Reports that, overall, Minnesota newspapers and complainants approve of the Minnesota Press Council; that there is a strong correlation between newspapers' approval of the council and their opinions about its effectiveness; and that there is a lesser correlation between newspapers' approval of the council and their familiarity with it. (GT)

Concludes that "key visuals" (single frames of artwork storyboards or finished television commercials that sum up the creative strategy of the whole commercial) can be used to pretest the interest levels of viewers in television commercials. (GT)

A study comparing the coverage in newspapers and press releases regarding one year's decisions of the California Supreme Court revealed that the press releases influenced the kinds of decisions that were reported but not the quantity of coverage by the newspapers. (GT)

Subjects who were shown slides of four newspaper front pages--traditional, contemporary, well-designed traditional, and well-designed contemporary--preferred contemporary to traditional designs and well-designed pages to those of average design. (Reproductions of the four front pages are included.) (GT)

Sixteen studies from 1944 to 1974 are reviewed. The overall conclusion is that there is no marked difference in learning from color or black and white film or television. This may be due to the insensitivity of our instruments. (BD)

Among English-speaking whites, South African radio tends to be rated the highest in reliability and influence, while the English-language press is perceived as a better critic of government. (KS)

More than half the items come from the "Washington Post" and "The New York Times," and the proportion from these two papers seems to be rising. (KS)

Questions why managers choose one communication medium in preference to another. Proposes a role for social factors in media selection. Finds, employing a large field-collected sample, strong support for Information Richness Theory, a rational-choice model connecting managers' media choice to task characteristics like variety and analyzability.…

Reports results of an experiment in which student subjects read various types of film reviews and then reported interest in attending the film. Finds that higher amounts of information, regardless of evaluation, leads to more interest in the film. (MG)

Combines earlier content analysis studies with original data from five magazines in 1986 to examine the use of Blacks in magazine and television advertising. Finds an increase in the Black presence in advertising. Notes that the Black presence in television commercial sometimes approaches the percentage of Blacks in the population. Notes a less…

Asserts that there is a need for research and scholarship in journalism, but that it must be important rather than filled with gobbledygook. Discusses the need for a more critical analysis of media performance. (MS)

Documents the nature and extent of electronic bulletin board use. Compares predictions about the success of collaborative media based on two theoretical perspectives: file contribution levels, and system adoption rates. Finds both to be related to a measure of symmetry in user participation. (NH)

Tests the effects that many photographers believe color and complexity have on how people process the information in photographs. Finds that images with color and more complex elements were easier to remember, and that complexity did not result in more (reported) mental effort. (SR)

Contributes to scholarship on media diversity and the free market. Examines dimensions of media diversity. Argues that market forces have led to unprecedented levels of concentration, resulting in less diversity of access and diversity of choice. Shows that the range of opinions available to consumer-citizens is being limited by current…

Discusses the significance to media studies of queer theory. Examines (1) the commodification of "witness testimony" relating to the question of sexual innocence in the case of child molestation; (2) the effeminization of Jackson as a homophobic containment of him by the press; and (3) interpretive excess in the media's focus of an…