Investigates whether audience reaction to an editorial affect evaluations of adjacent newscasters. Tests effects of strong to weak television editorials on audience members and finds that strongly worded negative editorials cause a lowering of the judgment of competence of the adjacent newscaster if the audience members disagreed with the…

Presents preliminary data about audience perceptions to colorized movies. Finds that colorized films were seen as more contemporary and were evaluated slightly more favorably. (RS)

Reports results of an experiment in which student subjects read various types of film reviews and then reported interest in attending the film. Finds that higher amounts of information, regardless of evaluation, leads to more interest in the film. (MG)

Investigates patterns of college-student reactions to local television newscasts. Finds that significant audience adaptation does not occur during a 30-minute newscast and that there was no relationship between segment placement and level of viewer interest. Suggests that the audience rebound phenomenon overcomes the audience adaptation phenomenon…

Analyzes television news stories broadcast during the Persian Gulf War for censorship disclaimers, the censoring source, and the producing network. Discusses results in terms of both production- and viewer-based differences. Considers the question of whether censorship "works" in terms of unanticipated results related to story…

Examines whether medium is an important factor in arousal of curiosity about morbid events. Finds that television news reports did not evoke more curiosity about morbid events than did print or still photo accounts. (SR)

Finds that facts from news stories presented by newspaper or computer screen were recalled at a significantly higher level than were facts from the same stories when presented via radio or television. (SR)

Examines the agenda-setting impacts of electronic text news (ETN) and reactions to ETN as a news medium. Finds that electronic news viewers have nearly the same agenda as do users of traditional media. (MM)

Examines the electronic polling process (telephone polling that uses synthesized or digitized voice). Compares the process with two similar telephone polls and provides a basic cost efficiency comparison between the polls. Finds that digitized systems place more calls but get lower response rates than regular phone surveys. (MM)

Finds a small, but statistically significant, association between exposure to U.S. entertainment programs and attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of foreign audiences. Finds also that, when taking study characteristics into consideration, only language of the questionnaire produced a significant difference in correlation size; and that the…

Finds that lay readers respond to the risk implicit in news stories involving science and technology along four factors: (1) the proposition that science and technology are expensive and risky; (2) the idea that science and technology can have negative effects; (3) concerns associated with control and dependency; and (4) fear that science and…

Uses factor analysis to compare the surveillance role and communication utility of television and newspapers. Finds much variance explained by these two uses. Finds those who seek hard news on television also seek hard news in newspapers. (RS)

Finds that middle and high school students change their views of television watching along three ways of evaluating television: as a "magic window" to reality; as a utility route to information; and as an identity source of almost real people. Concludes that views of television reality are complex and dynamic. (SR)

Measures how much voters learned about the issue positions of the 1988 presidential candidates and the images formed from campaign coverage and other information. Finds the debates influential on knowledge; higher levels of education and campaign interest related to more issue knowledge; and image knowledge predicted by party loyalty. Concludes…

Compares the processing strategies of Indonesian and U.S. university students using an international news story attributed either to a high- or low-constraint source. Finds that audiences in censored news environments are more critical in distinguishing among news sources but less critical of the unconstrained news itself. (SR)