A telephone survey of 10 Minnesota communities was conducted to examine media use. The results indicated a pattern of metropolitan dominance throughout the suburbs and general dominance of metropolitan media for nonlocal news. Dominance of the two Minneapolis daily newspapers was reflected in their circulation, followed by the two St. Paul…

Twenty-six American Newspaper Publishers Association research reports published since 1978 are reviewed in this paper. The paper analyzes each of the reports in order to provide an overview of what their findings really say and what newspapers can do in their own market areas to use the findings to improve their product. Among the topics covered…

This report provides a review of literature exploring accuracy in newspaper stories. The findings discussed do not reveal definite reasons for inaccuracy, but several possible error sources are delineated: amount of reporter involvement, type of news, psychological factors (stress, news reporters' fantasies, open/closed-mindedness, tendency to…

The two sections of this report focus on recent research in the newspaper industry. The first section describes changes implemented in the design and layout of a Minnesota daily newspaper and the methodology and results of two surveys of readers' favorable reactions to the changes. The second section is designed to familiarize newspaper people…

Two unrelated studies investigated issues in newspaper journalism. The first, a replication of an earlier study, examined whether the priority given by newspapers to reporting local news was warranted. Respondents in three areas of the country were asked to rate their interest in various types of news on a five-point scale. Results indicated that…

A study of news refraction was conducted to determine how well the press has functioned in popularizing scientific views and findings on a subject with direct implications for a controversial social issue. In reporting the marijuana question, the press produced a certain amount of refraction or news-slanting. For example, science articles…

To provide a deeper look into the American political system that so intrigued the visiting French statesman Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831 and 1832, this monograph focuses on the role of the press in American politics in the the age of Jackson, the 1820s and early 1830s--a period of dramatic and substantive political party growth. In particular,…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: establishing newspapers in the Washington Territory; the business history of the antebellum Wisconsin newspaper, 1833-1860; the idea of news in a culturally plural society; the…

In a 1978 followup to a 1977 survey of Louisiana legislators' perceptions about news media coverage of the annual legislative session, the legislators ranked the four major news media (daily/weekly newspapers, television, and radio) in terms of ten coverage factors. These factors included alertness, completeness, fairness, accuracy, interest,…

The first article in this research report draws upon material presented at four American Newspaper Publishers Association-Bureau of the Census workshops. The report describes how the 1980 United States Census data can be applied by newspapers to localize national trends, to serve as a background for local news stories, to monitor changes in the…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 11 titles deal with the following topics: (1) newspaper competition in Phoenix, Arizona, since 1947; (2) American journalism and China from 1945 to 1950; (3) the potential of newspapers as aids in establishing societal change and…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 10 titles deal with the following topics: (1) press bias in Northern Ireland; (2) the nature of news media selection; (3) the agenda-setting function of the press; (4) a training program for newsroom supervisors using video taped…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 30 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the Nigerian press under military rule; (2) the agrarian myth in eighteenth and nineteenth century United States magazines; (3) editorial opinion on education…

To explain how and why the Portuguese mass media constitute a frustrated Fourth Estate, this monograph summarizes the history and development of Portuguese media. The first section summarized the history of media legislation that has confronted Portuguese journalists and stunted the development of journalistic tradition. The second section…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: electronic newspapers; the influence of local information on daily newspaper household penetration; source credibility; a taxonomy of editorial content for internal publications; the…