Family communication patterns and individual levels of dogmatism were found to influence the dogmatism attributed to television characters. (KS)

Examines users' preferences for broadcast and print media and asserts that the accurate definition of channel typologies is dependent upon consideration of both the audience needs addressed and the degree of effort required to receive the information. (KS)

Questions two measures of attitude change--estimates of the frequency of what have been called "perversions" and suggestions regarding penalties of rape in the mock trial materials--in the research on pornography by Jennings Bryant and Dolf Zillman. Presents a reply by Zillman and Bryant. (NKA)

Stresses that understanding the impact of interaction with mass media requires conceptualizing media as an institutionalized social form. A critical feature of this process is the grammatical character of media interaction in the form of rhythm and tempo, because these rhythms and tempos become established in everyday routine. (SKC)

Argues that comparative and international research in the United States reflects the interests of the United States government. Claims such an ideological position defines the field's theoretical and methodological parameters. Cultural studies offer a perspective on this bias and offer a comprehensive, contextualized approach to the study of…

Reviews research on the educational aspects of British television programs, especially those dealing with economic knowledge and financial advice. Concludes that there is a public demand for better economic understanding and that television can be used as a significant component in an economic education campaign. (GEA)

Indicates that those Venezuelans with a higher socioeconomic status (SES) are more likely to attend to the information- and entertainment-oriented content in the mass media and to identify a larger number of problem areas in their region and country. Also points out that the greater the exposure to newspaper content, the greater the nominal agenda…

Analyzes the portrayal of death and bereavement in children's literature, focusing on the central character in the book, the death, and the subsequent effect of the death on the central character. Reveals that characters exhibit stereotypical male/female behavior, with little portrayal of natural grief or changed life circumstances. (MM)

Delineates what it means to view news as cultural celebration, assesses whether standard approaches to media seem applicable to this notion of new, and drafts the normative issues at stake in this version of journalism. (SRT)

Concludes that the content of Farsi-language papers reflected the changing power structure in Iran during the revolution more than did the English-language papers. (FL)

Discusses how the tradition of studying the word-of-mouth diffusion of news was established in 1945 and came to mature during the 1960s after the Kennedy assassination. Notes that the pace of this research slowed substantially in the 1970s and has all but stopped in recent years. Outlines six broad generalizations resulting from studies conducted…

Reviews the history of research designed to determine the effects of media upon the learning process and the ways that learners utilize media to perceive and process information. Research methodologies are discussed, theories developed over the past decade are presented, and directions for further research are suggested. (LRW)

Examines the structural rules governing the presentation and resolution of problems that serve as premises for prime-time fictional programs. Offers demographic data on character types and matching problem types. (MS)

Explains that the concept of message discrimination was originally developed as a means of determining actual units of content that individuals extract from encounters with mass media and describes the relationship between message discrimination and the two related concepts of systematic information availability and knowledge. (DF)