What passes for considered judgment in public discourse today is often little more than "unearned opinion"--the received opinion offered by others who have the power to shape the news. So students must develop consistent intellectual standards for routinely evaluating the news media which so frequently provide the empirical stuff about…

This paper examines the portrayal of shopping malls in the films of the 1980s and attempts to "narrativize" the trend found between the films as the story of a subculture as it adopts and develops a belief system based on consumerism. The paper begins with an exploration of the evolution of the mall as a modern meeting place and center…

Noting that the theory of international development is a paradigm, a model by which researchers guide their studies, this paper reviews various concepts of international development theory and proposes a research study that would examine mass media use in Georgia, one of the new republics born out of the death of the Soviet Union. The paper begins…

This essay examines some Republican communication behaviors which account in part for accusations that the use of negative strategies was unprecedented during the 1988 presidential campaign. It also explores some of the effects of those strategies on political communication behavior during the first year of the Bush Administration. It is suggested…

Global exports of television programs have been dominated by U.S. companies. Most of their exports are sold to Western European countries. Such a large influx of imports brings with it cultural values that can subvert the indigenous culture and may lead to cultural hegemony. To reach some balance with the United States in the cultural/media…

Through an analysis of the products of the radical press, this paper presents the rhetorical outlines of a cultural history of the 1930s. Following an overview of the "reportage" of the radical press, the paper focuses on that medium's rhetoric, specifically its conscious and unconscious use of religious symbolism. Among the publications…

If greater self-monitoring can lead to greater awareness of the characteristics of others, self-monitoring should be positively related to personality attributions and negatively related to situational attributions. To compare the relationship between self-monitoring and attributions when gaining information through social interactions and through…

The uses and gratifications paradigm, like the initial conceptions of media effects, can be viewed as a compatible elaboration of contemporary social and political theory. The fundamental assumptions of the uses and gratifications approach, particularly the assumptions regarding the nature and extent of audience activity and the ability of the…

This review of the findings of recent cognitive science research pertaining to learning and teaching focuses on how science and mathematics are being taught, analyzes how the presence of the computer demonstrates a need for radical rethinking of both the theory and the practice of learning, and points out that if educators fail to consider the…

Centrally concerned with design, educational technology involves making the best possible decisions for action given a particular set of circumstances, with a body of knowledge or instructional theory for guidance. More work is needed to aid educational technologists in the three tasks of building instructional theory, developing techniques for…

Translates questions submitted by Alan Reitman, Associate Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union which the practitioners of civil liberties would like behavioral scientists to answer into researchable topics. Reviews some of the literature relevant to each, and suggests the kinds of studies needed to provide some answers.…

Presents research data indicating that newspapers and magazines are the mass media sources considered most helpful to people seeking medical information. (MH)

Based on a definition of public relations that recognizes the field as a purposeful management function, this paper provides a perspective on public relations to help practitioners develop strategies for the use of new media forms in public relations programs. The paper begins with a historical review of mass media effects research and proceeds…

A revision of the Westley-MacLean model of 1957 for communication research accommodates an incorporation of some of the research areas that have blossomed during the last three decades. The revision concentrates on two aspects of the original: (1) organizational features within the advocate, communicator and audience roles; and (2) environmental…

This paper examines past media research on presidential campaign debates, reviewing literature from the fields of mass communication, political science, and speech communication, and considering regulatory changes (e.g., debate sponsorship and equal time provisions) and the growth of primary and general debates as an institution. Beginning with…