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…

PRESS TREATMENTS OF CERTAIN EVENTS INVOLVING COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION WERE EXAMINED. STUDY EFFORT CENTERED ON THE U.S. DAILY PRESS COVERAGE OF THE 1961 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION CONVENTION, A TOTAL OF 193 NEWSPAPER STORIES. FROM THE STANDPOINT OF "TECHNOLOGICAL" PRESS COVERAGE, THE DOMINATING ISSUE (OR THEME) WAS THE…

Agenda setting provides an analysis strategy for linking press coverage and voter perceptions of front runners, and underscores the importance of studying the primaries early in an election year. Two studies were undertaken in 1976. The first study, in Onandaga County (New York), involved telephone interviews of 335 registered Democrats in late…

The absolutist approach to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution--argued for many years by Supreme Court Justices Hugo L. Black and William O. Douglas--is regarded as the most libertarian interpretation by most mass communication law students. However, the two justices found agreement difficult in some First Amendment cases,…

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…

Unlike most of the regulatory constraints which have impact on the media, libel, slander, and invasion of privacy are common law concepts developed from the precedents of previous court decisions and from reasoning employed in the written judicial opinions of appellate courts. Since common law is thus both traditional in nature and subject to…

This document contains speeches, panel discussions, and audience reactions from a seminar on school-community relations. The material is designed to broaden the understanding of superintendents, central office administrators, and public information personnel on the importance of soundly conceived programs for school-community relations. (JF)

This volume presents the findings of several research studies related to jury verdicts in felony cases and pretrial publicity. The studies include: "Trial Judges' Opinions on Prejudicial Publicity" by Fred Siebert, an attempt to learn whether or not judges thought that pretrial publicity had ever resulted in miscarriage of justice in…

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

Compares the way in which various news media covered a specific political event and examines the correlation between the agenda of issues stressed by the media and the agenda of issues recalled by the public. (GW)

Presents a brief overview of both the common law and constitutional privileges protecting the expression of opinion. Notes that, although the case of "Ollman v. Evans" provides a four-factor test to make the fact-opinion distinction, ambiguity is still evident in many cases. (MM)

Suggests a complete reassessment of all press association yearbook and newspaper rating and evaluation services in this second of a series on critiquing high school publications. (AEA)

Reviews public expressions about the state of the English language and attempts to show that this interest in language should be viewed by language professionals as an opportunity to clarify issues. Four strategies are presented dealing with language variability, linguistics, and the "joy" and usefulness of language variation. (Author/AMH)