Black Americans' use of and belief in the credibility of the mass media is no less extensive than that of the general population. In fact, television and radio use by blacks exceeds that of whites and research shows the broadcast media to be particularly important sources of information for blacks on consumer and political affairs. But many…

The basic arrangements and practices of American broadcast audience research and measurement were established during the first decade (1920-29) of the field's existence, and were motivated by commercial and competing institutional concerns within the broader context of evolving forms of imagination and expression. A review of the evidence found in…

William Hard was a creative and prolific writer of popular magazine journalism who used a rich variety of literary styles and techniques to tell his stories. His best work, which appeared in "Everybody's Magazine" from 1907 to 1911, shows characteristics that support the suggestion that Hard be considered among those writers Tom Wolfe…

An examination of the ways in which United States postal policies affected the development of the magazine industry before Congress passed the second-class mail category in 1863 reveals how a medium is shaped at least in part by the technology, policy, and politics of its delivery systems. In the nineteenth century, magazines depended on the mails…

A critical review of literature focusing on some theoretical and methodological issues that have been generally neglected in past studies of the press's role in the making of United States foreign policy reveals that some external and internal factors may limit the capability and initiative of the press in the foreign policy area. These…

Based on research findings that sex stereotyping used for product commercials is offensive and often ineffective, recommendations for change have been proposed to the advertising industry. Women, in particular, have been portrayed in advertising in traditional domestic roles, emphasizing the consumer role, especially in television advertising.…

A relationship exists between attitudes and some behaviors, and learners' attitudes are definitely influenced by mediated instruction. Attitudes can be defined and measured, using systematic processes such as self-reports, reports of others, sociometric procedures, or records. Researchers have examined the relationship between attitude positions…

This monograph examines the impact of media advertising on the poor. The first half of the report discusses research on the conceptual styles of the poor, mass communication among the poor, and advertising and the low-income consumer. The second half describes the methodology and results of a study of the advertising evaluation capacity and…

Pointing out that linear causal models can organize the interrelationships of a large number of variables, this paper contends that such models are particularly useful to mass communication research, which must by necessity deal with complex systems of variables. The paper first outlines briefly the philosophical requirements for establishing a…

The issue of whether judicial orders restricting access to court proceedings should be subject to a procedural hearing, the standing of the media in such hearings, and the role of the media in the entire process are analyzed in this paper. The various sections of the paper deal with the following topics: the procedural plan, proposed to the…

Examines data on what situational factors influence people's desire to view violent television programming. Surveys research on the effects on viewer's behavior of the presence of other observers, the nature of the available target, situational features operating as retrieval cues, the viewers' interpretations of the violent scenes, and the…

Discusses implications of the contextualism of William McGuire for media-effects research and for the answers media-effects researchers give to questions of social concern. Argues that mass communication research long has contained latent contextualist orientations. (MS)

Reviews recent research on aspects of mass media that use a sociolinguistic framework. Argues that linguistic strategies used by media personae to foster the appearance of neutrality as well as aspects of attribution are rich areas for sociolinguistic investigation. (SD)

This report was prepared at the request of the Kaiser Family Foundation to examine the methodological options for investigating the effects of sexual content in the media on children and adolescents. To discuss the issues and prepare the report, a forum of 20 scholars with expertise in sexuality, sexual development, media analysis, and media…

Discussion of the relationship between education and broadcasting in the United States focuses on a historical review of periodical literature published between 1919 and 1924 relating to the educational use of radio, and literature published between 1937 and 1974 relating to the educational use of television. (35 references) (LRW)