Cites the news story "lead," which tells immediately what the story is about, as necessary for "hooking" the reader. States that leads do not come that easily, but that they must deliver the news. Adds that a good lead should eliminate unnecessary words and select key words. Offers examples of good and bad leads. (PA)

Explores silent film actress Norma Talmadge's "star persona" in the 1920s. Focuses on the public discourses that provide the background for Talmadge's departure from the screen. Analyzes why her two "talkies" failed commercially and critically. Concentrates on promotional and publicity materials and on the films themselves. (PA)

Discusses media coverage of public relations topics. Describes a census of television news stories about public relations. Finds increased coverage from 1980 through 1995, and that politicians and foreign governments are the most commonly reported on users. States that stories generally have a neutral tone and assume the "press agentry"…

Contends that the index at the back of a book is an important reader service. Discusses how and why to index, and how to make indexes interesting. Outlines programs, such as Filemaker and Adobe, which help the indexing process. (PM)

Suggests newspaper editors and television producers do not have much use for scholars or scholarship. Discusses ways major United States newspapers responded to the publication of the National Reading Panel's report. Suggest the relatively few stories published on the report was due to the fact that the message of the report was not new to…

Outlines the inception and evolution of "The Bonderman," a workshop devoted to the development of new theatre works for young audiences. Explains that the Bonderman is committed to: the development of the playwright; the development of the individual play; and the ongoing dialogue about the creation of new work for young audiences. Describes the…

Notes a resurgence of interest and practice in participational theater. Explains that playwrights, directors, and theater educators have begun to ask questions and seek information about available scripts and guidelines for creating new works. Includes edited remarks by six practitioners who talked about their experiences with participation…

Reports results of an experiment in which student subjects read various types of film reviews and then reported interest in attending the film. Finds that higher amounts of information, regardless of evaluation, leads to more interest in the film. (MG)

Notes that the notion of authors consulting their audiences is an old one. Discusses how Homer, Ernest Hemingway, and James Joyce reworked their writing to suit the taste of their audiences. (RS)

Asserts that there is a need for more empirical research in the area of theatre for young audiences. Discusses myths about empirical research. (MS)

Describe the Roman concepts of "decorum" and "ornatus." Analyzes a speech from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," showing how these concepts advance plot, deepen character, and create expectations. Demonstrates how these concepts are useful in the criticism of American public address by applying them to Ronald Reagan's…

Discusses a didactic model for translation based on textual linguistics that incorporates a model second external reader in the translation process. Although translation is necessarily sentence oriented, this method considers the entire text that must eventually satisfy a pragmatic external purpose. (51 references) (CFM)

Reviews the development of research on the persuasive effects of evidence, focusing on research dealing with the impact of evidence on persuasive communication. Concludes that evidence makes a difference in persuasive argument, and that the difference is affected by evidence type, along with relevant source, message, and receiver elements (191…

Addresses the following censorship issues: (1) whether a group has the right to impose its world view on another group; (2) whether artistic visions which attack any group's values should be permitted; and (3) the limits of artistic freedom and who defines those limits. Cites examples from various plays through the years. (PA)

Examines the process through which a fear appeal transforms low-involvement audiences into active publics. Analyzes cognitive and emotional responses of uninvolved viewers to a film on environmental contamination, together with coping strategies used to deal with the threat. Concludes that cognition and affect mediate viewers' responses to a…