Presents the views of two experts on McLuhan's effect on communications theory and research. Levinson maintains that McLuhan performed the Socratic job of identifying the important issues in the communications field, while Gordon argues that McLuhan was a pseudointellectual known more for his guts than his talent. (MER)

Present the results of a study conducted to determine the correlation between children's selection of television programs and aggression. The regression analysis suggests that the relationship between viewing and aggression may be attributable to selective exposure rather than the reverse viewing-causes-aggression sequence. (Author/JVP)

Analyzes four studies indicating that newspaper penetration is (1) declining nationally, (2) varies significantly in different regions of the United States, and (3) increases with increased urbanization. (FL)

An analysis of 37 cumulative news stories that appeared in "The New York Times" from 1925 to 1975 suggested that the informational linkages between segments of cumulative news stories were extremely weak and that none of the characteristics of cumulative news story construction changed significantly over the sample period. (GT)

Describes a study that indicated that readers of college newspapers prefer a front page style that is contemporary and emphasizes a horizontal layout to either an avant-garde style that features an entirely horizontal layout or a traditional layout having a vertical page. (TJ)

A study of five city newspapers over a 10-year period indicated that business/economic news coverage increased steadily, especially in nonbusiness sections of the newspapers. The depth in such news coverage also increased, with an increased emphasis on explanation noted. (RL)

Concludes that organizing information in news stories by candidates as opposed to issues is more effective in political decision making. (Author/FL)

The composite picture of the typical top-level newspaper manager that emerged from a survey of the top managers at 433 newspapers was that of a White, Protestant, married man in his late forties with at least one child and a college degree. Only about 2.4 percent of the top-level managers surveyed were women. (GT)

An analysis of selected Mexican daily newspapers suggests that travel information is not gathered, processed, and disseminated systematically by Mexican newspapers. (GT)

Presents weaknesses of past audience research in public radio, and describes a survey methodology for future effective analysis of public radio audiences. (CMV)

Three sets of audiovisual lessons were presented on either a prototype videodisc player or with film/audiocassette. Both groups of trained soldiers performed significantly better than a control group. On two of the lessons, no difference was found between presentation modes--the third favored film/audiocassette. (Author/JEG)

Describes the decline of direct newspaper competition in terms of the loss of effective newspaper market segmentation. Examines the following influences on market segmentation: shift in advertising demand, advertiser preferences for differentiated audiences, shift in subscriber demand, growth of alternative media, increasing production costs, and…

Analyzes the extent of coverage, total year's publishing output, time lag between publication and review date, length of review, amount of actual criticism, reviewers, and policies of 30 publication reviews chosen from the 1972-74 lists of Notable Children's Books. (Author/CMV)

An analysis of the editorials in ten leading newspapers during the 1976 presidential election shows that considerably more space was devoted to economic issues than to any other specific issue. (GT)

An examination of the way Blacks use the media and the way they assess their communication environment revealed that social structural variables were important determinants of both media exposure and perceptions of the media. (GT)