This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 11 titles deal with the following topics: (1) the Supreme Court and the limits of the First Amendment in "Zurcher v. Stanford Daily"; (2) the radical journalist, I. F. Stone; (3) group owned vs. independentl owned…

To examine colonial American press coverage of the British court decision to free American slave James Somerset, a study was conducted to clarify why the decision worked as a victory for British abolitionists but was usually cited even in post-Revolution America in the passage of increasingly oppressive slave legislation. Twenty-three of the…

Relying on Daniel Boorstin's argument that the newspaper was at least one of the first institutions in a frontier community, a study examined the 1880 United States Census of eight western territories to determine the number of newspapers and the ratio of newspapers to population in frontier counties. Three groups were examined: counties that had…

A study tested the hypotheses that the relative amount of bad news and good news in a newspaper would have corresponding effects on perceptions of the newspaper's community of origin and of the newspaper itself. Five different versions of a realistic four-page newspaper were created, in which treatment of the news stories ranged from an…

An examination of Dorothy Day's role as chief journalist, editor, and publisher of "The Catholic Worker," the ideological monthly she cofounded in 1933, reveals that she was the final authority within the organization of the newspaper. Deeply committed to proselytizing for her cause, the Catholic Worker Movement, Day still simultaneously…

A study analyzed the quality of reporting of public opinion polls in six selected newspapers during the final 65 days of the 1988 presidential campaign. The eight disclosure standards used were based upon the latest version of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) code of Professional Ethics and Practices. The newspapers…

A study tested five sets of hypotheses derived from an interaction model of the ways reporters and legislators exchange information. Three hypotheses attempted to distinguish among election-oriented, policy-oriented, and specialist legislators in the ways they seek information, and two hypotheses predicted the patterns of reporter-legislator…

Two unrelated studies investigated issues in newspaper journalism. The first, a replication of an earlier study, examined whether the priority given by newspapers to reporting local news was warranted. Respondents in three areas of the country were asked to rate their interest in various types of news on a five-point scale. Results indicated that…

The 1978 lawsuit between the Columbia, Missouri, "Daily Tribune" and the University of Missouri concerning Sunshine Laws, while singular and specific, is of concern to all news organizations. When "Tribune" reporter Randy McConnell was denied access to the University's audit reports and other documents and was forbidden to…

Algeria and Tunisia, where newspapers in both French and Arabic have large circulations, were used as case studies to test ideas about elite journalism. It was hypothesized that if French language newspapers appealed to the intelligentsia and opinion leaders, then their content should be serious and responsible; and that, by contrast, the Arabic…

A study collected data from 763 door-to-door interviews to test hypotheses about the uses and gratifications associated with newspaper readerships. In the interviews, respondents were identified demographically, asked about their newspaper reading behaviors, and asked to reply to a series of uses and gratifications statements on why they read…

To analyze the patterns of newspaper news sources in a developing nation and the geographic focus of news and news subject matter categories, an analysis was conducted of the English-language "Egyptian Gazette," the official organ of the Arab Socialist Union. Primary data for the study were the front pages selected at random from the…

Each of the three studies in this report explores in some detail a category of news that traditionally has been regarded as monolithic--business, sports, and foreign news. Highlights of the three studies are as follows: (1) A public opinion poll showed that people were more interested in stories about local business and industry than in national…

Data were collected from 93 journalism students before and after the 1978 Ohio gubernatorial election to determine how selectivity in exposure to information was influenced by information utility, fatalism (locus of control), past history of reinforcement, and political party identification. Results showed that past history of reinforcement and…

A study of news refraction was conducted to determine how well the press has functioned in popularizing scientific views and findings on a subject with direct implications for a controversial social issue. In reporting the marijuana question, the press produced a certain amount of refraction or news-slanting. For example, science articles…