Contends that the trouble with communication research is fragmentation and too much low-quality and very little high-quality work. (PD)

Daniel Linz and Edward Donnerstein criticize the research methods and conclusions of pornography researchers Dolf Zillmann and Jennings Bryant (who allege that consumption of pornography results in antisocial effects). Zillman and Bryant respond. (ARH)

Cites the first comprehensive proposal for an institutional approach to modern media research in Germany. (MH)

Investigates the ideological presumption concerning media analysis (the claim that what really matters is the underlying sociopolitical relations of control and power). Explicates and critically assesses arguments provided by the writings of John Fiske and Michel Foucault, concluding that there is no good reason to believe that the news media are…

Assesses the status of the movie theater business during the past seven years, which has seen major changes in production, distribution, types of theaters, seating capacity, and the general media landscape. (NKA)

Examines military occupation force's role in shaping Japan's contemporary broadcasting system. Notes that controls placed on Japanese broadcasters were often rigorous and uncompromising, despite Washington's initial instructions to give guidance to the Japanese without overt control. Suggests that this domination created an environment conducive…

Responds to six articles in the same issue on images in retrospect. Deals collectively rather than individually with ideas that underlie the work of the respective authors and attempts to provide a critical interpretation guided by the maxim "always historicize!" (SR)

Reports an analysis of thirty-nine magazines which joined together to stimulate national debate on the Equal Rights Amendment and identifies those magazines which gave the most "pro" ERA coverage. (MH)

Reports on a study which indicates that certain political candidates are better perceived on radio and others on television and suggests that it is possible to determine the most effective medium for creating favorable candidate images. (MH)

Contends that television is diluting the experiential and informational base of American political culture and thereby altering the nature and effectiveness of American democracy. (MH)

Reviews U.S. court decisions on cases in which a child or young adult was the victim of violence that was said to have been induced by the media. Suggests that the courts have generally hesitated to hold media organizations accountable for inciting the violent acts of individuals. (NKA)

Discusses how the use of unregulated mass media to convey the health risks of smoking is severely limited by the tobacco industry's power, via advertising dollars, to minimize the coverage of the negative health aspects of smoking in the editorial content of these media. (JD)

Discusses the World Wide Web (WWW) as a multimedia delivery system, sources of variation in WWW art sites, pioneers on the electronic frontiers of art, and dimensions of electronic exhibition space. Discusses characteristics of early and of second-generation WWW art sites, how they compare, and evolution of the art site on the WWW. (SR)

Introduces a symposium in this journal issue: "Technology through a Retrospective Eye: Imaging Practices between the World Wars and Beyond." Notes that each article of the symposium keys into a central moment of expansion of imaging practice and focuses on the debates that accompanied that expansion. (SR)