director of the Annenberg Innovation Lab at USC, an interdisciplinary venue for experimentation and research on the digital media revolution and its impact on society.
Suro has nearly 35 years experience in the immigration field as a journalist, author and researcher. His specialties are the Hispanic population, U.S. immigration policy and the dynamics of U.S. popular opinion regarding immigration.
Prior to joining the USC faculty in August 2007, he was director of the Pew Hispanic Center, a research organization in Washington D.C. which he founded in 2001, and in 2004 he was part of the management team that launched the Pew Research Center. Suro supervised the production of more than 100 publications that offered non-partisan statistical analysis and public opinion surveys chronicling the rapid growth of the Latino population and its implications for the nation as a whole. Under his leadership, the Center also organized numerous research and policy conferences with a variety of collaborators including the Inter-American Development Bank, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Suro’s journalistic career began in 1974 at the City News Bureau of Chicago as a police reporter, and after tours at the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune he joined TIME Magazine, where he worked as a correspondent in the Chicago, Washington, Beirut and Rome bureaus. In 1985 he started at The New York Times with postings as bureau chief in Rome and Houston. After a year as an Alicia Patterson Fellow, Suro was hired at The Washington Post as a staff writer on the national desk, eventually covering a variety of beats including the Justice Department and the Pentagon and serving as deputy national editor.
Suro is author of Strangers Among Us: Latino Lives in a Changing America, (Vintage, 1999), Watching America’s Door: The Immigration Backlash and the New Policy Debate, (Twentieth Century Fund, 1996), Remembering the American Dream: Hispanic Immigration and National Policy, (Twentieth Century Fund, 1994) as well as more two dozen book chapters, reports and other publications related to Latinos and immigration. He continues to conduct research and write on the Hispanic population through grant-funded projects and as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution.
Schedule:
All discussion topics, readings and assignments are subject to revision and rescheduling. This is an ambitious work agenda. We will need to remain flexible in order to pursue interests as they arise and to ensure important material is covered appropriately.
Jan 12: Introductions and expectations.
Course overview. What is demographic change and why it matters. Introduction to American Fact Finder and a review of the major statistical products published by the U.S. Census Bureau, their strengths and weaknesses and how they are accessible.
Jan 19: Getting to 309—The dynamics of US population growth
This class will provide an overview of the major trends that have made the US population what it is today and begin our discussion of current trends.
Reading for this class:
--Klein: Population History, chapters 6 & 7, PP 174-238 *
--State of Metropolitan America, PP: 1-50*
--balance of the report should be read in preparation for LA in Flux assignment
--Population Reference Bureau: Population Bulletin Update—Immigration in America 2010
Review for future reference:
--Population Reference Bureau: Population Handbook
--CQ Researcher: Census Controversy*
Jan 26: People on the move: An introduction to migration
What kinds of people migrate and why? We’ll examine some of the major determinants of migration and its consequences. The class will also briefly review the history of immigration to the United States and the contemporary global context.
Reading for this class:
--Age of Migration—Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
--Pew Hispanic Center: A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States
--Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns, Chapter 4*
Feb 2: Managing Human Flows: An introduction to immigration policy
During this class we will develop an overview of the broad range of government policies that aim to control immigration. We will also begin our discussion of media coverage and public opinion.
Reading for this class:
--Hollifield, James F. “American Immigration Policy and Politics: An Enduring Controversy.”
--Age of Migration—Chapters: 8 and 9
--Congressional Budget Office: Immigration Policy in the United States—An Update 2010
--Zolberg, Aristide, R. A Nation by Design: Immigration Policy in the Fashioning of America, Chapter 1*
Feb 9: Demographic Change in the Global Context
Population increases and population declines are important long term factors for increasing number of national economies, and such is becoming a factor in foreign relations. In this class we will examine of the big global trends in population change and their policy implications.
Reading for this class:
--Age of Migration—Chapters: 6 and 7
--Goldstone, Jack. “The New Population Bomb: The Four Megatrends That Will Change the World.”
--Eberstadt, Nicholas. “The Demographic Future: What Population Growth—and Decline—Means for the Global Economy.”
--Population Reference Bureau: The Global Demographic Divide
——Due date: Feb 11—Los Angeles in Flux
Feb 16: Demographic Change in the Metropolitan Context
In this class we’ll take our analysis of demographic change to the local level, examining the major trends shaping the future of Los Angeles and other metropolitan areas in the US. Student papers will be discussed.
Reading for this class:
--State of Metropolitan America, whole report*
--Wadsworth, Tim. “Is Immigration Responsible for the Crime Drop?”*
--Portes, Alejandro and Steven Shafer. “Revisiting the Enclave Hypothesis: Miami Twenty Five Years Later.”
--Suro, Roberto. “Blacks and Latinos in the US: Still an Evolving Relationship”
Feb 23: The Economic Impact of Immigration
Do immigrants take jobs or make jobs? How does a government regulate immigration to maximize its beneficial economic effects? These have been at the center of the policy debate and have remained unresolved for decades and are among the most difficult for a journalist to tackle. During this class session we will also together on the community profiles assignment.
Reading for this class:
--Economic Report to the President, Immigration, 2007 *
--Age of Migration: Chapter 10
--Additional readings TBD
——Due date: Feb 28—Community Profiles
March 2: The Great Recession
Immigration flows to the United States and many other countries dropped sharply during the recession. During this class we’ll examine the available evidence on the impact and what it tells us about the nature of immigration at a global, national and local level. Also, the three teams will present reports on their community profiles.
Reading for this class:
--Migration Policy Institute and the BBC, “Migration and Immigrants Two Years After the Financial Collapse: Where Do We Stand?”
March 9: Assimilation
How does living in a new land change migrants and their children? This is one of the most difficult topics to write about as a journalist and yet it is one of the most important. We’ll look to the social sciences for help where the concept of assimilation has been a matter of discussion, debate and disagreement for decades. We’ll examine several different formulations and assess their merits. Family structure will serve as a case study, illustrating the degree to which migrants do or do not adopt the trends in family formation evident in a host society.
Reading for this class:
--Alba and Nee, Assimilation *
--Suro: The Hispanic Family in Flux *
---Bean and Stevens: Intermarriage patterns *
--Portes and Rumbaut: “Immigrant America” Chapter 8*
March 23: Transnationalism
Technology has shrunk time and space in ways that allow migrants to maintain ties to their countries of origin as never before. The quick trip to see mother, a daily phone call, managing businesses in two countries, sending money back to relatives every week, these are all common features of migrant life in a globalized world. So, how do we assess these activites and their impacts? Transnationalism is not a new idea, but it has gained new importance in the depiction of immigrant identities and the relationships created between communities of origin and of destination.
Reading for this class:
--Morawaska: Transnationalism *
--Portes: Transnationalism *
--Suro: Remittance Senders and Receivers *
——Due date: March 28—Between Here and There
March 30: Diasporas and Development
Walk the street of any immigrant neighborhood in an American city and you will see dozens of nodes connecting that community to the residents’ countries of origin. Transnational businesses, places of worship, and hometown associations can all form part of a feedback loop that is a powerful presence on both ends of the migration channel. In this class we’ll begin to explore those interconnections by way of a growing policy literature than assess immigration’s economic impact on sending communities.
Reading for this class:
--Newland, Kathleen, Diasporas: New Partners in Global Development Policy*
April 6: National Identity and Culture Clash
Throughout history and across the globe immigration has often generated friction with the host society. And, it is through responses to the immigration that those societies have sometime defined themselves. After an historical overview of American responses to immigration, we’ll examine some of the major trends in the United States and Western Europe which have both entered into eras of restriction.
Reading for this class:
--Higham, John. Strangers in the Land. Chapter 1*
--Bourne, Randolph : Trans-national America *
--Roosevelt, Theodore: No hyphenated Americans *
April 13: US Immigration Policy since 2004
Picking up from President Bush’s East Room speech on immigration January 7, 2004 we’ll examine the current debate over immigration policy and the state of public opinion on the issues.
Reading for this class:
Alden et al, Council on Foreign Relations task force report on US Immigration Policy *
Suro: US Public Opinion on Immigration *
April 20: The Integration Agenda
In recent years there has been increasing focus on the idea of a policy agenda that goes beyond controls and actively seeks to promote the incorporation of immigrants into a host society. We’ll examine developments in the United States, where local governments and community agencies have taken the lead, and Western Europe, where there are important examples of national policies.
Reading for this class
--Pastor and Ruiz: Immigrant Integration in Los Angeles *
--Collett: EU Integration Policy
——Due date: April 25- Community Responses
April 27: Workshop and wrapup
Student will discuss their community response papers and exchange editorial suggestions. These discussions and instructor’s comments are meant to form the basis for a revised draft.
May 3: Submission of revised papers
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