Views "The Wizard of Oz" as a yearly media ritual, performing the psychological and socializing functions of traditional fairy tales, yet containing contemporary political orientations and social values. Sees its rhetoric as therapeutic insofar as the story's rationale describes psychological problems and offers prescriptive remedies…

Examines whether Roosevelt's condemnation of electric utility public relations represented a fair interpretation of the Federal Trade Commission investigation into the issue as authorized by Senate Resolution 83 in February, 1928. Concludes that the condemnation was campaign rhetoric, but constituted a successful public relations campaign for the…

Reports on two studies summarizing recent advances in the study of behavioral dispositions by detailing the activation-arousal framework. Uses the Miller Behavioral Style Scale to measure individual differences in activation/arousal while viewing a negative emotional film segment and media coverage of the explosion of the space shuttle…

Reports a study focusing on the relationship between frequency of exposure to sexually explicit magazines and the frequency of sexual and hostile-aggressive fantasies. Finds no significant relationships for "Playboy" readers, but "Penthouse" readership was best predicted by the interaction of sexual and hostile fantasies. (MS)

Relates measures of the central-peripheral dimension of the belief system and measures of attitude toward music and radio. Supports the idea that radio audiences constitute subcultures whose members use radio music for validating personal identity, and suggests that such use is related to a person's belief system. (RAE)

Conceptualizes how a study of vernacular discourse could be carried out by defining vernacular, describing the critique of vernacular discourse, and explaining the purpose of such criticism. Illustrates this approach through a brief study of one example of vernacular discourse: World War II representations of women in the "Pacific…

Explores the long-term shift in the 1920s and 1930s from Victorian to modern front-page design in five United States newspapers, demonstrating that the shift was tied historically to questions of cultural authority. Argues that these changes produced a less dense, more uniform page that paid attention to visual hierarchy and remade the newspaper…

Presents a case study of the media coverage of the 1992 presidential campaign of Larry Agran. Explains that there are three ways of thinking about whether a candidate should be covered or not: national journalistic logic, local journalistic logic, and public logic. Suggests that the three ways are not always in agreement. (TB)

Compares coverage of social and natural science in "The New York Times," the "Los Angeles Times," and network television news. Reveals that journalists demarcate social and natural science, but fail clearly to demarcate social science and lay perspectives; and that social science is portrayed in the media as a less distinctive…

Discusses research on the effectiveness of computer-based instruction (CBI) and proposes computer modeling as a tool to redirect CBI research toward more theoretically relevant and prescriptive research. Limitations of media comparison studies and media replication studies are described, and computer modeling in CBI research is reviewed. (48…

Discusses five major processes of media internationalization in China. Shows that the influence of foreign media culture in China is uneven and is contingent on the strength of ideological control at both the central and local level, as well as on the media's nature, geographical location, and degree of commercialization. (SR)

Discusses media-related changes in Russia, Poland, and Hungary since the 1980s. Reviews current media theories in the United States for their ability to guide research into media processes in these three countries. Finds that much media research has paid insufficient attention to economic forces, international relations, the state, political…

Proposes a framework to join journalists and communications scholars in dialog about conditions that best promote public dialoge of democracy itself. Sketches a news policy model, reviews research indicating areas of agreement about the dynamics of press-government-public interactions, and looks at steps toward a field of study built around these…

Discusses how culture and civilization are profoundly affected by the advent of new forms of media. Describes relevant theories by various cultural critics. Analyzes these theories of culture and provides a synthesis of their implications. (HB)

Analyzes editorial cartoons from 1972-87 to determine extent and type of attention to environmental issues. Explores cartoons' direct and indirect messages regarding outdoors. Describes cartoons about energy, environment, pollution, space. Discusses artists' use of animals, vegetation, and outdoor activities. Identifies environmental issues as…