A study was conducted to compare coverage of the United States invasion of Grenada provided by the Third World news agency Inter Press Service (IPS) during October and November 1984, with that provided by the "New York Times." The study instrument tested the direction, themes, sources quoted, and location of the stories. The theme…

The Computer Bus Program (Compubus Program) of the Modesto City Schools (California) was evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the computer literacy program for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students at eight elementary compensatory education schools. The program provided instruction on computer vocabulary, knowledge, and applications in a…

Two studies are reported that tested the effects of age with the predisposition to adopt videotex services. The first study, conducted in April 1982, consisted of 478 telephone interviews of Cox Cable subscribers in San Diego. The second study, conducted in summer 1982, consisted of face-to-face interviews with 107 respondents, selected through…

Focusing on access to audience through broadcast time, this paper examines the status of research into the economics of broadcasting. The paper first discusses the status of theory in the study of broadcast economics, both as described directly and as it exists in the statement of the basic assumptions generated by prior work and general…

A phone survey of 450 Ohioans was completed over the three-week period before a state-wide election on November 8, 1983, to examine three types of orientation to newspapers and television. The types were frequency of media use focusing on state and local politics, frequency of media use for news in general, and the presence or absence of primary…

Results of interviews with children on their likes and dislikes in television programing. (CH)

This paper compares the social learning theories expressed by Bandura and Gewirtz, argues for a synthesis of the two, and examines the importance of this synthesis for the field of educational technology and mass communication research. (Author)

The effectiveness of television science instruction coupled with the use of science kit materials was tested with first grade children. Of five experimental conditions, two used a series of six television lessons incorporating inquiry skills, two did not use TV, and one group received no science instruction. Children were tested for classification…

A study of political news during two four-year periods found reporting changed in response to shifts in relations between Turkey and the United States. (RB)

Communication scholars traditionally have assumed that children have only limited exposure to politically relevant information. This study attempts to assess the validity of this assumption by comparing the content of two sources generally available to United States school children: The "Weekly Reader" and television news. For two…

A one-week period of talk-show broadcasts from a Salt Lake City radio station was recorded and transcribed, in order to characterize the patterns of interaction which emerged from the talk between the six radio hosts and their callers. The coding system used focused on content and relationship aspects of communication. Results indicated that when…

Indicates that the link between audience attitudes toward the communicator and the type of message may be strong, especially when "bad news" is presented. (RB)

Most of the research on motivations and media use has assumed that there is some general motivation that directs habitual media behavior. Recent work on motivations, however, suggests that it may be valuable to distinguish between general needs and more specific needs, both of which may direct media behavior. For example, regular media use might…

A study examined the effects of media advertising on the elderly to determine whether they use the media to help combat social disengagement, whether they perceived the elderly as positively portrayed in advertising, whether they perceive their role as consumer as declining, whether television advertising reinforced sex roles, and whether the…