Examines letters to the editor of two Chicago newspapers between 1912 and 1917, to explore the strategies that readers used to make sense of what they read. Discusses cuing and linking, the new journalistic methodology of objectivity, and the mobilization of bias. Argues that reader response was often not idiosyncratic, but rather guided by…

Noting that the impressions left by the large, bold type of newspaper headlines have frequently resulted in libel suits, a study explored the individual and interactive roles played by defamatory headlines and news articles in a reader's perception of the contents. Four separate versions of a news article and its headline were prepared by the…

Two hypotheses in a study examining the influence of a dominant piece of art on the salience of a news story for readers, thus affecting their agendas, were as follows: (1) a story with dominant art will increase a reader's issue salience more than a story without dominant art; and (2) a story with balanced art will increase a reader's issue…

A study investigated whether newspaper mug shots are perceived by readers as being positive or negative in tone and whether the mug shots that are selected match the roles of their subjects in accompanying stories. Twenty-three news and feature stories with associated mug shots were clipped from seven daily newspapers. Pictures and stories were…

Persuasion theories typically attempt to account for attitude change, but mass media reviews influence more ephemeral variables, the chief of which is "interest" in attending or otherwise consuming a cultural event or object. Reviewing and other forms of "evaluative journalism"--including much sports, consumer, and political…

Examines undergraduate students' imaginative processes (i.e., spontaneous imagery and emotional response) to newspaper articles. Finds that, as in previous studies with literary texts and feature journalism articles, imagery and affective responses (i.e., emotional response and story interest) were moderately to strongly related. Finds that both…

A study explored the effects of both prior knowledge of acronyms and their form of presentation (cued or uncued) on reader recognition of acronym meaning. Among the hypotheses tested were that (1) a reader presented with an acronym ranked as familiar is more likely to recognize that acronym than one ranked unfamiliar, and (2) that a reader…