To investigate the role of the press in the agenda-setting process, a study examined the evolution of Harry Truman's policy on Palestine from November 29, 1947 through May 14, 1948--the 6-month period before Israel declared its nation-state status. Using a model which views the formation of public policy as a multidirectional process among the…

To provide a better understanding of the depictions of countries by the news media, it is necessary to determine whether similar portraits are presented in all types of reporting or whether there are different, or even contradictory, portrayals of foreign countries within individual newspapers considered nationally influential. A study examined…

The free press/fair trial controversy hinges on two distinctions: "decorum" (the general manner in which a trial is comported) vs. "substance" (the actual content of information relating to a trial, including both evidentiary and nonevidentiary information), and behavior within vs. behavior outside of the courtroom. Four major Supreme Court…

The five chapters of this paper focus on ways parents can help their preschool and elementary school-age children acquire basic skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and other curriculum areas. The first chapter describes eight misconceptions that lay writers have about learning in school settings. The second chapter outlines methods parents…

A study examined the coverage of the scientific aspects of the atomic bomb in four representative newspapers (New York "Times," New York "Herald Tribune," Chicago "Daily Tribune," and Boston "Daily Globe") and in 14 general mass circulation magazines in the time period immediately following the dropping of the bomb. Among the conclusions of the…

This report of a field study describes the step-by-step events and strategies to desegregate the public schools in Dallas, Texas, in September 1961. The legal background, the preparation and campaign for public approval, the desegregation plan in operation, and the response of the press are all discussed. To a degree there was resentment on the…

This Crisis Paper is thirty-third in a series which expands the analysis of the crisis under discussion to provide a multi-national view of the issue by quoting comment from a selection of newspapers and journals of several countries. A brief introduction outlines the history and background of the energy crisis, emphasizing the underestimated…

Based on the assumption that newspapers mirror the conceptions of economic development among major groups in society and that analysis of their content may aid in the clarification of group viewpoints, two dimensions along which groups might differ with respect to their conceptions of economic development issues were postulated: the need for…

Notes that relationships between the media and the presidency have been written about extensively, yet some conclusions have been misapplied and overvalued, while other potential conclusions have been overlooked or denied. Presents 10 propositions providing corrective hypotheses and new focus for presidential communication researchers. (SKC)

An attorney for the plaintiffs in the "Smith vs. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County, Alabama" case recounts his impressions of the trial, focusing on the nature of the press coverage. (NKA)

Examines the John F. Kennedy legend and his ability as an image maker. Characterizes Kennedy's presidency in terms of pragmatic idealism. Says Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson closed out the New and Fair Deal reforms but left no social or economic transformation. Claims Kennedy's disavowal of ideological rigidity ended the power of the Democratic…

This paper examines the role of mass media in the British education policy process, in particular, how the mass media steer education policy and inhibit certain issues from becoming the subject of policy. The paper describes how media professionals comprise an interest group competing with others to affect education policy; how they and other…

This issue of "Teachergram" addresses media-related issues such as the kind of world picture Canadians receive from mainstream media, the ability of television to describe the complexity of world events, and the claim of distorted and simplistic portrayal of developing nations. Students are encouraged critical perspective--to help them…

Elijah P. Lovejoy, generally regarded as America's first martyr to freedom of the press, was killed by a racist mob in Alton, Illinois, in November 1837, after a brief but tumultuous career as an crusading antislavery newspaper editor and preacher. Born into a stern Maine Protestant family, he migrated to St. Louis, became a minister, and began…

Given the perspective of news as a significant cultural form, a study examined the symbolic world constructed by American newsmagazines, particularly investigating the dominant media frames (defined as consistent patterns of cognition and selection by which symbol handlers routinely organize discourse) employed by these news organizations. The…