Investigates the "third-person effect" (people believing that there are important effects of mass media on others but not on themselves) in terms of the ABC-TV miniseries "Amerika." Finds evidence for the third-person effect among those who perceive themselves to be political experts. (RS)

Explores the existence of a cognitive bias that affects an individual's processing of political advertisements. Finds that whether voters see messages as issue or image material depends on their predisposition. (RS)

Challenges the intellectual separation of interpersonal and mass media communication, arguing that this division rests primarily on grounds of historical convenience and university politics. Discusses the consequences of this dichotomy and suggests ways of encouraging intellectual exchange between the two subdisciplines. (MM)

Examines some problems and difficulties encountered in international comparative research programs in mass communications: comparability of units of analysis; lack of consensus manifested in dichotomization into "conventional" and "critical" approaches; and suitability of exported models, theories, concepts, and methods to Third World conditions.…

States the importance of media definitions of ethnic majorities. Discusses media discourses concerning settled ethnic minorities, race relations and the news, ethnic minority media, contract labor, migrants and refugees, indigenous land-based groups, and ethnic minority presence in mainstream media. Draws examples from the United States, Eastern…

Discusses the possibility of a connection between violence in the media and actual adolescent behavior. Explores the nature of the connection, why it exists, and possible courses of action to correct the problem. States that 3,000 studies have explored the link between media violence and adolescent behavior. Concludes that the media should show…

Offers theoretical basis for analyzing news as commercial market-driven product. Examines characteristics of news as commodity. Plugs those characteristics into both economic and journalistic model of news production to analyze where their norms reinforce each other or conflict. Suggests that news as a commodity is likely to engender opportunism…

Argues that, in the case of Poland, media history is best seen as a series of expansions and retractions of press freedom. Advocates a new press culture, both on the part of journalists and their audiences, in addition to the establishment of freer press laws and financially sound institutions. (SR)

Reviews reading research conducted to show the benefits of closed-captioned television. Demonstrates how it presents an interesting alternative for reading and writing instruction. (MG)

Develops a method for measuring individual scholarly productivity of active researchers in the field of mass communications between the years 1924 and 1990. Provides data concerning active researchers and the number of articles published. (HB)

Considers how the troubles affecting the field of communication are linked to the decline of modernism. Argues that the future of the field lies in exploring both microscopic and macroscopic social changes in a postmodern world. Proposes an agenda for this research. (SR)

Identifies five overarching values central to disciplinary disputes in communication, and how their relative importance changes depending on prevailing social, economic, and intellectual conditions. Explores discipline-level values in the 1980s, and how value structures are likely to shift in the 1990s. Proposes a value hierarchy for the future.…

Argues that, because of its heavy technological emphasis, telecommunications will tend toward instrumental, applied forms of research. Notes alternative research traditions that see telecommunications as part of the social history of communications technology. Discusses implications for the contemporary study of telecommunications. (SR)

Discusses five key assumptions of critical scholarship on development communication: development communication must liberate; women's perspective as a basis for development communication; context defines women's perspective; context is understood in dialogue; and dialog must engage many levels and types of power. (SR)

Explores children's ability to understand formal features of television and film by investigating their reactions to a televised dream. Indicates that children are able to recognize dreams in mass media programing and that prior knowledge of an upcoming dream can influence children's interpretations of and emotional reactions to dreamed events in…