Surveys mall shoppers to determine the relative informativeness of retail advertising. Finds that newspaper advertisements are considered the most informative with radio commercials next and television commercials least. Finds that newspaper ads are more irritating than radio or television advertising. Finds older and wealthier shoppers more…

Matches a content analysis sample of "Time" magazine coverage of two "concrete" issues (drug abuse, energy) and two "abstract" issues (nuclear arms race, federal budget deficit) with Gallup poll data over a lengthy period of time. Finds that concreteness increases news media agenda-setting power whereas abstractness…

Examines how changes in the method of news story presentation affect information recall and viewer evaluation. States that, as story complexity increased (in terms of production elements), overall recall decreased significantly. In addition, as story complexity decreased, positive evaluations of the story increased. (MM)

Concludes that for voters highly dependent upon political commercials, an independent sponsor is more trustworthy and affects candidates' images more than a party or candidate sponsor. (FL)

Investigates whether people perceive effects of mass media as being greater on others than on themselves. Finds that almost 90 percent of respondents judge themselves less influenced than others. Finds respondents with more education see others as even more likely to be influenced, with older respondents most likely to do so. (SR)

Examines criminal defendants' perceptions of the free press/fair trial issue with respect to perceived influences of media coverage on the disposition of criminal cases and the outcome of criminal trials. Concludes that the press' influence on trials is generally perceived as minimal and fair. (MM)

Compares local radio advertising with small daily and weekly newspapers in influencing the outcome of 11 New Mexico mayoral races in 1986. Reports that the 11 winning mayoral candidates paid attention to radio political advertising in their media mix. (MM)

Reports that editors say the use of brand names in nonbusiness sections of newspapers has increased in the last 20 years. (FL)

Reports that bad news dominates early evening newscasts on the three major television networks in the United States. (FL)

Reports data that link media use to knowledge of public affairs and this knowledge to voter behavior in local elections. (FL)

Examines the impact of sex role stereotyping in advertising on the perception of the degree to which women possess managerial attributes considered requisite for success in business. Finds that depicting women in professional roles in magazine ads results in higher evaluations by male subjects of the degree to which the nonrole female possessed…

Investigates the relationship between education and knowledge of energy issues. Finds some evidence of such a relationship, especially among the more educated readers of newspaper energy stories. Finds some tendency for an initial knowledge gap--the more educated seem to learn more than the less educated at first. Notes that the difference…

Uses a quasi-experimental design to test the effects of exposure to the miniseries "Amerika" on attitudes about communism and United States/Soviet relations. Finds that viewers of the miniseries believe that Americans should guard against a very real communist threat by supporting a strong military defense, including the development of…

Uses three strategies (dividing cultivation into component subprocesses, testing for an intervening variable, and contingent relationships) for elaborating the cultivation hypothesis. Finds evidence that cultivation effects do exist but that dividing the socialization process does not increase the predictive power of the cultivation hypothesis.…

Investigates the cultivation theory of media effects by studying whether adolescent viewers "see" certain lessons for human behavior in television portrayals and whether amount of exposure to television affects this. Finds that some values associated with television are more valued by higher versus lower exposed-to-television watchers.…