Data from a 1976 election study were used to compare the effects of different types of television watching (daytime, evening entertainment, news, campaign programing, presidential debates) on voter turnout and to compare these effects with those of other media (radio, magazines, newspapers). After controlling for the effects of the traditional…

Describes an undergraduate course which focuses on the effects of the mass media on the viewing public. The course is intended to increase awareness of the media so that students may respond to it more intelligently. Course topics, source materials, and class formats are discussed. (GEA)

Data from a study of the impacts of the 1972 presidential campaign on voter behavior support previous contentions that higher reliance on mass media for political purposes is associated with more positive orientations toward the political system, but they contradict more recent evidence that greater television reliance evokes political…

Reports on a study which compared communication attitudes and mass media behavior among Blacks and Latinos (Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans). Interviews with subjects provided data about television viewing and newspaper reading, which were found to be differentially correlated with such variables as age, sex, and education. (SW)

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…

This study measured audience perceptions during the course of a prerecorded segment of the television series "Emergency" and compared audience responses with the occurrence of specific production variables: subject movement, camera movement, cutting rate, image size, and so on. Audience-response equipment, capable of recording ratings…

Outlines the development of human communication skills and discusses possible influences of media technology on such development in the future. (MH)

Presents a sampling of ERIC documents on mass media, grouped under the following headings: (1) Theory and Research; (2) Instruction, K-12; (3) Instruction, PostSecondary; and (4) Newer Horizons. (PD)

Provides a framework for the analysis of mass media audience behavior using a communication rules approach. Discusses (1) the theoretical characteristics of the rules perspective and its relevance to the study of human communication and (2) the rules perspective in mass communication: television viewing rules in the family and society. (PD)

In a study to identify types of mass media consumers, a Q-type factor analysis was run on respondent exposure to 90 categories of content within seven mass media (television, radio, recordings, motion pictures, newspapers, magazines, and books). The respondents were 116 seventh graders in Waterloo, Iowa, who were asked to keep daily diaries of…

Several studies in media viewing have examined the hypothesis that alienation correlates with the consumption of escape-type content from the mass media. In order to interpret this result, alienation was considered as a process beginning with difficiulties in situation definitions. It was assumed in this study that heavy information of the mass…

This study investigated the relationship between media use and political activity in a sample of 380 Charlotte, North Carolina, registered voters. Although voters were interested in the campaign (particularly as it came to an end), they rarely engaged in political activities other than discussing politics and voting. Political activities measured…

In 1997, the Nordic Information Centre for Media and Communication Research (Nordicom), with funding from UNESCO and the government of Sweden, created the UNESCO International Clearinghouse on Children and Violence on the Screen. The Clearinghouse contributes to and clarifies knowledge on, children, young people, and media violence, based on the…

The immediate, direct effects of the mass media upon individuals are obscure but the indirect effects are substantial. (Author)

This book addresses possible negative effects of children's viewing of inappropriate media content and how parents can respond. The discussion of children's responses to frightening mass media is based on the findings of controlled research but also includes real-life examples, many presented in a child's or parent's own words. Following an…