The strengths and weaknesses of home television are examined from a developmental point of view, and recommendations for action by educators and parents are made. Strengths considered are educational growth, aesthetic development, and entertainment. Weaknesses discussed include television violence and aggressive behavior, passivity by viewer, and…

Aristotle's "Rhetoric" offers a model for applying the concept of the enthymeme to the work of film scholars to understand the role of the audience. Used from an analytic perspective, enthymemes emphasize audience reaction to a film, with the focus on how the film is seen, not on how it was made. Applying viewing skills to a sample of…

Discusses the issue of public accountability in broadcasting as shown in new legal strictures, in the creation of councils by the media themselves, and in such mechanisms as public inquiries, research and audience polling, and access experiments. Concludes that access and participation are means for demonstrating accountability. (JMF)

Just as strong limbs do not ensure self-defense in an age of modern warfare, so strong persuasive appeals do not ensure self-defense in an age of highly technologized communication systems. The fragmentation of the audience, the inherent loss of credibility associated with the decreased status of rhetoric, and the competition among messages all…

The uses and gratifications paradigm, like the initial conceptions of media effects, can be viewed as a compatible elaboration of contemporary social and political theory. The fundamental assumptions of the uses and gratifications approach, particularly the assumptions regarding the nature and extent of audience activity and the ability of the…

Discusses the importance of television in history and citizenship education in Soviet schools. Describes studies dealing with the effects of mass communications media on the educational process. Urges the integration of subject matter conveyed to students via television with that acquired in the classroom to foster development of theoretical…