Choosing six Mexican newspapers representing an ideological range from liberal to conservative, a study analyzed the content of the newspapers' editorials and political columns from 1951 through 1980. Data established that Mexican newspapers, contrary to many critics' judgments, criticized government policies and political figures. They did,…

Finds that the journalist and the public frequently differ on issues regarded as important to the well-being of the press and society. (RB)

A cornerstone of twentieth century journalism is the concept of objectivity. This experimental study explores psychological pressures on the reporter in a theoretical framework of balance theory and social perception. Specifically, it deals with reporters' attitudes toward their sources, their expectation of a future meeting with the sources, and…

Surveys measures of press behavior; reports on the testing of J. Galtung and M. Ruge's theory about the structure of news. Concludes that there are three major dimensions to press response to events: the decision to record the event, and considerations regarding space allocation and reader attention. (GT)

A study examined coverage of Alger Hiss's trial for spying for the Soviet Union in the conservative Los Angeles "Times" and Chicago "Tribune," and the liberal Washington "Post" and New York "Times." It was hypothesized that (1) the liberal newspapers would favor Hiss, especially in their editorials; (2) the…

Print news media coverage of Jesse Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign was analyzed to determine whether publishers followed their roles as liberal, moderate, or conservative publications in their coverage. It was hypothesized that print media coverage would be similar across publications regardless of editorial slant, because of the dominance of…

This paper analyzes the relationship between the press and professional wrestling. It examines professional wrestling as a business and the conflicting goals of the promoters and the press. The paper focuses on how the press covered the most widely viewed professional wrestling show of all time, WrestleMania III (looking at newspaper coverage…

A study was conducted to compare coverage of the United States invasion of Grenada provided by the Third World news agency Inter Press Service (IPS) during October and November 1984, with that provided by the "New York Times." The study instrument tested the direction, themes, sources quoted, and location of the stories. The theme…

This discussion of agenda setting reviews early theories of mass communication and traces the beginnings of agenda setting theory to the 1968 United States presidential campaign, during which researchers found a high correlation between what the media were saying about issues and what the people thought were important issues. The results of more…

A study was conducted for the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island to analyze coverage of the accident by ten news organizations: two wire services, three commercial television networks, and five daily newspapers. Copies of all stories and transcripts of news programs during the first week of the accident were examined from…

This paper presents a rationale for studying the effect of a community's news media resources on the diversity of topics that the public considers important (the agenda). Research on media effects has followed a model that implicitly assumes that the important effects consist of the persuasion of individuals to adopt specific positions. This paper…

Reports on a study of the agenda-setting function of the media in a rural central Illinois city, during an off-election year. (GW)