In this paper, we discuss a little-studied means of communicating about or teaching the nature of science (NOS)--through fiction television. We report some results of focus group research which suggest that the American sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" (2007-present), whose main characters are mostly working scientists, has influenced…

Public universities who participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision produce and air university TV spots during televised college football games. The purpose of this research was to analyze TV spots of public universities who participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association…

Previous analyses (i.e., Bernstein & St. John, 2006; Sender & Sullivan, 2008) of the television show "The Biggest Loser" have detailed its negative presentation of the obese body, potential consequences for viewers, and its role as a technology of governmentality. However, there has been little exploration of how audience members…

States that contrary to previous reports of "grazing," most viewers only used their remote control devices (RCDs) once or twice every half hour. Claims that the dominant RCD operation was direct channel punching, as opposed to dial turning. Concludes that most RCD activity did not take place during a program, thus voiding industry…

The mass media contribution to education politics is explored through the application of a pluralistic theoretical framework to evidence connected with the making of an episode of a U.K. current affairs television program. The episode addressed a politically contentious educational issue but proved controversial in itself. Several sources…

A study examined whether ethical sensitivity can be measured in response to radio programming. The study was interested in the extent to which a person feels a program is unethical in either its substance or its presentation. Subjects, 17 undergraduates in telecommunications at a large midwestern university, received course credit for their…

Examines violence in music video programming. Reveals that 15% of music videos feature violence, and most of that aggression is sanitized, not chastised, and presented in realistic contexts. Discusses the findings in terms of the risk that exposure to violence in each channel and genre may be posing to viewers' learning of aggression, fear, and…

Contending that public broadcasting has great potential to invigorate national discourses and to function as an agent of social change; at the beginning of the 21st century, many public television licensees are united solely by a core programming schedule and the need to raise funds at least four times a year. The paper traces the history of…

Investigates the nature and extent of violence contained in television programming that targets children aged 12 and younger. Notes that the violence itself is just as likely to be glamorized in children's as in nonchildren's shows, but it is even more sanitized and more likely to be trivialized. Documents five subgenres of children's programming…

Responds to an article in a prior issue of this journal. Argues that "South Park" is a deconstruction of the reality of American constructions of media, fame, and pop culture, and that more adolescents than adults understand that "South Park" is about the adult world of media. Includes a response by the author of the earlier article. (SR)

Public radio can survive cutbacks in federal subsidies, but only if these funds are reduced no more rapidly than public radio can replace them with newly-generated audience-sensitive revenues (listener support and underwriting). A model developed in this analysis suggests a three-to-five year "glide path" to zero federal support. Public…

Public broadcasting increased the number of programs for older children during the 1994-95 television season. Data from the Yankelovich Youth Monitor, a survey of 1,211 subjects aged 6 to 17 years, provide some information about response to these programs and give some insight into serving the 9 to 11 age group in particular. Television continued…

Finds an inverted-U shaped relationship between frequency of exposure to rock and popular songs and affect toward the songs among undergraduate students. Finds no support for the hypothesis that subjective novelty and complexity interact with exposure in determining affective evaluations. (SR)

This study investigated the standards children between 9 and 12 years of age use to evaluate the quality of four types of children's programs: news, educational, dramatic, and cartoons. The quality standards children considered most important were comprehensibility and aesthetic quality. Additional standards were entertainment, involvement,…

Two pioneering public radio stations--WOSU-AM, licensed to the Ohio State University in Columbus, and WHA-AM, licensed to the University of Wisconsin in Madison--conducted audience research as early as the 1920s. The challenge for early education broadcasters became to adapt the existing audience research paradigm to their purposes, or to develop…