Contends that the trouble with communication research is fragmentation and too much low-quality and very little high-quality work. (PD)

Daniel Linz and Edward Donnerstein criticize the research methods and conclusions of pornography researchers Dolf Zillmann and Jennings Bryant (who allege that consumption of pornography results in antisocial effects). Zillman and Bryant respond. (ARH)

Considers Canadian contributions to the philosophical basis of educational technology which have helped shape the model shifts now occurring in the field. Four individuals are highlighted: Harold Innis and his work on media; Marshall McLuhan, who built on Innis' work; Ursula Franklin and her philosophical analysis of technology; and Arthur Kroker.…

More and more, advertising revenue, not circulation or concern for the underdog, seems to be determining the content of American newspapers. As Americans moved to the suburbs, suburban newspapers sprang up, taking readers and advertising revenue away from metropolitan dailies. "Counterattacks" by metropolitan papers such as zoned…

Panelists, discussants, and speakers at the 20 sessions of this three-day conference on telecommunications policy research are listed under the appropriate sessions in this conference program, as well luncheon and dinner speakers. Topics addressed by the various sessions include: federal regulatory policies and technical change in…

Arguing that the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision abolishing the Fairness Doctrine rested on unquestionable and untestable ideological assumptions, this paper asserts that the FCC has pursued broadcast deregulation with inadequate consideration of either social scientists' knowledge about the news media and their audiences, and…

Defines the "critical" approach to communications study. Assesses leading recent works in critical and institutional theory, emphasizing books available in English. Claims that scholars in mass communications must periodically address the questions raised in these publications to keep abreast and take full advantage of the critical…

Presents a brief overview of the history of recorded music, focusing on the dynamics between production and consumption. (JD)

Compares interpretive media research with traditional media research. Suggests that interpretivism's distinctiveness from earlier work is not always entirely clear and that, through an analysis of the challenges that interpretivism poses to preceding traditions, these challenges may be illusory. (MG)

Responds to six articles in the same issue on images in retrospect. Deals collectively rather than individually with ideas that underlie the work of the respective authors and attempts to provide a critical interpretation guided by the maxim "always historicize!" (SR)

An introduction to a symposium on interactive video, this brief paper announces that the symposium will continue the debate on whether media are simply delivery vehicles for instruction by considering the inherent properties of interactive video and its impact on achievement, including the way in which the properties of this medium both dictate…

Responds to Jeffery Bineham's article, "A Historical Account of the Hypodermic Model in Mass Communication" (same issue). Argues that the history of the hypodermic model (viewing media's all-powerful and direct influence on society) is distinct from the history and literature of empirical research on mass media effects. (MM)

Explores three legal implications of news councils: (1) the effect of the councils on the frequency of libel suits, (2) the validity of the waiver complainants must sign, and (3) the potential impact of news council decisions in determining standards of press performance. (FL)

Contends that the effect of television can best be understood as part of the overall attempts by social scientists to understand the effects of the mass media. Argues that symbolic interactionism is the most viable theory for bringing together the pure and the applied aspects of this issue. (LLL)

Notes that despite recent United States Supreme Court decisions that have been unfavorable to the press, a First Amendment-based conditional privilege protecting the editorial process against governmental intrusion survives. (FL)