Discusses the need for formative evaluation in radio programing, and outlines 11 approaches to radio research. (CMV)

Presents a study concerned with relating the understanding of the functioning of mass media, particulary television and newspapers, to the formation of public opinion regarding economic issues. Concludes that frequent exposure to news develops a false impression that the public understands more than they really do. (JMF)

Reports the results of a survey of 122 science journalists and 110 scientists regarding their attitudes toward science news coverage; notes that the attitudes of the two groups were remarkably similar. (GT)

A comparison of six content analysis techniques revealed that all the techniques correlated highly with one-another. (GT)

Suggests that the small discussion group technique is a research method that journalism departments could use to a greater advantage and details the results of one such study, performed at the University of Texas at Austin Center for Communication Research. (KS)

Hypothesizes that people perceive media content to have a greater impact on others than on themselves, leading people to take actions such as censorship to prevent the impact. Surveys 202 college students using rap lyrics as the context. Reveals strong support for both components of the hypothesis. (PA)

Finds no effects on undergraduate male students for film exposure and no interaction effects between film and partners' sex-role orientation for women's evaluations of their partners; however, men's sex-role orientation moderated film effects for men's evaluations of their female partners' intellectual competence and sexual interest. Discusses…

Finds that 70.3% of a national sample of adults used local TV news as their primary source of news, followed by network TV news, newspapers, and radio news. Notes that use of talk radio, TV magazines, and grocery store tabloids was far less. (RS)

States that 25 years ago, James Carey and John Quirk questioned whether technology would revolutionize communication. Finds that while traveling the information superhighway, people experience "the rhetoric of the electronic sublime." Explores 50 award-winning health messages on the Web; suggests that the traditional concepts of source,…

Argues that the human brain is not specialized to deal with 20th-century media. Measures effects of image size and motion on college students' emotional responses. Finds that image size positively affects the arousal and dominates dimensions of emotional responses, but has no significant effect on valance evaluations. Finds that still pictures…

Contends that the changing constellation of semiotic and spatial practices associated with new media and online literacies constitutes a very different object of research than has been addressed by literacy researchers. Concludes that literacy researchers need to develop new repertoires of literacy practices in relation to everyday use of…

Summarizes the debate within magazine journalism education over how much attention to devote to "service journalism," which encompasses informative, how-to articles. Surveys readers of "Angus Journal," a beef industry journal. Suggests a reader preference for service articles over news and human interest content. Reviews the…

Interprets four news stories about Joyce Brown, a homeless women who, against her will, was institutionalized by the city of New York. Examines how television news marks boundaries between the marginal and the mainstream, between a major socioeconomic problem demanding collective engagement and a personal problem requiring private remedy. (MS)

Examines whether talk radio serves different purposes for listeners who phone in, compared to those who do not. Finds that talk radio provides callers with an accessible and nonthreatening alternative to interpersonal communication. (MS)

Examines the process of disseminating scientific information to the public. Explores the particular steps and strategies that scientists use in taking research findings to a popular audience. Examines the popularization of cold-fusion research. (RS)