Investigates how much and what type of information college students receive from the media about drugs. Interviews were conducted with 228 students using the message discrimination protocol. Results are discussed in terms of the audience receiving fear and fight messages rather than clear, accurate information necessary to make informed decisions…

Argues that racial ideology structures news coverage of race. Illustrates how two manifestations of racial ideology, namely racial hierarchy and temporal distancing, operate in news articles to help create racialized criteria for being an "American." (SR)

Finds that election surveys, expert opinions, and man-in-the-street interviews have about the same amount of impact on candidate preferences. (SR)

Uses psychological theories about how people process information to examine the influence of variance in question wording on public support for the Reagan defense build-up. Concludes that source cues influence the public but that such influence is overwhelmed when the public is simultaneously exposed to relevant policy information. (TB)

Explores how the form of print versus television media influenced the autonomy of coverage during the Gulf War. Examines levels of support and criticism of President Bush's policy in the media and the diversity of sources evaluating that policy. Finds that television news was more supportive of the official government line than was print media.…

Uses Ross Perot's campaign for president in 1992 as a case study in how two key political institutions--the conventional political press and the party system--mediate the effects of political communication. Finds that reporters allocated positive and negative coverage to Perot according to the same rules that they normally follow. (TB)

Examines the changing industry role of the six transnational phonogram companies. Argues that high market concentration does not produce an inevitable decrease in popular music diversity. Presents a new popular music model that takes into account the open system of musical production as a strategy in maintaining control of the marketplace. (SR)

Shows that executive turnover through four administrations (1967-89) has kept public broadcasting mired in budgetary crises, transforming its goals, structure, and programing content over time. Describes policy preferences imposed by administrators, identifies attendant modifications in organizational structure, and delineates effects of these…

Comments on the attempt to construct a coherent intellectual viewpoint to span the disparate projects of interpersonal and mass communication research. Considers how the discipline of communication can construct functional representations of itself despite diversity. (SR)

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)

Comments on some recent debates in audience studies. Argues that much active audience theory is in fact premised on a heavily negotiated reading (if not a misreading) of some of the earlier work that is often invoked as its theoretical basis. (SR)

Shows significantly higher levels of news exposure across all media channels during the Persian Gulf War compared to a year-and-a-half earlier. Finds that both exposure to newspaper and to cable and PBS news programming were positively related to levels of knowledge about the war. Discusses the effectiveness of information dissemination by various…

Contributes to scholarship on news coverage of political campaigns by examining how Michigan's nine largest daily newspapers covered the 1996 presidential campaign. Finds that stories were significantly imbalanced in favor of Dole. Finds that chances were nearly even that any encountered story was one sided, but two-sided stories were likely to be…

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)

Offers a response to Kozma's article and his views on educational technology. Maintains that Kozma focuses too much on technology-driven instruction and learning and over-emphasizes the role of media research. Discusses the role of technology and considers the future of academic programs in the field, particularly doctoral programs. (LRW)