Proposes that newspaper journalists' demographic and attitudinal characteristics help to maintain distance between them and the public they serve. Claims that this distance may be directly related to the public's perceptions of newspaper credibility. (MM)

The hypothesis that decisions of the Supreme Court involving freedom of speech for deviant political groups are correlated with public opinion on this issue is supported by analysis of public opinion polls during the 34 year period from 1937 to 1970. (JMF)

Integrating concepts from family systems theory, attachment theory, and family socialization theory within a systems theory of public opinion and social movements, this paper concentrates on linkages between family socialization and political attitudes, adding the influence of social structure. The paper holds that family systems theory…

A study was conducted to explore attitudes toward the credibility of individual media and news media in general. The first phase of the study was a series of focused group discussions, while the second involved a national representative sampling of 1,469 adults interviewed by telephone, 875 of whom were then surveyed by mail. Credibility scores…

Results of the 1985 American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) survey--to determine public attitudes toward media credibility--are reported in this paper. Discussion is categorized according to the 12 issues explored: (1) the believability of media when news reports conflict; (2) geographic scope of topics; (3) reliability of reporting and…

Psychographic analysis--combining demographic and attitudinal characteristics into groups and looking at variations in those characteristics--is useful in newspaper research to expand theories of media publics. One effective segmentation strategy (used at Minnesota Opionion Research Incorporated--MORI) is to divide the population into four groups,…

This paper describes seven studies (all that could be found on the subject) comparing nine respondent selection procedures with regard to their potential to reduce refusal rates and to increase representativeness of samples; particular concerns are underrepresentation of men and multiple-adult households. The paper states that (1) the seven…

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)

This paper seeks to integrate some ideas from family systems theory and attachment theory within a theory of public opinion and social movement. Citing the classic "The Authoritarian Personality," the paper states that the first authorities children know, their parents or other caregivers, shape children's attitudes toward all…

Evidence from 34 studies published since a 1983 review of 58 earlier studies underscores knowledge inequalities as an enduring phenomenon and emphasizes that interest in the knowledge gap phenomenon is accelerating. All 10 studies which varied "media publicity" supported the hypothesis. Eleven of 12 studies which varied some aspect of…

To gain a perspective on the kinds of people who find newspapers and television to be high or low in credibility, a two-phase study combined demographic and other characteristics, media behavior, and attitudes toward the media. The first phase involved a series of focused group discussions, while the second was a national, representative sampling…

This monograph reconstructs a theory of news, public opinion, and social control originally presented between 1904 and 1941 by Robert Ezra Park, a founder of the sociological study of mass communication and public opinion, and suggests that the theory is pertinent to contemporary journalists and scholars. Park's work is described as the basis of…

A "collective voluntarism" framework can be used to achieve greater analytical precision and improve theoretical development of the landmark "knowledge gap hypothesis" which has stimulated considerable research and debate about the nature and existence of socially structured public affairs knowledge. The original knowledge gap…

Assuming that neighborhood newspapers and neighborhood leaders are among the most important influences on neighborhood residents' issue agendas and definitions of issues, a study examined some of these influences by interviewing a random sample of 239 residents of a low income, urban neighborhood in Minneapolis. In addition, a purposive sample of…

Public opinion polls about freedom of speech issues during a 30-year period (1937-70) were compared with Supreme Court decisions for the same period to determine the effects of public sentiment on judicial decision making. Two-thirds of the decisions conformed to a constitutionality model (that the Court should always uphold the First Amendment…