Findings from a 1971-72 North Carolina statewide survey focusing on the newspaper nonreader were compared with results from a similar statewide survey taken in 1961-62 in Wisconsin. Although there were limits to how precisely the two sets of data could be compared, the findings demonstrated that the type of person who chose not to read a newspaper…

Finds that the journalist and the public frequently differ on issues regarded as important to the well-being of the press and society. (RB)

A study examined newspaper coverage of the United States' withdrawal from Unesco to determine whether the public was given a balanced picture of the issues involved and to examine the degree of impartiality of the coverage of one specific issue, the New World Information Order. The study analyzed reports that appeared in American daily newspapers…

The findings of research studies that come from a variety of sources and concern newspapers, some aspects of television news, and news media audiences are summarized briefly. Among the topics are audience characteristics, content of stories, readership, headlines and makeup, editorial policy, and editorial administration and personnel. Most of the…

This discussion of agenda setting reviews early theories of mass communication and traces the beginnings of agenda setting theory to the 1968 United States presidential campaign, during which researchers found a high correlation between what the media were saying about issues and what the people thought were important issues. The results of more…

This paper presents a rationale for studying the effect of a community's news media resources on the diversity of topics that the public considers important (the agenda). Research on media effects has followed a model that implicitly assumes that the important effects consist of the persuasion of individuals to adopt specific positions. This paper…

Reports on a study of the agenda-setting function of the media in a rural central Illinois city, during an off-election year. (GW)

Reports on a study that explored two dimensions of Canadian attitudes toward the political integration of Quebec into the rest of Canada: (1) the front page and editorial output of the country's newspapers with respect to integration issues, and (2) the feedback on these issues, measured by the content of letters to newspaper editors. (Author/GT)

Concludes that the press may not be successful in telling people what to think, but it is successful in telling its readers what to think about. (RB)

A study examined the relationship between newspaper coverage of issues and public concern about them at the neighborhood and community-wide levels in an urban area. It was hypothesized that (1) newspaper coverage of issues would be more strongly related to concern about perceived community than neighborhood issues, (2) newspaper coverage would…

A study was conducted in the Washington, D.C., area to test mass media effects in a community controversy. Five possible theories were hypothesized to explain the effects media have on a community: indirect and direct effects, null effects, agenda setting, reverse effects, and reverse agenda setting. During the 16-month test period of the British…

A study investigated whether newspaper mug shots are perceived by readers as being positive or negative in tone and whether the mug shots that are selected match the roles of their subjects in accompanying stories. Twenty-three news and feature stories with associated mug shots were clipped from seven daily newspapers. Pictures and stories were…

A study examined how four news magazines in North America and Western Europe covered British public reaction to the 1982 Falklands War. The news magazines--similar in format--represented four nations with varying degrees of closeness to Great Britain: the United States ("Time"), Canada ("Macleans"), West Germany…

This monograph discusses the role of the press in reporting the nomination of Senator Thomas Eagleton for Vice President of the United States, the revelation of his hospitalization for mental illness six years prior to the nomination, and his eventual resignation as George McGovern's running mate in the 1972 Presidential elections. Four sections…