Examines British and American feminist cultural studies as examples of work that approaches communication within an overall feminist context. Argues that this type of feminist work maintains the political/critical edge of cultural studies and resists easy appropriation into the liberal-pluralist mainstream of research and theory in communication.…

Suggests that a systematic triadic theory could prove relevant to contemporary understandings of communication. Reviews historical foundations of triadic theory, identifying semiotic, sociological, and interactionist conceptions of the triad. Outlines a transactional-participatory understanding of the triad, based on a mutual-personal model of…

Addresses the role of feminist scholars in the field of communication. Suggests the need to (1) monitor the status of feminist scholars in the field; (2) intervene in the field's discourses; (3) collaborate with other feminists; and (4) envision the kind of transformations needed and wanted. (SR)

Investigates significance of the index in the process of mapping and formatting sites, spaces, and words on the Internet as well as diagnosing, tracking, and soliciting users. Argues that indexical technologies are increasingly called upon by commercial interests to automate the solicitation process whereby entry into an Internet site triggers the…

Focuses on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM). Evaluates the critical responses of communication scholars and others to the VVM. Suggests directions for research which would attempt to explain the social functions and ideological uses of this extraordinary site. (MS)

Analyzes how Hollywood's journalism movie genre has portrayed the news media over the years. Suggests that the movies' relationship to the press reflects a fundamentally ambivalent relationship between the press and the broader culture and that Hollywood explicitly portrays institutional and cultural tensions within journalism which the news media…

Criticizes the notion that conversation is the heart of democratic life. Argues that conversation that serves democracy is distinguished by norm-governedness and public-ness, civility, and its necessary dependence on print and broadcast media. Argues that institutions and norms of democracy give rise to democratic conversations rather than the…

Discusses how weekly supermarket tabloids report and write their stories, the relationship tabloid writing has to "straight" journalistic practice, and how tabloid writers relate to such journalistic tenets as objectivity and credibility. Finds that tabloid journalism belongs on the same storytelling continuum as daily newspaper…

Provides an overview of work on cultural studies in Latin America, which is virtually unknown outside the continent and has only recently begun to be translated into English. Concludes that this new work often seems to be less politically engaged than Latin American critical communications research of the 1970s. (RS)

Investigates the legacy, logic, and consequences of the appellation "the new world of cyberspace" that connects cyberspace to the Columbian voyages of discovery and the larger network of European expansionism. Engages in a critical investigation of the colonial logic implied by this seemingly innocent taxonomy, and examines its…

Supports the argument that, consistent with Durkheim's theory, the modern Olympic games are secular religious festivals. Presents survey data on the public's thinking, showing a relatively consensual core of values, ideas, and sentiments affirming the Olympic tradition and distinct from thinking about professional sports. (SR)

Reviews some of the main features of both feminist and communication theory. Asks what feminist theory can contribute to communication theory. Calls for a feminist "critique," as opposed to "criticism," of work done in communication, posing a fundamental epistemological challenge to the framework from which it emerges. (SR)

Discusses the spiritual potential of scene, some spiritual implications of film narrative, and "Otherness" and the varieties of spirituality. Explores multiple ways in which film may manipulate scene and narrative to express Otherness by examining two films: "Places in the Heart" and "Tender Mercies." (SR)

Reexamines the history of the apprehension, consumption, and production of reality by means of the aural in light of developments in virtual reality technology. Suggests that, by acknowledging and examining its roots in aural media, the connections of virtual reality to the discourse of authenticity are made clear. (SR)

Discusses current themes in communication research. Claims that this research offers an increasingly sophisticated view of journalism as a reflection not of an objective reality, but of political-economic power and sociocultural conflict. Includes an example of an imaginary symposium and a strategy for reframing the journalistic quest for truth.…