Eleanor Roosevelt's support of African American rights was one of the highlights of her activities as first lady. Her fearless advocacy for justice pulled her into political controversies that were unprecedented for the wife of a president. The first lady's initiatives in support of the rights of African Americans offer students an excellent…

Describes Harrison Salisbury's tenure as Moscow correspondent for the "New York Times" from 1949-1952. Asserts that although Soviet censorship damaged his articles, his reputation was redeemed soon after his return to the U.S. (MM)

From 1939 to 1943 the United States went from a period of total opposition to the Soviets to a gradual acceptance of its new ally. The "New York Times" editorial page shared in this trend: moving cautiously from complete rejection of the Soviets to acceptance of the Russian people, next the Red Army, and finally the Soviet government.…

In many respects the 18 months from June 1941 to December 1942--from the German assault on Soviet Russia to the conclusion of the first year of actual United States participation in World War II--was a brief interval of realism in the United States perception of the Soviet Union. The editorialists of "The New York Times" (probably the…

Reviews the events, studies, and comments (from 1960 to the present) regarding the controversial question of who won the first 1960 televised debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. Supports the view that, for television viewers, Kennedy was the winner, whereas radio listeners gave Nixon the edge. (SR)

Reviews legislation and public attitudes toward foreign refugees since the eighteenth century. Among the immigrant groups mentioned are the Chinese, Hungarians, Cubans, and Indochinese. (GC)

Discusses how the Nicaraguan revolutionary process affected Nicaragua internally and how published U.S. government information portrayed these effects in speeches and in writing. An attempt is made to assess the levels of accuracy and bias present in U.S. government information on the topic. (86 references) (Author/AEF)

A content analysis of "McClure's Magazine," often cited as initiating the muckraking era, was undertaken to assess whether muckraking content constituted the dominant element in the appeal the magazine had for its readers. The publication period 1903-1905 was chosen for the study; each monthly issue was examined; and each article,…

Provides results from a nationwide survey of educators conducted to determine their perceptions of change in image of the public community college during the 1970's in the areas of growth and management, programs offered, faculty, students, and other changes in policies, programs, or procedures. (DMM)

Suggests that United States history contains many incidents of violence directed against news media and their personnel. Provides historical examples of four patterns of violent activity against the media: (1) personal assaults; (2) majoritarian; (3) antigroup; and (4) inclusionary violence. Notes a contemporary view of the media as mainstream and…

Science journalism in the United States can be traced back to at least 1690 when a newspaper called "Publick Occurrences" included two paragraphs of medical writing in one issue. In 1752, the "Pennsylvania Gazette" carried an account by Benjamin Franklin of his "electric kite" experiment. Since then, inventions and…

Discusses George Gallup's crusade to establish polling's scientific and cultural legitimacy that mythologized its history of "progress"; deflected doubts about its accuracy and technical procedures with a rhetoric of scientific of mystification; and celebrated the collective wisdom of "the people." Shows how Gallup's…

The pro-German American newspaper "The Fatherland," published shortly before the United States entered the First World War (1914-1917), displayed a failure of public relations in terms of defining and offering themes likely to convince a target audience to side with Germany. By looking at a public relations campaign undertaken by the…

Discusses the issue of secret voting in England during the middle decades of the nineteenth century, with particular reference to the movement to secure the secret ballot and to the important position occupied by the ballot question within the Philosophic Radicals' reform program. Journal availability: see SO 507 179. (Author/DB)

Reviews French educational reform projects of the past 30 years, and offers some explanations for their failure. Discusses groups with a vested interest in continuing reform, the lack of national consensus on educational policy, and the discontinuity of political leadership. (34 references) (SV)