Reviews U.S. court decisions on cases in which a child or young adult was the victim of violence that was said to have been induced by the media. Suggests that the courts have generally hesitated to hold media organizations accountable for inciting the violent acts of individuals. (NKA)

Offers the case of Lee Iacocca as a study of the print media's role in the creation of popular heroes. Focuses on patterns that present action and actors as heroic. (SR)

Surveys the relationship between historical inquiry and mass communication research. Argues that historically grounded inquiries into mass communications have focused on three areas: apparatus-centered criticism, social history, and textual interpretation. Contends that challenges from inside and outside the discipline have encouraged historians…

Critiques different historical conceptions of mass communication research. Argues that the different conceptions of the history of mass communication research, and of the hypodermic model (viewing the media as an all-powerful and direct influence on society), influence the theoretical and methodological choices made by mass media scholars. (MM)

Concludes that journalists and sources share notions about what aspects of a bureaucratic process are worth their attention and that journalists select information in a patterned way, with that pattern determined by the frames of reference of the sources. (FL)

Shows that two of three videotex services had substantially more stories than their companion newspapers, and that all three tended to get stories earlier than the papers. (FL)

Discusses how the use of unregulated mass media to convey the health risks of smoking is severely limited by the tobacco industry's power, via advertising dollars, to minimize the coverage of the negative health aspects of smoking in the editorial content of these media. (JD)

Analyzes the press coverage of the Finkbine abortion case in 1962. Concludes that it brought about a marked changed in the way the press reported and the public viewed abortion. (FL)

Concludes that thanks to Nigeria's 1979 Constitution and to its independent courts, the press in that country has escaped serious mauling in spite of political and human frailties. (FL)

A study conducted analyses of metro and regional daily newspaper penetration in 87 Minnesota counties and examined readership for metro and regional daily newspapers and small-town weekly and semiweekly papers in 28 communities. Among conclusions reached was that in outlying communities, education was associated more with reading the metro paper…

Reports that editorial page editors and cartoonists agree on most aspects of the cartoonist's role, but differ on the amount of freedom allowed the cartoonist. (FL)

Proposes an analytical framework that can be used both to compensate for incomplete evidence and aid in the interpretation of existing data on colonial women printers. Tries to answer important questions about Mary Crouch by noting ways in which key aspects of her career differed from or were similar to the patterns of other colonial printers. (FL)

Finds substantial agreement among major media as to the mix of various news topics but substantial disagreement as to which specific stories should be used. (FL)

Concludes that newspaper business section editors have more favorable attitudes toward capitalism than do members of the general public. (FL)

Concludes that the news media report less favorably on deviant political groups but not less prominently. Suggests the findings support the theory that the media act as agents for social control. (FL)