The role pictures and graphics can play in making Telidon, a Canadian home information retrieval videotex service, a viable communications medium is discussed. This report concentrates on contributions of theories of perception and cognition to knowledge of how different kinds of visual images can most effectively be used on Telidon. The issues of…

The Computer Bus Program (Compubus Program) of the Modesto City Schools (California) was evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the computer literacy program for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students at eight elementary compensatory education schools. The program provided instruction on computer vocabulary, knowledge, and applications in a…

Examines common scholarly characterizations of the American penny press of the 1830s and 40s that together provide a myth of origins of the contemporary U.S. press. Criticizes inaccuracies and misleading elements in this mythology and its implications for subsequent debate about U.S. journalism. (JK)

Summarizes the research evidence indicating that it is not the media that influence performance, but the instructional strategies used with them, considers some administrative advantages of using different media, and describes the features of training programs that do influence performance. (MBR)

In the case of the Starr report on President Clinton, this exploratory study searches for evidence that the Internet might play a role in participatory democracy. Through indepth interviews of respondents who sought out the Starr report on-line it appears that viewing the document on the Internet had little impact on political participation. More…

Describes conflicting findings about whether print advertisements are generally informative or persuasive; suggests research needs in this area. (GT)

States that 25 years ago, James Carey and John Quirk questioned whether technology would revolutionize communication. Finds that while traveling the information superhighway, people experience "the rhetoric of the electronic sublime." Explores 50 award-winning health messages on the Web; suggests that the traditional concepts of source,…

Examines the process of disseminating scientific information to the public. Explores the particular steps and strategies that scientists use in taking research findings to a popular audience. Examines the popularization of cold-fusion research. (RS)

Objective: To describe how content analysis of the news assists media advocates. Methods: A description of how findings from the Berkeley Media Studies Group's research on how 2 public health issues have been portrayed in the news has informed media advocacy. Results: For media advocates, the research suggests they make themselves available to…

School reform involves the public: its expectation of participation and its support for a reform agenda. In theory, the press influences both. To explore this link, we compare education coverage in four press outlets, two each in Chicago and Cleveland. Articles and editors are interrogated for (1) style of journalism and (2) assumptions about the…

Noting that "one-third of all graduates of university public relations programs go to work for non-profit organizations" (Kelly, 1993), this paper focuses on the issues of accountability and assessment faced by nonprofit organizations with corresponding methods of evaluation. First, the paper demonstrates the extent of nonprofit…

This essay critiques the depictions of rank and file newsworkers of the 1920s and 1930s that are offered in traditional journalism histories and in cultural, social, and women's histories of the press. Following a tradition established in the first half of the 20th century, contemporary media historians continue to reify the use of other standard…

In the mid-1980s, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) reformed the National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) as a liaison between receiver manufacturers and amplitude modulation (AM) broadcasters to promote unity in upgrading AM transmission and reception, and to aid AM in narrowing the sound quality gap with frequency modulation (FM). In…

The history of the Federal Communications Commission's content regulation of broadcasting is a history of policymaking in a vacuum. A review of the literature reveals that no one has yet attempted to show whether the Fairness Doctrine results in poorer or better broadcast journalism. To remedy this, content regulation should be explored from…

This paper examines how the new communication technology is challenging the "old" media, which includes radio, television, newspapers, magazines, and motion picture. The paper first provides an operational functional description of each of these media. Next the paper suggests another way to look at existing media. The paper then…