Most members of the American public will never read this article. Instead, they will obtain much of their information about education from the news media. Yet little academic research has examined the type or quality of education research and expertise they will find there. Through the lens of gatekeeping theory, this mixed-methods study aims to…

A study reviewed coverage in 13 newspapers during 1989 of the issue of spraying the pesticide Alar on apples. Using VU/TEXT, a newspaper database, 297 articles in 13 newspapers that included the specified code words "Alar" with or without "apple" or "apples" were retrieved and analyzed using a 33-question coding…

Reports the findings of a survey conducted to determine the level of understanding of the news business by the general public in a midwestern community. Concludes that the respondents knew more about television news than about newspapers. (FL)

Examines the structure of international news flow and its determinants. Reveals inequality of international news flow between core and periphery, with Western industrialized countries at the center. Finds that the news flow network is structured into eight geographic-linguistic groups. Indicates flow is influenced by a country's economic…

Concludes that in Michigan, reporters focused on covering the governor and that state representatives received more coverage than did senators. (FL)

Examines the reliability of the preseason rankings of NCAA Division I-A football and basketball teams prepared by the two wire services as predictors of performance. Concludes that the polls seldom correlate with end-of-season results. (FL)

Concludes that the notion that the media provides a newly elected president with a "period of grace" is oversimplified. (FL)

Analyzes publications produced by local businesses. Concludes that these publications are neither newspapers nor magazines and that affluent readers are their greatest asset. (FL)

Shows that complexity of news stories influences the effect of deadlines on news judgments. (Author/FL)

Reports that, overall, Minnesota newspapers and complainants approve of the Minnesota Press Council; that there is a strong correlation between newspapers' approval of the council and their opinions about its effectiveness; and that there is a lesser correlation between newspapers' approval of the council and their familiarity with it. (GT)

A study surveyed the religion news reporters at daily newspapers in all circulation classes to assess the current state of the religion beat. Mail surveys were completed by 141 newspapers. Information concerning the following areas was solicited: (1) demographic characteristics (respondent's age, sex, religious preference), (2) staffing…

A descriptive mail survey extended two earlier studies done in the 1970s on "all-news" stations (or "news radio") and compared characteristics of stations using all-news with those of stations using extended news or news/information formats. Specifically, the previous studies were updated by exploration of how the following…

Based on case studies of 15 all-news radio stations, this report isolates major factors contributing to the all-news format's frequent failure and assesses its potential for success. The history of the News and Information Service (NIS), which the NBC radio network operated between 1975 and 1977, serves as a backdrop for the information presented…

In a study of the effect of crossownerships of newspapers and television stations on citizen access to mass media for the discussion of public issues, information was analyzed about television circulation, advertising costs, and market sizes for 208 crossownership market areas. Results were as follows: crossownerships are all located in the larger…

Shows that two of three videotex services had substantially more stories than their companion newspapers, and that all three tended to get stories earlier than the papers. (FL)