This article reports on an empirical study of young Russians' participation in political life and how they view the influence of politics on their lives. This study investigates, first, the extent to which young people are interested in politics compared to other spheres of public life. Second, it looks at the extent to which political…

The expansion of Egyptian radio and television, with underlying political motivation dating from the 1952 revolution, is due to extensive resources committed to the establishment and programming of radio and television systems. Television, introduced almost ten years after the revolution, remains a limited and urban medium, while Egyptian radio…

An examination of the role of journalists in the political process suggests that although there has been some reflective analysis by journalists on the potentially distorting consequences of routine news procedures, most journalists seem reluctant to acknowledge any such distortion. An analysis of the media coverage of two political scenarios (the…

Examines the history of U.S. political primaries, discusses Democratic Party reforms in the presidential nomination process since 1968, and cites important generalizations about how the process works today. States that the system lessens party leader influence, giving the media power to set public expectations and declare winners and losers. (GEA)

The two articles in this document deal with the political influence of the press during political campaigns. The first article explores the findings of agenda-setting studies, especially those comparing the agenda-setting effects of television and newspapers, and concludes that, since newspapers are the most important source of public agendas,…

This paper reviews the Westley-MacLean communication model, suggests some important research questions generated by it, and discusses recent research in mass media. A brief review of recent research suggests that the concept of agenda setting may be usefully superimposed on the Westley-MacLean model to reveal partial answers to some of these…

This workshop summary offers a guide for women who are considering seeking public office. It covers pre-campaign concerns, development of a campaign plan, and keeping the campaign on target. While a campaign plan should be an anchor, it also should be a flexible tool that can be revised, if necessary. The document discusses "targeting,"…

This paper discusses the equal time law: Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934. Section 315 is the major legislation governing the use of the broadcasting media in the area of politics. The underlying philosophy of the law is that people have a right to a full and complete disclosure of conflicting views of news of interest. The essence of…

The author describes the program which permitted six out of seven candidates for the May 1972 senatorial primary in North Carolina to appear free on educational television. Each candidate was given one hour for his program, with the first thirty minutes spent in a presentation of his own choosing and the last half hour devoted to questioning by a…

Looks at some of the ways sets of television news messages educate the public and influence the publics' judgment of political events, leadership and institutions. (MH)

"Agenda-setting" is a concept that describes the effect of the news media on social groups and public opinion on major issues. Recent studies in communication are focusing on the power of the media, by selection of and emphasis on selected news, to influence public attention and to raise certain issues high on the public "agenda." The effect of…

Describes three class activities that help students analyze the mass media messages of political candidates and that give students insights into language manipulation techniques. (RL)

A review of national presidential election campaigns since the passage of Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 indicates the inadequacies of that section and the need for its revision. Section 315 stipulates equal access to the mass media for all legally qualified political candidates. Basically, the difficulty with Section 315 is that it…

Presidential candidates in the United States tend to seek consensus rather than to try to discover new answers to problems and to convince voters that they should be elected to implement those answers. Reporters in the mass media emphasize objectivity and fairness in their reporting. This emphasis produces an intense interest in the…