Uses Q-analysis to study the motives that reporters and mass communication students bring to the resolution of ethical issues. Finds that most were "mainstream" ethicists, whose ethical concerns centered on credibility, their personal sense of morality, the public's need to know, and the standards of their field and their employer. (SR)

Surveys farm magazine writers and editors regarding advertiser pressure and their attitudes toward it. Finds that 62 percent report receiving pressures from advertisers, whereas about half said that advertising had been withdrawn on occasion. Finds that about half reported that keeping distance from advertisers is a challenge. (SR)

Studies a public school controversy and finds a knowledge gap--a gap of disaffection. Finds that, among women only, higher education leads to greater knowledge but does so partly through reduced trust of government and lower perceived fairness of the news media. Shows similar findings with other less powerful groups. (SR)

Contributes scholarship on journalism, democracy, and pluralism, offering a content analysis of 291 news stories from tabloid and traditional news-magazine programs to examine their news sourcing and reporting. Finds striking differences between tabloid and traditional news-magazine sourcing patterns, and provides some support for concerns about…

Reviews the scientific and public-opinion debate on the impact television violence in America has on aggression and violence. Research supports the view that television violence contributes to children's level of aggressiveness and subsequent violence and criminality. Describes attempts to improve the quality of television programming for children…

Contributes to scholarship on attitudes toward the media's role in society by investigating public attitudes toward the use of investigative reporting. Finds that a large majority (84%) still approve of investigative reporting in general, while approval for specific investigative reporting techniques remains low (about one-third). (SR)

Describes a study in which undergraduate students were divided into groups and were told that a public service announcement (PSA) about organ donation had succeeded in persuading other people, had failed to persuade others, or were given no information. Finds that subjects tended to explain third-person reactions to the PSA in ways that placed…

Presents the results of empirical research of media coverage of recent elections in Croatia. Uses qualitative analysis to examine coverage on broadcasts and in weekly and daily newspapers. Concludes that coverage of political parties was uneven. (PA)

Examines the influence of soft-money-sponsored issue-advocacy advertising in U.S. House and Senate campaigns, comparing its effects against candidate-sponsored positive advertising and contrast advertising on viewers' candidate preferences and on their attitude that reflect democratic values. Reveals no main effects for advertising approach on…

Many recent studies on computer-mediated communication (CMC) have addressed the question of orality and literacy. This article examines a relatively recent subgenre of CMC, that of written online sports commentary, that provides us with written CMC that is clearly based on firmly established oral genres, those of radio and television sports…

A study examined whether ethical sensitivity can be measured in response to radio programming. The study was interested in the extent to which a person feels a program is unethical in either its substance or its presentation. Subjects, 17 undergraduates in telecommunications at a large midwestern university, received course credit for their…

For South African media and its audiences, as well as news researchers, the democratization developments in South Africa since April 1994 also offer new opportunities in the field of news flow studies. To answer the question "How are South African mass media portraying Africa and the rest of the world in the post-apartheid era through the…

This study examines textual analysis methodology as applied to mass communication studies. It focuses particularly on the theoretical basis of textual analysis, the analytical process, and congruent theoretical perspectives. Although the term "textual analysis" is often used generically, this study differentiates textual analysis as…

Noting that the technique of content analysis has become a useful tool for mass communication researchers, this annotated bibliography explains how the field evolved. The annotated bibliography's introduction suggests that: first stage issues (from the 1890s to the mid-1930s) involved efforts by journalists and educators to develop systematic…

The public receives a large percentage of its information about mental health issues from media sources. Research has shown that the portrayal of occupational roles is often distorted and unrealistic. Cultivation theory predicts that television's version of reality helps influence or "cultivate" viewers' beliefs about the world. This cultivation…