Replies to Martin Allor's article, "Relocating the Site of the Audience" (same issue). Discerns in it a struggle between textualism and realism. (MS)

Reexamines the history of the apprehension, consumption, and production of reality by means of the aural in light of developments in virtual reality technology. Suggests that, by acknowledging and examining its roots in aural media, the connections of virtual reality to the discourse of authenticity are made clear. (SR)

Proposes viewing journalists as members of an interpretive community (not a profession) united by its shared discourse and collective interpretations of key public events. Applies the frame of the interpretive community to journalistic discourse about two events central for American journalists--Watergate and McCarthyism. (SR)

Argues that the contention that media texts have no meaning is problematic. Repositions the concept of "text" within the context of general semiotic theory. Uses an approach culled from literary, film, and communication perspectives to reanalyze canonical research on television texts. Proposes a new research agenda. (PRA)

Gives a thorough rhetorical investigation of "The X-Files" beginning with an exploration of the show's antecedent genre. Links the show to the genre of ontological detective stories, not science fiction. Describes the way in which the show simultaneously deconstructs and reconstructs authority. Creates a new story using science,…

Discusses how utopian talk about cable television as a dramatic new technology swept through the policy arena in the 1970s. Analyzes this talk as a discursive practice to demonstrate both the value of discourse analysis and some contradictions of the policy process. Shows how discourse thus helped shape an institution that it failed to describe.…

Using Burkean analysis, this essay shows how films about haunted houses can serve as symbolic equipment to help audiences cope with real life problems. (PD)

Reviews critically the dominant discourse on science and the media. Finds that the dominant concern has conceptual and methodological problems. Argues that the dominant discourse has promoted a science coverage dutiful to scientific interests and has inhibited a truly critical appraisal of popular science communication. (RS)