Most members of the American public will never read this article. Instead, they will obtain much of their information about education from the news media. Yet little academic research has examined the type or quality of education research and expertise they will find there. Through the lens of gatekeeping theory, this mixed-methods study aims to…

Using media content data produced by Issues Management of Alexandria, Virginia (also known as "The Conference on Issues and Media"), a study examined agenda-setting for network television news, newspapers with broad syndication, and national weekly news magazines. Issues Management bi-weekly publishes the combined content for all three…

Subjective comments from veteran news reporters, media critics, and the public give the impression that bad or negative news is becoming a major problem in this country. This impression raises major questions concerning how much is really known about bad news, including whether the media present an accurate or distorted picture of reality in…

Defines mobilizing information (MI) as any information that allows people to act on the attitudes and desires they already have. Concludes that MI is missing in news of political controversy at least in part because journalists decided to withhold it. (FL)

Studies the relationships between exposure and attention to three different media (newspapers, television news, and radio news). Finds that the two are separate dimensions. Analyzes the relationships between media exposure/attention and four different possible effects (knowledge gain, opinion direction, opinion strength, and behavior). (SR)

Concludes that exposure to mass media is associated with relatively positive, if not well-informed, images of foreign countries and to a perception of them as being successful. (FL)

Discovers that the content of broadcast news in Puerto Rico is similar to that in the United States, with political and government stories commanding a relatively large amount of news time. (FL)

Concludes that the public's negative attitude toward the news media is beginning to mellow. (FL)

Finds that individuals exposed to a large amount of crime news are more likely to show concern with being a crime victim than those who are not. (FL)

Investigates how news pictures in two national news magazines have portrayed the world and the United States to their readers. Concludes that both magazines used far more news pictures about the United States than about foreign countries and that international news pictures were more violent-oriented than United States pictures. (FL)

Concludes that the editorial presentation of a story can have significant effects on an audience's perceptions of a story's target. (FL)

Found considerable support for the hypothesis that voters who rely on television use candidates' image characteristics to make their voting choices more than do voters who rely on newspapers. Found little support for the second hypothesis that candidates' stands on issues will play a stronger role among voters who rely on newspapers. (PD)

Analyzes National Election Study 1990 Post-Election Survey data to examine how whites' reliance on ideological principles or affect in forming opinions depends on news media exposure. Shows that increased information-oriented media use enhances the role of ideological orientation and, possibly, causal attributions in whites' racial policy…

Hypothesizing that the way in which the media present information influence their audiences' reaction to it, a study examined 158 economy-related news stories broadcast between September 15 and October 31, 1980, by the three major television networks: ABC, NBC, and CBS. Analysis was guided by three questions: To what degree was economic…

A followup study investigated radio listenership as ritualistic behavior, based on an initial study using the same set of questions. The hypothesis tested was that gratifications statements related to radio usage would produce similar and stable patterns, reflecting highly ritualistic orientations toward the medium. Subjects, 557 adults in a large…