Noting that television network coverage of hostage crises tends to emphasize the same topics while depicting them in similar ways, and that networks may be unwittingly granting legitimacy to terrorist grievances, a study investigated the nature of "NBC Nightly News" coverage of the Trans World Airline (TWA) hostage crisis. Specific…

Finds sexual imagery more common than religious imagery in a sample of 207 rock, country, and Christian videos, although religious imagery was present in approximately 30% of the videos. Finds that the presence of sexual and religious images in combination occurred more often than would be expected by chance and in relatively equal proportions…

Concludes 70 percent of all stories reported on weekday newscasts during a two-week period were covered by at least two networks and duplication was higher during the week than on weekends. (RB)

Describes recent research into students' response to film, students' film and television interests, and content analysis of film and television. (DD)

The agenda setting hypothesis of mass media effects, which maintains that the mass media set the agenda of public discussion and determine which items are to be discussed and which ignored, was tested. Agenda was defined as an attribute of individual respondents to be compared with those of various media. In a preliminary study, a group of 59…

The purpose of this study is to present systematic findings concerning bias in TV news coverage of the 1972 presidential campaign and to describe the kinds of coverage that the candidates and parties received during the campaign. News about the election was analyzed from weekday network evening news programs, AP day and night wire coverage, a…

The current state of disarray in mass communication research can be cleared up by the orderly application of more careful media research procedures. Semiotics and structural analysis promise some advances in media studies, but these methods are limited when applied to peculiar qualities of time in film and television. A more fruitful approach…

Focusing on how television viewing fits into a general model of consumer consumption patterns, a study examined (1) the extent to which the viewing of certain television content can be considered a "norm" of society, (2) similarities and differences between the norms for adults and those for children, and (3) some of the antecedents of…

Boys are especially active users of media, and researchers have suggested that the cumulative impact of media, such as television, movies, and music videos, may make them some of the most influential forces in boys' lives. This report presents the findings of a national poll of 1,200 young people (ages 10 to 17) and focus groups in which boys…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 35 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) television and scholastic achievement; (2) press freedom and the new world information order; (3) content analysis of Saturday morning children's television…

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…