The role of the Times Higher Education Supplement in creating a sense of "community" within the higher education profession is discussed. This weekly publication is viewed as instrumental in bringing higher education issues to the forefront of the national news. (BH)

A content analysis of major German television news shows and 53 weekly surveys on 16 issues were used to compare linear and nonlinear models as ways to describe the relationship between media coverage and the public agenda. Results indicate that nonlinear models are in some cases superior to linear models in terms of explained variance. (34…

A computerized search was conducted of U.S. newspaper coverage of gifted education, and results were analyzed in terms of geographic location, major topic areas, and topic categories crossed with geographic location. The 62 articles were classified as addressing schools, enrollment/minorities, screening, funding, attitudes, curriculum content,…

Examines news coverage of the Soviet attack on KAL 007 (Korean Airlines Flight 007) that establishes and legitimizes Russia's viewpoint. Analyzes the twin processes of selection and structuring giving the text coherence. Notes that such cultural analysis challenges scholars to explore how the synchronization of government and media viewpoints…

Notes that relationships between the media and the presidency have been written about extensively, yet some conclusions have been misapplied and overvalued, while other potential conclusions have been overlooked or denied. Presents 10 propositions providing corrective hypotheses and new focus for presidential communication researchers. (SKC)

An attorney for the plaintiffs in the "Smith vs. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County, Alabama" case recounts his impressions of the trial, focusing on the nature of the press coverage. (NKA)

Examines the John F. Kennedy legend and his ability as an image maker. Characterizes Kennedy's presidency in terms of pragmatic idealism. Says Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson closed out the New and Fair Deal reforms but left no social or economic transformation. Claims Kennedy's disavowal of ideological rigidity ended the power of the Democratic…

Describes early court cases and decisions that influenced the struggle to end desegregation in higher education and analyzes the reaction in the Black press to the breakthroughs accomplished in those cases. Credits the press with correctly interpreting events that led to integrated graduate and professional education. (Author/MJL)

Presents two lesson plans to help students understand how news managers exercise judgment, how the media shapes public perception of people, places, and things, and how to recognize the importance of balanced news coverage. Each lesson includes objectives, a scenario, discussion questions, activities, and an evaluation. (LS)

Asks secondary students to compare the real Scopes trial to the fictionalized version presented in the movie "Inherit the Wind," with their textbook and Web site versions. Intends for students to learn about key facts, arguments, and outcomes of the trial and to understand significant individuals' impacts on the trial's events and…

The ability of the "Amsterdam News" to mold public opinion out of all proportion to its size is replicated by black newspapers all over the country. This discussion of major black newspapers, namely weeklies, shows how they are an important outlet for black urban communities. (SLD)

Examines discourses of childhood from press reports, parliamentary debates, and government-sponsored reports concerning the Travelling People, an indigenous ethnic minority in Ireland. Found that discourses are located within a changing Irish political economic and shifting Traveller-related policy. A case study reveals how discourses of childhood…

Presents a thoughtful and balanced analysis of the effects of public opinion polling on elections and the political power structure. Generally refutes the revisionist criticism that polling acts as a preemptive strike curtailing political expression in favor of the power elite. Considers issues related to the tyranny of the majority. (MJP)

Much has been written about the power of media to influence the public through instruments of advertising and a variety of venues (Considine & Haley, 1999; Cortes, 2000; Kilbourne, 1999). In this chapter, the author has chosen to use a singular media focus--news--to support the critical importance of teaching media literacy skills to students. She…

The mass media teach whether or not mediamakers intend to or realize it, and users learn from the media whether or not they try or are even aware of it. This means all of the media, including newspapers, magazines, movies, television, radio, and the new cyberspace media serve as informal yet omnipresent nonschool textbooks. This raises an…