Effective media relations are seen as an important, even essential, area of successful government relations. Media accounts can play a major part in establishing an institution's reputation, and so comprehensive government relations programs should include planned productive contacts with reporters and editors. (Author/MLW)

"The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life" by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray (New York: Free Press, 1994) has become one of the most controversial books of recent years. The crux of the controversy, the relationship between race and intelligence, has touched a nerve in the African American community.…

Since the 1974 Supreme Court dicta in "Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.," many courts have held that statement of opinion is constitutionally protected. However, statements that appear to be opinion based on undisclosed facts or knowledge not generally known to the public can be an exception. For instance, courts have protected specific…

Investigative journalists long have had an adversarial relationship with powerful institutions and those in public office, stemming from the "righteously indignant" reporters of the early nineteenth century penny presses who guarded the interests of the public. Currently, investigative journalists are in a difficult position if they have…

Intended to summarize the ideals underlying the struggle for freedom of the press and to reinforce the basic Constitutional principles upon which the United States functions, this collection of quotations reflects the beliefs of prominent people throughout history who have championed press freedom, as well as the ideas of some who have opposed it.…

Exclusion of the press from the first days of the American invasion of Grenada dramatically brought into focus the fundamental conflict between the military's need for secrecy and the press's need to publish information. From the viewpoint of the press, the decision to exclude reporters from the island until the third day of the invasion denied…

Between 1964 and 1968, "U. S. News and World Report" engaged in symbolic discourse with its readership through its coverage of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "U. S. News" faced a dilemma in the mingling of King's force as a symbol with the power exerted by the egalitarian principles that Gunnar Myrdal identified as components of…

A four-month investigation was conducted of media coverage of two controversies involving government officials in Detroit, Michigan. Data were gathered from three sources: journalists involved in covering the stories, people involved in the stories, and the printed stories. Using public documents, the history of one of the controversies was…

The United States is a major exporter but a minor importer of films and television programs; this situation has been described as a one-way flow of information from the United States to other nations. Although the official United States position is one of dedication to the two-way flow of communication, the "majority" view is that the…

This book, the seventh in a series surveying broadcast journalism, provides behind-the-scenes details of news coverage during 1978-79, evaluating the growth and sophistication of the news media. The first section of the book discusses the treatment of major issues and news events, including the "odd couple" of politics and broadcasting,…

RESEARCH WAS DIRECTED TOWARD DETERMINING THE EFFECT OF REPEATED EXPOSURE TO NEWSPAPER PUBLICITY CONCERNING EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION ON (1) ATTITUDES TOWARD EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION AND (2) VIEWING BEHAVIOR RELATIVE TO EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION. THE SAMPLE CONSISTED OF 329 PERSONS TAKEN FROM A LARGER SAMPLE USED IN THE STUDY OF RESISTANCES TO EDUCATIONAL…

This paper analyzes the attitudes of three Swedish trade unions toward the press. Local representatives of the unions answered a questionnaire about their contact with the local press, the press's impact on public opinion, fairness of press reporting, the press's fulfillment of its duties in informing the public, and future control of mass media.…

This manual provides information to assist bar association staff and officers in explaining the role and function of the bar and in dealing with critical public-relations problems. Sections discuss the use and value of public relations, public relations and the role of the bar, public-relations problems, and major public-opinion problems…

Among the causes of the recent breakdown of the business/press relationship is the increasing public and press questioning of business, coupled with the failure of business leaders to explain the benefits of the free enterprise system. This failure, caused largely by the direction of business leaders' energies inward toward their companies rather…