Many current models of television viewing regard viewers either as passive receptors, active participants, or addled dupes. A study proposed a more flexible model for television viewing research. The study used the television program "St. Elsewhere," an example of "meta-television" (television programming which contains hidden…

Television programming has a huge impact on the lives of children. This lesson focuses on the stereotypical and racial messages that are portrayed through television programming with a focus on situational comedies. During the four 45-minute lessons, grade 6-8 students will: analyze portrayals of different groups of people in the media;…

Uses content analysis of television characters in all occupations across 30 seasons to test the argument that television entertainment depicts business negatively. Reaffirms that television stigmatizes the occupation of business, independently of economic factors. Notes that these results pose a challenge to mass communications theory that…

To effectively study the political, socioeconomic, and cultural effects of the media, it is important to examine the context of the community in which the media operates. To do this, students must think critically and develop a historical perspective of the changing role of each media within this community. The term community is used in the…

To illustrate the relevance of critical communication history and theory to media ethics, this paper examines a crucial episode in the history of public relations: the American electrical industry's cooperative advertising and public relations efforts in the 1920s to sell the "electrical idea" to consumers. The paper first enumerates…

This study examines the frequency and nature of substance use in the most popular movie rentals and songs of 1996 and 1997. The intent was to determine the accuracy of public perceptions about extensive substance use in media popular among youth. Because teenagers are major consumers of movies and music, there is concern about the potential for…

This paper attempts to unify the varied research in media literacy in order to make sense of this growing yet fragmentary movement and to organize the widely varied literature by the locus, objectives, and depth of the initiative. Much of this movement involves what educators choose to teach their students about media literacy. A critical…

Contrasts the working life of the U.S. cowboy with the whitewashed myth promulgated throughout the media. Discovers some parallels between the nomadic loner embodying an individual code of honor and the Hollywood representation. Discusses the genesis of "the singing cowboy" and includes examples of the actual early ballads. (MJP)

Addresses issues of culture, cultural politics, social power, and television audience in cultural studies. Argues that cultural studies as a field tends to analyze all cultural interpretation in terms of struggles between dominant and subordinate groups and that the text-centered approach of cultural studies misses much of television viewing's…

Lays out a framework for economic analysis of the mass media in American culture. Argues for its utility for understanding the workings of the television, motion picture, newspaper, and radio industries, as well as for evaluating appropriate public policy responses and considering historical trends. (MS)

Contributes to scholarship on global media conglomerates, cultural expression, and feminism. Delineates the corporate logic of culture industries in the neo-network era. Shows, using the television show "Absolutely Fabulous," how media firms benefit from transnational circulation of multiple and alternative representations of feminine…

Because the video cassette recorder (VCR) is foremost among emerging media technologies in terms of shaping a distinctive home viewing culture, a study investigated the typical home video culture in a VCR household by conducting telephone surveys of three neighboring midwestern communities. Out of 516 valid responses, the survey yielded a sample…

This paper outlines the predominant aesthetics of American public television's contributors and viewers. These aesthetic perspectives are elaborated in relation to specific historic, institutional, and political trends in American society. The paper traces public television usage and support as the product of confusing and sometimes contradictory…

This document presents an executive summary of a study that examined messages sent to adolescent girls (ages 10 to 17) across 6 types of media most heavily used by adolescent girls: television, movies, magazines, music videos, television commercials, and magazine advertisements. The study asked what messages are sent about gender roles--primarily…

Discusses fictional media portrayals of crimefighting, such as Superman and Dick Tracy programs, that often constitute civil rights violations. Describes a learning activity that calls upon students to observe and log such portrayals and evaluate them critically. Suggests sources of program materials and lists other activities on the topic. (SG)