Notes that the paradigm of resistance has enjoyed widespread popularity in the field of media studies. Argues for understanding media studies as a field in Pierre Bourdieu's sense of the term. Explores the analytical and political limits of this paradigm, and by extension, the intellectual vision that proceeds from it. (SR)

Uses Kantian logic to analyze the statement of Libertarian press theory "Truth beats falsehood in a free marketplace of ideas" as a definition, an observation, and a universal truth. Notes three corresponding moral universes, with differing ethical obligations. Discusses strengths and weaknesses of each. Cautions media ethics analysts…

Presents evidence of the demise of Libertarianism in the U.S. mass media system and proposes an "elite power group" model as an alternative explanation of the working of the mass media in the United States. (MG)

Identifies the major insights concerning contemporary communication and media practices associated with the postmodern condition and evaluates their contribution to critical media studies. Suggests that postmodern media studies are themselves a symptom of the very postmodern culture they seek to analyze. (RS)

Probes the contradictory philosophical reception of mass communication in the social thought of Charles Horton Cooley, John Dewey, Walter Lippmann, Robert Park, and Josiah Royce. Shows how these progressive intellectuals conceived of mass media as an integral part of a social order whose scale and mass require systematic means of…

Responds to criticism of the uses and gratification model by proposing a modified model integrating the dependency perspective. Suggests that this integrated model broadens the heuristic application of the earlier model. (MS)

Discusses the Cook Islands experience in acquiring television and how highlighting push, pull, and temporal factors accounts for the creation and maintenance of dependency relationships. Demonstrates how the dependency relationships cannot be reduced to "natural" market forces but rather a range of strategies which Television New Zealand…

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)

Analyzes research about the mass communication audience and describes a theoretical and methodological framework for further empirical studies. Discusses the (1) explanatory value of qualitative research; (2) social and cultural implications of the reception process, with special reference to television; and (3) applications and social relevance…

Finds that pro-life women actively searched for authorities and authoritative information that were not "corrupted" by the values of secular society. Finds that, paradoxically, they drew on secular forms of argument, claiming scientific authenticity for their own sources, and that their selective viewing habits resulted in the…

Addresses the role of feminist scholars in the field of communication. Suggests the need to (1) monitor the status of feminist scholars in the field; (2) intervene in the field's discourses; (3) collaborate with other feminists; and (4) envision the kind of transformations needed and wanted. (SR)

Defines the major theoretical influences on interpretive approaches in mass communication, examines the central concepts of these perspectives, and provides a critique of these approaches. States that the adoption of interpretive approaches in mass communication has ignored varied critiques of interpretive social science. Suggests that critical…

Discusses a persistent concern in research on social change--the impact of the availability of knowledge on relative degrees of power and influence. Emphasizes that changes in media structure may have far-reaching consequences not only for the amount of information that gets distributed, but for who gets the information. (JD)

Argues that people are connected or separated more by media experience than by chronological years. Examines how media develop their own grammars, how individuals acquire media literacy, and the effects of media literacy on ways people relate to each other. (PD)

Examines the impact of social class on the relationship between ideologies of time and mass media use within the family system. Finds that families from different social strata have distinct beliefs about the value and use of time, beliefs that shape their media-related behaviors. (RS)