Collection of detailed data on normative overall patterns of television viewer behavior has been an ongoing effort of the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) in the United Kingdom. While their measurement system--self-completion viewing diaries in conjunction with electronic meters recording television set use--may register that an…

In this paper the instructor of a course on contemporary fiction by women about women recounts her experiences with the dissonance that developed between her students and herself during the reading of one of the assigned texts. The instructor explores the reasons underlying the disparate perspectives between two audiences during the act of…

A study examined the effect of topic-specific background knowledge on the general quality and local coherence of student writing. Ninety-seven tenth grade students were assigned two writing tasks on specific topics at two points during a semester. J. Langer's measure of topic-specific knowledge was administered prior to each writing task. Each…

The product of a two-day symposium on children and children's books, this booklet features remarks of Elaine Moss, British author and critic, and Barbara Rollock, coordinator for children's services at the New York Public Library. Moss's speech discusses meeting children's need for books offering depth and involvement, while Rollock's talk…

Intended to help administrators and theatre teachers provide a theatre arts program accessible to disabled actors, technicians, and audiences, the guide focuses on ways to alleviate limitations in the theatre. The following topics are addressed (sample subtopics in parentheses): awareness (use of improvisations and simulations); acclimatization…

A teacher presents a writing exercise designed to facilitate audience-directed, critical thinking during the process of composing, that starts students thinking in terms of sorites and enthymemes. Students first read a CIA manual, "Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare," that instructs the Contra guerrillas in illegal acts and…

Many television viewers construct their social reality from media content as well as from sensory and interpersonally communicated information. One aspect of this media-influenced social reality is television viewers' estimates of crime in society, or their fear of criminal victimization. Several media-effects studies have demonstrated the…

The development of the communication component of a program promoting breast feeding to a variety of audiences through a variety of media is the focus of this paper. The introduction discusses groups, in addition to pregnant and lactating mothers, who should be involved and receive information. The paper then (1) identifies audiences--including…

Seven countries--Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Hungary, Italy, and Japan--participated in a comparative study of television programing and audiences. Four statistical indicators--structure of programs broadcast, availability of programing, potential viewing and actual viewing--were used to analyze over 25 categories of programing, which for…

Focusing on current scholarship in the evolving field of political communication, this publication is organized in three sections. Part 1, "Current Perspectives on the Spiral of Silence," features essays by Charles T. Salmon and F. Gerald Kline, Klaus Merten, Carroll J. Glynn and Jack M. McLeod, and a response by the theory's original…

Five one-hour broadcasts of KPIX Eyewitness News (San Francisco) were analyzed to provide examples of a signification process and to understand both how humorous instances arise in the newscast and their likely meaning for the viewer. One general finding was that the amount of humor or attempted humor is quite small. Banter between anchorpersons,…

To explore the idea of image complexity, i.e., the more complex the television news image, the more appeal it will have to audiences, two time series measures were obtained by showing a regular half hour broadcast of a "CBS Evening News" program to a group of viewers. The two measures were an objective, machine-based measure of the…

The impact of professional jargon and data-based statements in evaluation reports on audience responses to an evaluation report and an evaluator's recommendations was examined. Subjects read one of four evaluation reports about testing and grading procedures in a school program. The reports varied in the amount of jargon and data used to justify…

Lines are elemental design devices that provide the primary structure for visual expressions in printed media. Gestalt principles of perception emphasize the role of the viewer, so the energy of the lines and the commercial viability of a particular design depend upon the designer's and photojournalist's understanding of both the viewer's…

Focusing on changes in the minds of the audience, this study of the impact of television programs provides a general analysis of the perceptual spectrum of the television audience and its values, preferences, and attachments to the content of television programs. Influences are identified and cued to the development of programming, and findings of…