Article deals with everything from determining what is news to dealing with the sometimes complex relationships with media representatives. (Editor)

Based on remarks made before the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in San Antonio, Texas, in November 1970. (IR)

Coverage of Mamie Eisenhower as First Lady illustrates difficulties that the media have in projecting images of women. Like many women in the news, she was noteworthy because of her satellite status in relation to a man. Exercising some control over her public portrayal--if only to refuse to see the press to the extent it desired--she deliberately…

This discussion of agenda setting reviews early theories of mass communication and traces the beginnings of agenda setting theory to the 1968 United States presidential campaign, during which researchers found a high correlation between what the media were saying about issues and what the people thought were important issues. The results of more…

Agenda setting provides an analysis strategy for linking press coverage and voter perceptions of front runners, and underscores the importance of studying the primaries early in an election year. Two studies were undertaken in 1976. The first study, in Onandaga County (New York), involved telephone interviews of 335 registered Democrats in late…

Unlike most of the regulatory constraints which have impact on the media, libel, slander, and invasion of privacy are common law concepts developed from the precedents of previous court decisions and from reasoning employed in the written judicial opinions of appellate courts. Since common law is thus both traditional in nature and subject to…

Although empirical research on the agenda-setting function of mass communication dates only from the 1968 presidential election, historically there has been long-standing concern over the control of communication because of its assumed influence. Early communication research shared this concern and assumption, focusing on the ability of the media…

This volume presents the findings of several research studies related to jury verdicts in felony cases and pretrial publicity. The studies include: "Trial Judges' Opinions on Prejudicial Publicity" by Fred Siebert, an attempt to learn whether or not judges thought that pretrial publicity had ever resulted in miscarriage of justice in…

An essay on the responsibilities of news media discusses the priorities of network news coverage, distorted editing, and the need for consumer awareness and concern about mass media inadequacies. (FG)

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…

The response of the magazine "U.S. News and World Report" to criticism of its college ranking methodology included changes in the determination of indicators and reporting of data. However, the research still relies on subjective information, and its conclusions, therefore, are questionable. (Author/MSE)

A study was conducted in the Washington, D.C., area to test mass media effects in a community controversy. Five possible theories were hypothesized to explain the effects media have on a community: indirect and direct effects, null effects, agenda setting, reverse effects, and reverse agenda setting. During the 16-month test period of the British…

The interplay that exists between the mass media and political activity provides the topic for this report of an informal dialogue between William R. Carmack, from the University of Oklahoma, and Joseph S. Foote, press secretary to Carl Albert, Speaker of the House of Representatives. The first section of the report relates Carmack's opening…

The agenda-setting concept in mass communication asserts that the news media determine what people will include or exclude in their cognition of public events. Findings in uses and gratification research provide the foundation for this concept: an initial focus on people's needs, particularly the need for information. The agenda-setting concept…