Reviews the scholarly work that uses content analysis to study political substance in magazines. Uses a modified version of Laswell's communication model to classify the current literature. Discusses problematic issues and offers possible solutions. (SR)

Finds, in studies on magazines published outside the United States, little linking of data to theory; little research on how to disseminate ideas; and a void in many areas of magazine publishing, for example, looking at magazines as vehicles for sociological study, examining content categories, and investigating types of specialized magazines. (SR)

Describes beta tests conducted of three desktop video-conferencing systems that provide audio and video control and that transmit images of both the work and the participants. Describes the systems, relates how college students have used them, and lists social and technical factors to consider when structuring and maintaining distance-meeting…

Analyzes a sequence of grammar instruction in a fifth-grade classroom to investigate how familiar instructional objects called problems, answers, errors, and solutions are made visible to the cohort. Discusses an "essential instructional fiction" which is essential to the coherence of the lesson in hand and which may hold relevance for…

Explores the development and maintenance of topics on the public agenda. Tests whether, for a new issue to compete for attention, an old issue must be displaced. Finds little support for that assumption. Argues that the maintenance of topics is complex and the displacement effect is not as powerful as once assumed. (SR)

Analyzes congressional deliberations over America's first peacetime propaganda program from 1947-53. Finds three distinct periods: naivete, hysteria, psychological strategy. Argues that the Truman administration produced an ethnocentric approach to propaganda whereas the Eisenhower administration adopted a more internationalist perspective which…

Analyzes newspaper accounts of the sociopolitical opposition encountered by the head of a state government agency forced to publicly apologize after attempting to control the external communication of an agency staff member with a reputation for organizational dissent. Discusses academic and applied implications of these findings for the emerging…

Describes how professional communicators are involved in situations which implicate questions of civic and ethical responsibility. Argues that feminist scholarship is a powerful means of understanding these situations. Discusses such theoretical frameworks and areas needing further research. (HB)

Reports findings from a think-aloud protocol study of reading, writing, and persuasive processes in legal discourse during an actual appellate court case. Discusses three aspects of advocates' use of persuasive techniques in written appeal briefs. Focuses on specific persuasive techniques utilized by attorneys. (HB)

Argues that the vice presidency is a traditional female role and that nominees must undergo a sublimation process during their candidacy. Analyzes an apparent aberration in public talk about vice presidential candidates and notes the similarity in rhetorical "rules" impacting the candidacy of both Geraldine Ferraro and Dan Quayle. (KEH)

Assesses the role of television in mediating cultural change by examining how local television news simultaneously depresses the legitimacy of old-fashioned racism and stimulates the production of modern racism. Suggests that this occurs unintentionally, partly in seeking to overcome old-fashioned racism and in responding to the viewing tastes of…

In a study of interspecies understanding, 75 naive human listeners classified 18 vocalizations of monkeys into 1 of 7 semantic categories, which were also related to the behavioral situation. Results suggest that both species share vocalization patterns signalling fear, aggression, dominance, and emotional neutrality. (45 references) (LB)

Investigates readability levels of correspondence sent out by Gulf Coast area business offices. Finds that a large majority of the correspondence sent out from the offices under study is written at too high a reading level. Finds also that the greatest problem lies in syllable intensity--the use of "big" words where everyday words would have…

Presents a critical analysis of how cultivation (long-term formation of perceptions and beliefs about the world as a result of exposure to media) has been conceptualized in theory and research. Analyses the construct of television exposure. Suggests revisions for conceptualizing the existing theory and extending it. (RS)

Offers a critical reading of a controversial narrative on euthanasia that appeared in the "Journal of the American Medical Association," paying particular attention to what the narrative is doing rhetorically. Suggests the narrative is addressing topic and readers in a postmodern manner. (SR)