The purpose of this paper is to examine how recent demand for greater realism in portrayals of Irish life in the television and film industries serves to authenticate existing stereotypes and romantic images which characterize "Irishness" in the popular imagination rather than refute or undermine them. Discussions of a political thriller…

This paper reviews the role of television in the lives of blacks and suggests approaches on how to improve the quality of communication research. Portrayals, exposure patterns, attitudes and motives, and effects of blacks on television are discussed. It is suggested that future research should emphasize interpretive analysis or assessment of the…

This special issue brings together an editorial, six articles, and three book reviews that focus on the relationship between television and the female audience. The articles are: (1) "Installing the Television Set: Popular Discourses on Television and Domestic Space, 1948-1955" (Lynn Spigel); (2) "The Spectacularization of Everyday Life: Recycling…

In order to investigate the nature of character portrayals in U.S. television commercials, a content analysis was done on a random sample of 2,604 U.S. television commercials which were videotaped in March 1981. This analysis included both demographic characteristics and more subtle aspects of gender differences, such as concerns, relationships…

The content analysis of television has always been associated with unique procedural problems because television programming must be successfully captured and sampled before analysis can begin; some of the problems and recent advances in this area are reviewed, i.e., sampling, measurement, and the videotape equipment used in coding. An extensive…

This study reports a content analysis of 1976-1977 commercial television programing for incidents of alcohol, drug, and tobacco use and sexual behavior. The analysis included one episode of each prime time and Saturday morning dramatic series, comprising 77 programs and 58 hours of television viewing. A concurrent survey among 300 fourth, sixth,…

This study examined the effects of heavy versus light television viewing on the degree to which children possess sex role stereotypes. Reference was made to content analyses of children's television programs, prime time dramatic programs, and commercials, to show that traditional sex role stereotypes are present in most aspects of television…

Based on previous research findings and original data from school children in grades 3-6, this study examines children's perceptions of reality in television as an intervening variable between exposure to the medium and the effect of television messages. The specific focus of the current research was to isolate and identify factors which have…

To enhance knowledge of television content, a prosocial code was developed by watching a large number of potentially prosocial television programs and making notes on all the positive acts. The behaviors were classified into a workable number of categories. The prosocial code is largely verbal and contains seven categories which fall into two…

Currently all non-exempt television shows are given one of six "age-based" ratings, such as TV-14. The industry also agreed to add "content descriptors" to the age-based ratings in certain instances, letting parents know when some programs contain particular types of content such as violence, sex, or adult language. The ratings…

Reports on a concerted effort by consultant-scholars to influence the portrayal of drinking on television by working cooperatively with media writers, directors, and producers, while avoiding the pitfalls of traditional pressure group practices. Content analyses of prime-time programs were used as the basis of the appeal to change media messages.…

Examined the verbal climate of Saturday morning programs by assessing: (1) prevalence of supportive, defensive, or neutral statements; (2) types of interpersonal responses-- aggressive, negative, positive, or neutral; and (3) general program variables as tone, format, character features, etc. The most obvious message offered was the White male's…

Describes recent research into students' response to film, students' film and television interests, and content analysis of film and television. (DD)

Finds that male characters outnumbered female characters by a ratio of 2:1, but that female characters enjoyed far greater representation in cartoons produced in Japan than in cartoons produced in the United States and Great Britain. Shows that characters conformed to gender-related stereotypes, with males being more aggressive, rough, sloppy, and…

Describes how values are portrayed on prime-time network television. Looks at the prominence of values incidents in a story line and at how fully the values are explained. Examines how values incidents are structured and linked. Concludes that values incidents play an integral, if not principal, role in television programs. (RS)