Points out that the images and voices of Jewish women are largely absent from prime-time television. Links feminist theory and images of women as signals of systemic troubles in a community to mass communication theory. Provides a multidisciplinary approach for considering "doubly" and "triply" oppressed minority women. (SR)

Conducts interviews with nine groups of South African women, examining their responses to episodes of "Suburban Bliss," a South African television sitcom that attempted to use humor as a catalyst to transcend the aftermath of apartheid. Evaluates whether "cultural reconciliation" is possible through harnessing the varying…

One week's network programing was recorded in 1987 to determine character incidence by sex, age, minority group membership, and other variables. Results showed significant changes since the 1950s in the treatment of minority group members but little change in the incidence or nature of portrayals of women. (DM)

Television teaches children gender-specific behaviors, attitudes, characteristics, and personality traits. Research indicates that by observing male and female characters on television, children learn to label certain characteristics and behaviors as masculine or feminine and to assign traditional sex-role stereotypes to careers. Content studies…

Examines the economic and cultural contexts of the popular television show "Twin Peaks," reading it as reactionary postmodernism. Argues that the show's clever innovations in production, avant-garde techniques, and postmodern sensibilities obscure in-depth or ongoing discussions about its reactionary politics, regressive and misogynistic…

The Radio and Television section of the proceedings contains the following 13 papers: "Two Pacific Powers View the World: News on CBS and TBS Television" (Anne Cooper-Chen); "Nicholas Johnson: The Public's Defender on the Federal Communication Commission, 1966-1973" (Max V. Grubb); "News Tips, TV Viewers, and Computer…

This conference focuses on how females are portrayed in a range of current media and whether these messages influence girls. The report is divided into three parts. Part 1, "Getting the Message," maintains that girls are aggressive consumers of the popular media and they understand the messages conveyed there. Although current media…

Sports programming plays a significant role in the media messages that American boys receive today. To explore the messages that sports programming presents to its audience, this report relates the findings of a study that analyzed a representative selection of sports programs and their accompanying commercials; also presented are findings from a…