Press Releases Spring 2005

CONTACT: Cathy Summa, Director, Marketing & Communications
(831) 479-6158
casumma [at] cabrillo.edu

January 4, 2005

New Journalism Class at Watsonville Center to Put Media Under the Microscope

APTOS, CA -In an effort to enlarge the array of offerings in its Watsonville Center, Cabrillo College has scheduled a journalism class, Mass Communications, to be held there starting Feb. 8.

The three-unit, Journalism 21 class will cover the history of newspapers, magazines, books, film, television, radio, recordings, and the Internet, and analyze their effects on society.

The class will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 11:10 a.m. to 12:40 in room 4540 at the Cabrillo College Watsonville Center, 318 Union St. Andre Neu, a former reporter for the Watsonville Register Pajaronian and instructor in the journalism department since 1984, will teach the course.

"We already offer two Mass Communications classes, one at the Aptos campus and one online, and they both quickly fill to capacity," Neu said. "Establishing a Mass Communications class in Watsonville makes this popular investigation of the media conveniently available to another area in the county."

Neu said that the media's role in contemporary culture is increasingly under examination because of their power to affect people's perception of reality, from the decision to invade Iraq to the election of political leaders to the trivial affairs of celebrities.

"How the media work and what they try to do is of immense importance to us," Neu said. "We base most of our thoughts and actions on information derived from the media. We have a responsibility to watch what they do, just as they are obligated to observe our activities. We affect each other."

Registration for the spring semester at Cabrillo is now underway through HawkTalk at 831-477-5678 or online. Applications for admission are available at the Watsonville Center and the Aptos campus and online.

Neu may be reached at 831-479-6360.

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