Compare an issue of Wired or Mondo 2000 with lifestyle magazines such as Details or Woman's Day. What do they share? Differences?
Look at UNESCO's statistics for radio and television use around the world. What are the prospects for democratization of media technology? Is it probable (or already the case?) that media production tends toward decentralization?
Using altvista's search engine, configure a search of the Usenet news (there's a choice to search Web or Usenet) databases and research a topic (search string) and discuss how these "news" items differ from television and print journalism.
Discuss the use of digital editing techniques to alter photos. Take for example the recent case of Republican John W. Warner's campaign against Mark R. Warner in Virginia (New York Times, A17, Sun., Oct. 13, 1996). What does this foreshadow with respect to the future of news and visual information?
What effect, if any, have new media such as the internet had on the recent election campaign? Is the internet "community" a significant voting constituency? What does it mean to be a community that has no physical place?
Who are the advocates of Virtual Reality and why are they advocating it? Are we really "going to VR," and if so, why?