A study conducted analyses of metro and regional daily newspaper penetration in 87 Minnesota counties and examined readership for metro and regional daily newspapers and small-town weekly and semiweekly papers in 28 communities. Among conclusions reached was that in outlying communities, education was associated more with reading the metro paper…

Identifies four groups of readers (heavy, sporadic, scanner, and apathetic) and classifies them on the basis of individual, environmental, and stimulus factors. Emphasizes the importance of environmental factors (time, peer influence, parental reading habits, etc.) in explaining differences in adolescent newspaper readership. (PD)

Explores agenda-setting implications of indexing news content by topic instead of by salience cues. Suggests significant differences in news topic exposure on equivalently concentrated patterns of readership in two versions of a newspaper. Readers evaluated the indexed newspaper negatively, but a reader core liked the indexing. (NKA)

Found that (1) neighborhood leaders' agendas and definitions of issues compared highly with those of residents, especially the most educated residents, while (2) neighborhood papers' agendas and definitions were much less related to those of residents. (PD)

Indicates greater attention to televised news was related to subsequent increased fear, concern, and avoidance activity in the public's behavior. Finds no such effects for newspaper crime news attention, although greater concern was related to subsequent increased readership. (JD)

Examines how newspaper readers differ in their likely adoption of videotex. Suggests that complementary use of the two media will be more likely than use of only newspapers or videotex. (PD)

Investigates how social reality effects are determined by exposure to black-oriented television, to the black press, and by social structural variables (i.e., income, age, education, and parental training). (PD)

Compared Blacks and Whites for the effect of media on various indicators of their political attitudes and behavior. Found that there is a differential effect of the media on Blacks and that specific media (television, newspapers) operate differently for Blacks than for Whites. (PD)

Concluded that (1) reliance on television news correlated negatively with knowledge of issues; (2) reliance on newspapers did not correlate at all; (3) focused television news correlated more highly with knowledge of issues than did general television news use; and (4) for newspapers, both focused and general use had strong correlations with…

Provides support for the generalization that media use indirectly affects voting confidence. Also indicates that newspaper reading increases the probability of viewing television news, but that TV news viewing has little or no effect on probability of reading newspapers. (NKA)

Although communication research in China is in an early stage of development, an increasing number of training/research activities exist in universities and institutes. The 1982 Beijing Audience Survey, the first large-scale communication field study in China, reports how mass media audiences (newspaper, radio, and television) are rapidly…

Explores the role of memory in mediating mass communication effects. Examines (1) the nature of memory, (2) issues in retention and recall of media messages, (3) methods of promoting retention and recall of media messages, and (4) implications of memory processes for mass media effects. (PD)

Suggests that communication contributed to commitment to remain in a neighborhood or metropolitan community via a process of belief and attitude formation, but that attitudes were a better predictor of intention to stay in a neighborhood than they were of intention to remain in the metro area. (SD)

Examines the relationship between (1) use of and reliance upon particular media, (2) participation in activities linked to a conflictive public issue (South Africa) and (3) knowledge about that issue among black college students in Washington, DC. Concludes reliance on a particular medium is less important than interest and motivation in…