The topic of agenda setting has been one of the most researched fields in mass communication since its introduction in 1972. M. E. McCombs and D. L. Shaw (1972) began a research collection of over 200 projects by upholding the hypothesis that the media cannot tell viewers what to think but it can tell them what to think about. The question arises…

This report claims that an attack has been waged on environmental education to derail the re-authorization of the National Environmental Education Act and to de-stabilize and de-fund environmental education in the United States. Presented in the media as a grassroots movement, stories have appeared in local, state, and national media that…

Focusing on the cognitive consequences of the present-day media environment and on the possible implications for cognitive assessment of these consequences, the information environment is discussed concerning the nature of its symbol system and electronic media. Also discussed are the information processing demands of television, the media and…

Newly discovered transcriptions of 87 of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's women-only press conferences held from 1933 to 1945 make possible an examination of the objectives, topics, and value of these conferences. By holding the conferences, Mrs. Roosevelt attributed to women an important function in the political communication process, and at the…

Today the majority of the United States work force is employed in the production, processing, and dissemination of information. However, the situation with regard to videotex, the medium that served as the basis for predicting an information society, is far from settled. The statistics concerning videotex are impressive, the technology…

To address the challenges to education posed by the new information technologies, participants from 41 states--publishers, administrators, teachers, subject specialists, and leaders from the field of educational computing--gathered to share ideas and visions. This report of the conference proceedings includes introductory comments by John Roach of…

An examination of the changes in press laws after India gained its independence in 1947 shows how a free press is shaped mostly by the structure and evolution of the democratic society that it is intended to serve. The most salient features that have characterized the Indian press, from the early nineteenth century to the present day, are…

A review of computer assisted instruction research and recent meta-analytical reports suggests that all research on the learning benefits of the instructional uses of computers should be halted until there is a plausible reason to expect that computers are instrumental in learning, since all existing evidence indicates that computers do not yield…

Crucial, technologically oriented issues currently facing educators are addressed in the following 11 articles: (1) "The Definition of Educational Technology: An Emerging Stability," by Donald P. Ely; (2) "Media Applications to Instruction: Current Theoretical Considerations," by Gerald M. Torkelson; (3) "The Dilemma of…

Beginning with an analysis of conceptions of time with a particular emphasis on examining quantitative time use research literature for its manifestations of personal and social values, this paper proceeds with an overview of the literature on time use and the issues involved in its measurement. The central questions in this paper dwell on the…

This empirical review of the relationship between Swedish youth and music begins with a brief overview of the place of music as a communications medium in Swedish society in general, and among Swedish youth in particular. An analysis of the findings of a large-scale, longitudinal study of media use by Swedish adolescents, the Media Panel study, is…

Relationships between media format, sensory channel, and cognitive information processing are not straightforward. Media format does not determine information processing and storage except when a deliberate attempt is made to model cognitive processes by manipulating the medium. Sensory channel only affects processing and learning for relatively…

Arguing that the motion picture industry policies affecting audiences must be developed in terms of behavioral implications, this paper reviews the literature related to the Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) film rating system to ascertain the degree to which the system has met its purposes. The first section of the paper offers a…

A comparative study of two types of media, a newspaper and a museum, reveals substantive differences in the ways each of these communications organizations alters the information which it presents to the public. Interviews conducted with spokespeople from the Washington Post and the Smithsonian Institution focused on three major theories of…

Describes a study of plagiarism policies in journalism schools and newsrooms. Concludes that instructors felt educating students about plagiarism was one of the most important services journalism schools offer, but editors felt that plagiarism standards must be set in the real world of the newsroom. (HTH)