Content analyses of the depiction of aggression and images of reality on Canadian television were performed on 109 program tapes of top-rated Toronto programs. Content was coded in terms of global messages communicated, character portrayals, context and setting of the program, amount and nature of conflict portrayed, and detailed information on…

Segments of primetime and Saturday morning television programing were viewed by 225 people who then reported what criteria they used to assess violence on commercial and public television. The subjects also provided data on their visual media experience, their viewing habits, their viewing attitudes, and demographic characteristics. The subjects…

This report describes the results of a study of family role structures and family role interaction patterns of U.S. television families appearing during prime time and Saturday morning programs for the 1976-1977 season. The content analysis constitutes a role-by-behavior description of verbal interaction among television families, the coding unit…

Sesame Street programs are perpetuating the subjugated role of females by presenting a picture of male-dominated society while portraying females in roles of following, cleaning, mothering and imitating, and as being of limited intelligence, subservient and passive. Analysis of a randomly chosen Sesame Street program (#189) shows how the series…

Reports on the findings of a content analysis of 896 nationally televised advertisements which showed that strictly defined, comparative advertisements are a relatively small percentage of total national television advertisements and that certain product types (drugs, household, and foods) are more likely to utilize comparisons. (MB)

Examines coverage of the 1984 national election in the local newscasts of a CBS affiliate owned by the New York Times Company. Reports a bias in both time of coverage and direction of favorability toward the Reagan-Bush campaign. (MM)

Reviews network coverage of Latin America, asserting that an orientation toward visually exciting crises without an adequate longitudinal awareness, encourages a lack of attention to social developments, with adverse foreign policy consequences. (MS)

Suggests that audience-determined measures used to assess television newscast quality are linked to popularity and not to the substance or the technical quality of the programs. (FL)

Concludes that the CBS television network gave the most and the NBC network the least coverage to Watergate in 1972 but that none of the networks treated it as a major story until 1973. (FL)

Concludes that criminals and victims depicted in television programing differ greatly from those in real life in that more are White, over 30, female, and middle class. (FL)

Examines the portrayal of intimate sexual behavior on soap operas and concludes that soap operas have more sexual content than do prime-time programs, but the types of intimacies differ. Notes that soap operas are potentially a major force in the transmission of values and sexual information to youthful viewers. (PD)

Assesses the extent and nature of sexual behavior in daytime soap operas. Concludes that soap operas can be assumed to be presenting a distorted picture of sexual behavior in America, particularly in the ratio of married to unmarried sexual behavior. Suggests that steady viewing may influence young viewers' attitudes and values. (PD)

Constructs a model of the narrative structure of television news items by categorizing types of events, story subjects, actors, acted upon, narratives, themes, and symbols for a week of network and local news broadcasts. (JMF)

Finds clear patterns of differences in nature and number of commercials during children's programs on three different types of television channels: broadcast networks, independent stations, and cable networks. Examines themes/appeals employed in commercials, disclosures/disclaimers used, and other content attributes. (SR)

Defends the importance for media study of a descriptive and evaluative scholarship grounded in old-humanist perspectives. Uses the television miniseries "Lonesome Dove" as a case study to argue that media texts, like literary works, can and should be evaluated according to the criteria of "formal mastery" and "intellectual coherence." (SR)