What is currently happening in China is similar to what happened in the United States in the 1950s and the Soviet Union in the 1970s--television is quickly becoming a mainstay of popular entertainment and news. The Chinese government has made substantial efforts to provide television service to all regions of the country, with importance attached…

Based on the associational nature of memory, the distinction between episodic and semantic memory, and the notion of memory strength, a model was developed of the role of emotion in the memory of television commercials. The model generated the following hypotheses: (1) emotional commercials will more likely be recalled than nonemotional…

Recent polls seem to indicate that many Americans rely on television as a credible and primary source of news. To test the accuracy of this news, a study examined three networks' newscasts of science news, the attitudes of the science sources toward reporting in their field, and the factors related to accuracy. The Vanderbilt News Archives Index…

In an effort to determine the nature of American network television news coverage of the Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia, a study examined the television evening news from April 16, 1975, the date on which the Lon Nol government first offered to capitulate to the Khmer Rouge, through January 8, 1979, when news of the fall of Phnom Penh to the…

In light of the cable television and VCR revolution of the past few years which provides viewers with a greater variety of programs, a study examined the role that reruns play in network programming strategies and the profile of the audience that appreciates such programs. Subjects, 293 households (out of an original 730) in a medium-sized…

Applying knowledge of myth to the milieu of commercial television programming, this paper focuses on the way myth was generated in an advertising campaign that featured Lee Iacocca, chief executive officer of Chrysler Corporation, during the period of 1979-1982, when Chrysler moved from the edge of bankruptcy to financial stability. After…

All of the presidential and vice presidential campaign stories in a simple random sample of 75 network television newscasts during the 1984 campaign were analyzed for possible political bias. The 4,363 sentences in these newscasts were classified as report sentences (factual and verifiable), inference sentences (subjective and not verifiable), and…

The modeling theory of aggressive behavior being promoted by violence on television points to more serious implications, that is, the molding of a national consciousness laden with 19th century values and stereotypical characterizations of reality. Since students are not taught how to watch television, they use it as a perception of reality.…

A study was conducted to establish a baseline of facts concerning the extent, nature, and social functions of the drinking of alcoholic beverages as depicted on prime time network television programing. A content analysis was undertaken of a random sample of programs drawn from the three major networks over a period of 14 evenings. The primary…

A survey of 379 adults was used to assess the extent to which television news credibility scores were a function of researcher operationalizations of the concept. Underlying this effort were published reports suggesting that single item measures of television news credibility were either biased or inadequate indicators of a more complex…

A study examined the use of cable television in the context of general patterns of media use and habits of media users. Data came from telephone interviews with approximately 600 household heads, a third of whom did not subscribe to cable television. Information gathered included respondents' use of newspapers, television, and radio. Cable…

Following a 1978 commando raid by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Israeli troops crossed the Israeli-Lebanese border to establish a "security belt" to prevent further PLO action in Israel. A study was conducted to determine whether the coverage of the Israeli invasion by the three commercial television networks in the United…

A new methodology for testing preschool children's comprehension of television is described and the results of the first experiment with this method are presented. Original program material was created by filming 30 second animated stories in color and transferring them to videotape for subsequent editing and addition of sound. Thirty-five…

Based on data drawn from a larger study concerning what people learn from television news broadcasts, this paper suggests ways that researchers might conceptualize audience comprehension of television news. Following a review of the information processing literature, the paper analyzes several conceptualizations taken from the literature and…

An examination of the level and nature of guidance that parents exercised with their children regarding television viewing was undertaken by means of a survey of 200 mass media scholars. In addition to providing information concerning their beliefs about the effects of television, characteristics of their scholarship, and basic demographic…