In every advanced culture, there exists some kind of understanding between a profession and the people it serves. In the case of mass communication, such an understanding is for the most part an informal compact whose terms are understood more or less tacitly. As the terms of this agreement are renegotiated from time to time--disagreements…

Because modern terrorism threatens democratic values such as personal liberty, free expression, and the limitation of institutional authority, it raises ethical problems for journalists who are drawn into a symbiotic relationship with those who threaten or use violence against a community. Recent terrorist incidents in the United States involving…

All areas of mass communication are surveyed. Man's earliest efforts as a communicator are considered, and what is known about the development of speech and writing is explored. Various theories (including mathematical ones) are reviewed which attempt to explain the processes of both personal and mass communication. Separate chapters focus on the…