Content analysis of broadcasts by Voice of America, Radio Liberty, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Deutche Welle to the Soviet Union revealed differences in political environments and purposes of sponsoring nations. (KS)

Reveals a trend toward more emphasis on images and less on issues in political advertising and news. (FL)

Describes a study in which 245 university students ranked their preferences among typographical variants of typeface, size, emphasis, and interline space in 16 paragraphs. Six references are listed. (CHC)

An analysis of the foreign news in three North American colonial weekly newspapers from 1764 to 1775 indicates that there was a preponderance of news from Western Europe, especially from Great Britain, with only very minor amounts of news from other parts of the globe. (GT)

Reports results of a study of the extent to which a New York newspaper strike and a television blackout in the Netherlands caused feelings of frustration related to basic need gratifications, as well as the extent to which the observed gratification frustrations explained general irritation about missing the newspaper or television. (GT)

Examines the themes of the war front news reported in certain South Korean and United States newspapers during the first 16 days of the Korean War; attempts to determine significant differences in the themes of war front news between the Korean and United States papers. (Author/GT)

Within the context of the public forum of the political media interview, this study tests the hypothesis that women avoid answering questions less than men and examines the gendered use of avoidance strategies. Findings reveal a gender difference with women using significantly more preferred answers than men. (20 references) (Author/CK)

States that New Zealand's public hospitals, converted into Crown Health Enterprises (CHEs) and required to operate within commercial restraints, were the target of attacks from politicians, medical organizations, community groups, and media. Examines press coverage of two similar CHEs over three months. Shows proactive media relations paid off in…

Provides an overview of the local radio phenomenon in Western European countries. Examines opportunities for access, control, and economic realities for three types of local radio (national, independent, and community), each of which was influenced in some fashion by illegal pirate stations. (KEH)

Searched articles (n=387) in German magazines with highest circulation rates for attitudes about alcoholism. In 55 percent of articles, alcohol dependence was described as illness, but only 4 percent included definitions of condition. Found articles about alcohol dependence were so simplified reader could mistake condition as being self-inflicted…

Discusses the lack of academic legitimacy enjoyed by mass media research in Europe, in particular. Attributes the problem in part to the specialism of the discipline and to the normative dimension of European research. (SR)

Studies the prevalence of five news frames in the four national newspapers and three national television outlets with the highest audience ratings in Holland. Finds the most common frames were, in order of predominance, attribution of responsibility, conflict, economic consequences, human interest, and morality. (NH)

States that a video introducing a company to various audiences is a common genre of promotional material in Finland. Applies theories of both advertising and semiotics to analyze the first minute of a video produced for a Finnish company that manufactures log buildings and wraps its image around a concept of leisure. (PA)

Finds that "modernity,""technology," and "youth" predominate in Chinese advertising in the 1990s, and the dominance of "quality" in 1990 was superseded by "tradition" in 1995. Finds that symbolic values from Eastern and Western cultures occurred more frequently in 1995, implying that contemporary…

The Visual Communication section of the Proceedings contains the following 12 papers: "The Limits of Copyright Protection for the Use of Visual Works in Motion Pictures, Print Media, and Pop Art in the 1990s" (Andy Bechtel and Arati Korwar); "Afterthoughts on the Representational Strategies of the FSA Documentary" (Edgar…