The 1879 Post Office Act created the four categories of mailable matter used today and, in part, signalled the emergence of the modern mass circulated magazine. Between 1863 and 1879, Congress liberalized the terms on which regular periodicals could use the mails and put newspapers and magazines on the same footing. Requiring payment of postage at…

In an age of little or no consumer protection, the St. Louis "Post-Dispatch," under the guidance of Joseph Pulitzer II, was the first and most successful practitioner of self-imposed censorship of advertising, a practice that continues to this day. Beginning on May 1, 1929, the "Post-Dispatch" announced an aggressive program of…

This information brief discusses the impact of commercialism in schools. It asks the question of whether such advertising is supporting students or is simply selling access. It describes how children are a desirable market since they have most of their purchases ahead of them; they can also frequently convince parents to buy items. The brief…

This report focuses on business partnerships with schools. Supporters of school-business partnerships point out many potential benefits to schools, students, businesses, employees, and the community at large, while critics warn against the harmful effects of what they term "schoolhouse commercialism." Topics addressed include corporate…

This issue of a quarterly publication of the Council of Europe covers aspects of the history, technology, policies, and impact of telecommunications in Europe, with an emphasis on European television. The following articles are included: (1) "Man and the World of Telecommunications" (Piet Stoffelen); (2) "The European Communications…

Competition between cable television systems (CATV) and regular broadcast stations concerns pay-TV and distant signal importation. The pay-TV that CATV provides competes with the networks by "siphoning" away sports and feature films, while the distant signals that CATV imports to a local market "fragment" the local audience and…

This document is comprised of the year 2000 reports from the UNESCO International Clearinghouse on Children and Violence on the Screen. The two issues describe research findings concerning children and media violence, children's media use, and activities aimed at limiting gratuitous media violence. The first issue includes articles addressing…

This issue of the newsletter "Prevention Forum" focuses on smoking among adolescents. The articles are as follows: (1) "Where There's Smoke--Will Prevention Put Out the Fire?" (Joanne Burgess), an overview of the Surgeon General's report "Preventing Tobacco Use among Young People," including interviews with prevention…

This document, which was written for adult educators in Georgia, offers instructional plans and practical strategies for helping students in adult literacy, adult basic education, General Educational Development, and English-as-a-second-language programs become critical television viewers. The document begins with a discussion of why television…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 47 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) television and attitudes about crime, (2) attitude measurement in marketing communications, (3) soap operas and liberal education values, (4) the existence of…

This document consists of the four issues of the "Media Now" newsletter published during 1997-1998. Functioning as a link between academia and the creative community, the "Media Now" newsletter from Children Now is dedicated to keeping advertisers, advertising professionals, television writers, and producers and network executives abreast of…

This issue, written in English and French, focuses on the increasing role of English in Switzerland, as it affects both the general public and the education system. The articles include the following: "The Function of English in Swiss Advertisement" [written in French] (Marc Bonhomme); "Unpacking before Take-Off: English for Swiss…

This collection of articles on intercultural communication and pragmatics includes: "Peut-on traduire la publicite? L'exemple des annonces romandes et alemaniques" ("Does Advertising Translate? The Example of Romansch and German Ads") (Marc Bonhomme, Michael Rinn); "La construction de l'image de l'autre dans l'interaction.…

Suggestions are offered for attracting students to and holding them in foreign language programs, and information on attrition rates in foreign language study for Indiana is included. After students start confronting difficult grammar, teachers might want to present short-term objectives and study tips. Many students require a great deal of…

This document represents the only issue of UNESCO International Clearinghouse on Children and Violence on the Screen's newsletter published in 2001. The report describes research findings concerning children and media violence, children's media use, and activities aimed at limiting gratuitous media violence. One article summarizes three workshops…