Investigates the ideological presumption concerning media analysis (the claim that what really matters is the underlying sociopolitical relations of control and power). Explicates and critically assesses arguments provided by the writings of John Fiske and Michel Foucault, concluding that there is no good reason to believe that the news media are…

Examines the relationship between advertising copy readability and advertising effectiveness. Finds that recall is improved when the copy style is either fairly easy or fairly hard to read. Suggests the value of considering copy readability as a potential contributor, though a minor one, to the success of magazine advertising. (RS)

Explores whether different levels of a manager's ownership of a newspaper affects the manager's profit maximizing attitudes and behavior. Finds that owner-managers tend to place less emphasis on profits than non-owner-controlled newspapers, contrary to economic theory and empirical evidence from other industries. (RS)

Considers Canadian contributions to the philosophical basis of educational technology which have helped shape the model shifts now occurring in the field. Four individuals are highlighted: Harold Innis and his work on media; Marshall McLuhan, who built on Innis' work; Ursula Franklin and her philosophical analysis of technology; and Arthur Kroker.…

Examines the potential of the inoculation message strategy to deflect the persuasiveness of comparative advertisements. Indicates modest potential for inoculation, confirming that inoculation pretreatments confer resistance to a comparative ad's influence on consumer attitudes, especially on behalf of high-involving products. (SR)

Examines the discursive construction of audience identity at a public radio station in New Mexico by investigating listener letters printed in the radio station's newsletter. Shows how the letters frame the audience in particular ways. Discusses listener letters as an ongoing text, and spatial discourse as metacommunication. (SR)

A study reviewed coverage in 13 newspapers during 1989 of the issue of spraying the pesticide Alar on apples. Using VU/TEXT, a newspaper database, 297 articles in 13 newspapers that included the specified code words "Alar" with or without "apple" or "apples" were retrieved and analyzed using a 33-question coding…

A study was conducted to create a portrait of a contemporary art film audience. A survey containing open- and close-ended questions was sent to 329 persons on the mailing list of the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, an institution that also runs an art theatre. Among others, analysis of the…

More and more, advertising revenue, not circulation or concern for the underdog, seems to be determining the content of American newspapers. As Americans moved to the suburbs, suburban newspapers sprang up, taking readers and advertising revenue away from metropolitan dailies. "Counterattacks" by metropolitan papers such as zoned…

Finds high usage of wire service stories by radio but refutes charges that the radio news is read straight off the wire without editing. (RB)

A study examined the graphic devices used on the front pages of 78 American newspapers with a circulation of 25,000 or more and explored editors' attitudes toward the importance of front page appearance and graphics to newspaper readers. Questionnaires were sent to the newspapers' staff members primarily responsible for front page layout and…

A study analyzed circulation practices and pricing of mid-sized daily newspapers, seeking to draw together a comprehensive description of the circulation situation for those papers. Seventy-five circulation directors, randomly selected from newspapers with daily circulation between 25,000 and 100,000, completed mailed questionnaires requesting…

A study examined the relationship between newspaper gratifications sought and media use during and after a 1985 strike by unions of two Philadelphia newspapers, and the compensatory media behaviors, if any, people adopted to make up for the loss of their daily newspaper(s). It was hypothesized that during the strike, people would read more…

In an effort to help describe and explain why people do not read and subscribe to newspapers, a study built on previous research by adding two new contributions: (1) reliance on a four-wave panel data-set rather than on a one-shot survey; and (2) use of a dynamic modeling procedure rather than cross-sectional analysis. The problem with previous…

Panelists, discussants, and speakers at the 20 sessions of this three-day conference on telecommunications policy research are listed under the appropriate sessions in this conference program, as well luncheon and dinner speakers. Topics addressed by the various sessions include: federal regulatory policies and technical change in…