As a study in the presentation of a public policy issue in education, the argumentative rationales of 139 opinion pieces (editorials, op-ed pieces, and letters to the editor) in "The New York Times" on the issue of school busing were analyzed. Material from the years 1971-75 was located through "The New York Times Index" and…

Outlines an approach for teaching journalism students to write editorials by following a five-step sequence: gaining readers' attention, indicating a need for action, leading readers to agree with a proposed action, enabling readers to visualize the proposal successfully enacted, and cementing readers' favorable attitudes into fixed beliefs. (TJ)

Indicates that, across three circulation categories, there are differences in the research process, availability and use of resources, and how writers rate usefulness of sources. Finds that most editorial writers make use of various sources for ideas and background material. Shows that some writers disagree about how much research is needed to…

Discusses the elements of quality editorial writing. Briefly follows the development of the editorial page through U.S. history and offers strategies to ensure concise, persuasive student editorials. (HTH)

This guide to editorial and interpretive writing focuses on generating ideas and developing editorials that are striking, lucid, and persuasive. It covers the devices of argumentation and effective writing, considers the fine points of technique and style, catalogues pitfalls common to new writers of opinion pieces, and discusses factors that…

"Freedom's Journal," the first newspaper published by blacks in the United States, originated in 1827 and lasted for two years. This article examines the form and content of the journal and considers some of the previous research on it. The article states that the journal contained the first report of a lynching that was published in the United…

A content analysis was conducted of 203 editorials from the "Daily Oklahoman" from the first six months of the 1980 presidential campaign. The analysis was based on two assumptions: (1) the tone of the 1980 presidential campaign essentially was set after only six months of official campaigning, and (2) the "Daily Oklahoman"…

Suggests that students can learn to recognize media bias by studying media reports of current events or historical topics. Describes a study unit using media coverage of the second anniversary of the Palestinian uprising against Israel. Discusses lesson objectives, planning, defining bias teaching procedures, and criteria for determining bias. (DK)

In January 1983, the American public read or saw hard-hitting allegations of leftist bias by the National Council of Churches (NCC) in the largest circulation magazine, "Reader's Digest," and on the top-rated television program, "60 Minutes." A study examined the extent to which the media set the agenda for debate on this…

Noting that Hodding Carter, Jr., editor and majority owner of the Greenville, Mississippi, "Delta Democrat-Times," was considered a spokesman of and to the South regarding racial matters during the two decades between the end of World War II and the escalation of the Vietnam war, this monograph examines Carter's newspaper in the two-year…

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, a national catastrophe and the major news story of the year, was the first national labor strike in U.S. history. Because of the ideological bias of the press, specifically its implicit commitment to capitalism and to objectivity (itself a "myth" of social order), newspapers of the period could be…