A descriptive mail survey extended two earlier studies done in the 1970s on "all-news" stations (or "news radio") and compared characteristics of stations using all-news with those of stations using extended news or news/information formats. Specifically, the previous studies were updated by exploration of how the following sets of characteristics might differ among news radio stations (i.e., stations with extended, but not 100%, news programming): market, organizational or ownership, operating, and news content. Data, collected from "Broadcasting Yearbook" and by mail questionnaire, resulted in usable information from 146 stations. Results pointed to several tendencies: (1) pure all-news stations tend to be in larger markets which are more hospitable to efforts to program news radio exclusively; (2) increased commitment to news tends to be associated with more ownership support; (3) most stations' market and operating characteristics predate particular formats; (4) the stations most committed to news (typically in larger markets) have larger news staffs and are served by more news sources; and (5) the larger market stations may require larger staffs just to man the "news net" that is necessary to stay in touch with a large area. (Twenty-six notes and three tables are included.) (MS)