Approximately 100 questionnaires were distributed to parents of children in primary grades in a study that explored social correlates of the interpretative abilities of very young children in the assessment of televised narratives. The questionnaires contained over 50 questions on home use of television. The second phase of the study involved…

This paper discusses the controversy that has traditionally surrounded the issue of capital punishment. When a Texas television reporter sought permission to televise the execution of a convicted murderer by lethal injection in 1983, arguments were advanced both for and against televising executions. A recent poll shows that 84% of Americans…

In order to determine some of the effects of children's television, a study investigated the communicative response repertoire of primary female characters in Saturday morning children's cartoons as perceived by children. Those perceptions were then compared with those of the researchers, formulated through previous studies, showing a relationship…

The 1987 NFL players' strike provided an opportunity to evaluate the importance of media gratification and viewing involvement in the development of audience reactions to a major sports labor conflict that produced gratification denial. Two groups of viewers of professional football--183 adult males in the Memphis, Tennessee area, interviewed by…

This study focused on specific needs and interests of three minority groups (Blacks, Hispanics, and the elderly) as television audiences. The study was based on a survey of American television audiences, conducted by Ronald Frank and Marshall Greenberg for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to determine directions for television program…

Testimony from a senate subcommittee inquiry into the effects on society of crime and violence in the media and what role, if any, it may play in subsequent criminal activity is contained in these proceedings. The testimony presented focuses on recent reports on television and related issues--in particular, a 1982 study published by the National…

Four television stations were studied and potential audiences surveyed in Los Angeles, California, to explore the extent of ethnic television, determine how its content reflects community influence, and examine viewers' attitudes toward ethnic television broadcasting. Fourteen ethnic oroups were represented in ethnic television during the…

The relationship of older Americans to the new media culture of society is the focus of this Technical Committee Report. The work of two committee-appointed subcommittees on stereotypes and new media technology are explained with a special emphasis on the influence of television. Age stereotyping is examined in prime time television, daytime…

The activities, research findings, and services of the Children's Television Workshop during a 3-month period are summarized. Research activities undertaken related to Sesame Street and staff meetings to disseminate that research are listed first; then, production completed or planned is outlined. Under community education services, the radio,…

This report describes a formative evaluation and presents an overview of the background and design of an instructional television series, "On the Level," designed to encourage teenagers' personal and social development. The series includes 12 15-minute video programs, 12 audio programs, and a student workbook. The design issues discussed…

To assist the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in policy making decisions concerning sugared food advertisements on television, a study was conducted to assess the effects on children of counter advertisements and disclaimers as a means of lessening the undesirable impact of sugared food ads. Approximately 1,200 children, aged 5 to 10 years,…

There are a number of ways that government policy might increase the educational benefits that preschool children receive from television. These include (1) direct government funding of educationally oriented broadcasts; (2) strengthened Federal Communication Commission rules mandating more educationally oriented television; (3) a national center…

Designed to promote the use of microcomputers in reading instruction, this paper attempts to dispell apprehensions that the errors made when adapting television to the classroom may occur again with microcomputers. Examples of the failure of television to teach reading in the 1960s and 1970s are presented, and it is pointed out that television, a…

From one of several sessions at a conference on education in the South, these nine papers delivered at four panels discuss the actual and potential impacts on education of the telecommunications revolution. In the first panel--on national television networks, children's programming, and prime time shows--the three speakers describe the American…

The Anik-B Project is part of the two-year communications experiments for which the Anik-B satellite is being used. The project was designed to explore the possibilities of using Interactive Instructional Television (IITV) to provide distance postsecondary education for people living in widely scattered and sometimes inaccessible areas of British…