Finds that the journalist and the public frequently differ on issues regarded as important to the well-being of the press and society. (RB)

A study examined the effects of several structural and individual variables on the perceived role of the media by media representatives and the general public. The focus of the study was on public perceptions of the media as "watchdog," but the images of the media as "guide dog,""rabid dog,""lap dog" and…

A study examined newspaper coverage of the United States' withdrawal from Unesco to determine whether the public was given a balanced picture of the issues involved and to examine the degree of impartiality of the coverage of one specific issue, the New World Information Order. The study analyzed reports that appeared in American daily newspapers…

A study was conducted to determine how readers regard the accountability of newspapers that employ ombudsmen. Subjects were 393 readers of Kentucky's "Louisville Times" and "Courier Journal." Both papers, the first American papers to hire ombudsmen, publicize the existence of the ombudsman in a daily column, and from 1974 to…

A study was conducted to explore whether Fishman and Roslow's concept of adjacent listening could be adapted to studying television viewing behavior and used as an indicator of audience interest and information-seeking behavior. A second hypothesis was that different types of news programs might be preferred by groups reporting primary reliance on…

A study investigated whether reliance on television rather than on newspapers affected the way people made voting decisions. Specifically, it focused on whether television reliance was associated with greater candidate image evaluation and newspaper reliance with greater issue importance in the prediction of voter preferences. Telephone interviews…

Telephone surveys were conducted in Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan, to assess both the relative credibility of news presentations by the local news media and respondents' reasons for using these media. The results supported previous research on local news credibility, suggesting that television was the more believable medium, even in a local…

Persuasive mass communication is believed to be more likely to reinforce existing opinions than to change them. This study set out to test this hypothesis in the political area by doing the following: isolating attitudinal patterns in a sample of voters; determining if characteristics of the questionnaire statements were systematically related to…

A Dallas study showed that the claim that television news is more timely than newspaper news has only a limited validity, at least in terms of locally produced television news. (GW)

Investigates the influence of negative advertising in political campaigns. Concludes that negative advertising reduces the image evaluation of the targeted politician. (SRT)

Found that, after Argentina, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, and Turkey hired U. S. public relations consultants, their news image in the "New York Times" improved in positive coverage and portrayal as more cooperative nations. (PD)

Reports that the media were perceived by the public as having considerable influence on community affairs in comparison to a number of other groups in the private sector. (FL)

Reports a study examining the political advertising in the media and relates the findings to the voters' perception of the salience of the issues in the campaign. (TO)

Finds that newspapers are more credible than television in some aspects of reporting such as public affairs while television is believed more accurate in news of student protest. (RB)