Many recent studies on computer-mediated communication (CMC) have addressed the question of orality and literacy. This article examines a relatively recent subgenre of CMC, that of written online sports commentary, that provides us with written CMC that is clearly based on firmly established oral genres, those of radio and television sports…

Examines uses and gratifications of college-age respondents regarding media use. Finds that (1) respondents rely on the media to fulfill basic human needs but that the media are only moderately helpful in accomplishing this; (2) respondents do not always trust the media; (3) young adults have not abandoned the newspaper; and (4) television was…

This paper focuses on the experimental findings of Shanto Iyengar with regard to media agenda-setting and a theory of priming, summarizing his work across time. Following an introduction, the next section briefly reviews five of Iyengar's experiments on agenda-setting and priming, giving an overview and conclusions for each. The final section, a…

Because the quoting of anonymous sources in journalism has received a great deal of attention recently, a study was conducted to focus attention on the broadcast media by examining the quoting of anonymous sources on network television newscasts. Four research questions were formulated: (1) What percentage of television news stories contain…

Outlines five types of studies that seem most significant and discusses problems of and proposals for future news media research. (PD)

Explores how motion pictures, television, and computers manipulate and rearrange the content and processes of communicated experience, thereby shaping how the audience perceives and interprets the physical and social reality depicted. Suggests that these media are fourth removed from reality (behind the Platonic Ideal, the actual, and art and…

Offers a synthesis of media, communications, cultural studies and sociology literature on globalisation that suggests that there is multi-directional causality between media and culture in the process. Suggests that academic theorizing and social policy-making in which global media (particularly television) and local culture are characterized as…

Interviews with 548 heads of household randomly selected from the Columbus, Ohio, telephone directory provided data on the subjects' political knowledge, news information sources (television, newspapers), and educational level. These data supported three of five hypotheses about the relation between knowledge level and media dependence. There was…

The Mass Media Effects section of the proceedings contains the following eight papers: "The Spiral of Static: A Multivariate Analysis of a Public Opinion Theory Applied to Perception of Radio Station Popularity" (Terry Wedel and Tony Rimmer); "More Than Just Talk: Uses, Gratifications and the Telephone" (Garrett J. O'Keefe and…

As part of a research project studying ways in which police "culture" is socially constructed and displayed in police talk, six members of a research team rode on patrol with officers of a small community police department, during all three shifts, for a period of four months. Conversations during the rides were recorded. Analysis of the…

Analyzes the public impact of the third 1992 presidential campaign debate by measuring voters' perceptions before, during, and after the debate. Examines five hypotheses concerning the effects of debates on voters. Finds that mediated debates are affected by channel and commentary. (HB)

This special report provides a survey of media in the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and attempts to answer questions such as: what freedoms the mass media enjoy, the nature of their finances, what problems they have to deal with, and what their future in competition with new modes of communication will be like. Chapter 1 discusses the…

An empirical study examined politicians' use of public speaking teleprompters (PSTs) when delivering major addresses to determine if audiences made aware of this practice would more seriously question speaker credibility, sincerity, and communicative ability. After completing an initial survey about political attitudes and awareness, subjects, 36…

A study was conducted to discover whether (1) use of each of the print and broadcast media could be correlated with subjects' knowledge level, and (2) whether controlling for dogmatism would increase the proportion of media users, with higher levels of knowledge among those less dogmatic, and decrease the proportion among the more dogmatic.…

Uses and gratifications research involves a critical appraisal of conceptual and theoretical issues in mass communication and is concerned with what audience members do with the media. Activation theory understands people as active manipulators of their environment. (Activation refers to that level of psychological and physiological excitement an…