Reports a study comparing the nonverbal decoding ability (under auditory, visual, and audio-visual conditions) of college age females with elderly females, in order to identify preliminary nonverbal differences which may be related to aging. Finds that the elderly were significantly less skilled in decoding nonverbal behaviors across all…

Addresses two aspects of disciplinary identity in the communication field--self-concept and academic standing. Discusses various forces that contributed to the fragmentation of the discipline. (MM)

Examines variables hypothesized to contribute to discrepancies between an organization's view of itself and news articles written about those organizations. Finds organizational structure and values appear to affect openness of organizational communication. (MS)

Uses hierarchical cluster analysis to develop a typology of verbal aggression as experienced by undergraduate students. Reveals three broad domains of attack: group membership, personal failings, and relational failings. Demonstrates reliability, predictive validity, and content validity for the typology. Reveals that aggressive messages can be…

Discusses the importance of increasing effective communication in outdoor education programs. Examines sensory preferences and how they affect vocabulary, voice tone, and body language. Describes ways that outdoor educators can use this information to improve their communication skills. (LP)

Explores the relationship between current theoretical definitions of risk communication, the unique national role that EPA plays in defining health and environmental risks, and possible explanations for EPA's inability to persuade Aspen, Colorado, to accept a cleanup plan. Explores ownership messages conveyed through metacommunication conflict…

Elaborates a conceptualization of news as a discursive resource, and suggests a dialogical model for media-movement relationships. Describes how two "branches" of the United States women's movement understood news differently and developed different and specific strategies which are called "media pragmatism" and "media subversion." (SR)

Argues that humor can be accomplished in computer-mediated communication and can be critical to creating social meaning online. Analyzes the humor of the USENET news group rec.arts.tv.soaps (r.a.t.s.), which discusses soap operas. Combines user surveys with message analysis to show the prevalence and importance of humor in r.a.t.s. (RS)

States that computer-mediated communication on the Internet offers new challenges and opportunities for technical communication. Describes the cases of Lotus "MarketPlace" and the Clipper chip to illustrate the specialized nature of technical communities on the Internet. Suggests that when technical messages are not overly complex,…

Discusses myth, metaphor, and subjectivity in the popular science fiction film series sometimes referred to as the "Alien Trilogy." Traces how images of rape, birth, and self-annihilation deconstruct liberalized myths of gender and family, destabalizing the conventional frame through which the rhetorical subject is constructed. (SR)

Presents a historical perspective relating the physical construction and the symbolic interpretation of cities as places of meaning. Contends that, with changing social organization, a qualitatively new form of space has developed, called cyberspace, and that therefore urban planning must be performed in a framework that is both ecological and…

Locates and elaborates a postwar disassociation between films and the domestic audience in changing finance and marketing practices. Suggests that preselling unproduced films to worldwide territories (begun in the 1970s) eroded Hollywood's emphasis on American viewers. Suggests that this is why American films contribute so little to the social…

Examines popular culture in terms of its position in social structures of power, looking at the Ivoirien music made popular by state television in Cote d'Ivoire. Focuses on Cote d'Ivoire's international singing star, Alpha Blondy, and how this singer and others negotiate the relationship between state television and the Ivoirien popular singer.…

Describes collaborative research and writing being carried out by scholars in the field of business writing. Narrates examples of long-term partnerships in which research has been carried out together by multiple contributors over a sustained length of time, along with its possible risks. (HB)

Explores the applicability of the diffusion model to communication processes in the art world. The main fields of social studies of arts are reviewed in terms of communication research issues. Principal elements of the diffusion model are examined, and suggestions are given for applying this approach in the art world. (Contains 57 references.)…