An analysis of press support for computer literacy gives insight into how and why the news media influence the public towards universal acceptance of computers for educational purposes. This article focuses on how information dealing with science and technology is presented by the media. (DF)

Newspaper coverage of Hispanics is growing as the media strive to attract Hispanic readership. However, the predominantly White-controlled press has generally presented distorted, biased, and stereotyped views of Hispanics. The Hispanic community is making efforts to ensure that reports on its programs and goals are accurate. (Author/MJL)

Teaching strategies to involve students in discovering practical applications of the First Amendment are described. Activities include opinion surveys, court simulation, and role playing. (KC)

Traces the history of the Black press in the United States from pre-Civil War abolitionist literature through the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Discusses both legal and nonofficial efforts to silence Black opinion through repression of the press. (GC)

The constitutionality of punitive damage awards in media defamation litigation was examined through a review of federal and state libel case law since the 1964 Supreme Court decision in "New York Times v. Sullivan." Using the opinions of various courts and justices and studies of libel litigation, a number of areas bearing on the issue…

Concludes that the press may not be successful in telling people what to think, but it is successful in telling its readers what to think about. (RB)

A study was conducted in the Washington, D.C., area to test mass media effects in a community controversy. Five possible theories were hypothesized to explain the effects media have on a community: indirect and direct effects, null effects, agenda setting, reverse effects, and reverse agenda setting. During the 16-month test period of the British…

This article reports on an analysis of the coverage of the National Front (NF) and other overt forms of white racism in all British daily national and two local papers between 1976 and 1978. The relationship of this coverage to other race-related topics and to the overall racial framework of news items is shown. News topics were coded and analyzed…

In 1976, Jamaican government officals claimed that their island had received an especially negative press in the United States during 1975 and 1976 with serious consequences for the economy and tourist trade. This accusation was not made about Canadian coverage, with one major exception, and Canadian tourism to Jamaica increased during those years…

The interplay that exists between the mass media and political activity provides the topic for this report of an informal dialogue between William R. Carmack, from the University of Oklahoma, and Joseph S. Foote, press secretary to Carl Albert, Speaker of the House of Representatives. The first section of the report relates Carmack's opening…

The agenda-setting concept in mass communication asserts that the news media determine what people will include or exclude in their cognition of public events. Findings in uses and gratification research provide the foundation for this concept: an initial focus on people's needs, particularly the need for information. The agenda-setting concept…

Behavioral research suggests that communication between two individuals is affected by such factors as their orientation toward a topic, the importance of the topic, and interpersonal attraction. Seven hypotheses were formulated to determine if these factors--originally discovered in a discussion setting--were operative in an information-seeking…

Photographs appearing in October 1-5, 1973, final editions of 16 major daily newspapers published in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. were analyzed for total number of pictures published, content category (breaking news, feature, or sports), placement (front page or inside), source (staff, Associated…

A panel discussion on politics and the press was held at the convention of the American Political Science Association in September 1971. This volume contains an essay delivered at that panel on the various functions or activities of the press--adversary, surrogate, sovereign--and remarks of the three discussants. In addition, an essay especially…

Designed to encourage public action in the media, this "action kit" consists of articles and reports dealing with the subjects of peace and the news media. Included are an article by Federal Communications Commissioner Nicholas Jackson which argues that the "law of effective reform" should be applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)…