A study examined the message features that influence an innovation's acceptance by a mass audience. The study looked at three strategies of innovational rhetoric (denial of controversy, subtle criticism of existing institutions, and projection of a rhetorical vision) used by a commercial broadcasting company, called Whittle Communications in 1989,…

Knowledge of the processes involved in visual and auditory perception, as well as basic understanding of the mechanisms employed by the human brain in transforming perceptions into cognitions are prerequisites for the study of television aesthetics. Numerous scientific studies now found in such diversified fields as perceptual psychology,…

This study tested the claim that television viewing reduces preschoolers' perseverance, increases their impulsivity, and induces restlessness. In the first of two laboratory visits with a parent, 328 5-year-olds were given the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. During the second visit, the parent completed the Parent Temperament Questionnaire and…

To assess the quality of local news programs, a News Quality Index was develped for a study that consisted of three parts: a content analysis of local television news, an audience analysis of the kinds of news stories that are most important, and an outside the market viewer analysis of the way in which anchors for news, sports, and weather are…

A study was conducted to investigate the extent to which local television stations exhibited diversity in newscast content within three midwest broadcast markets. A second objective was to describe the nature of the news content characteristic of local news stories that were broadcast by only one station within a market (or unique news stories). A…

Studies focusing on televised presidential primary debates include four prespectives. From a historical perspective, televised presidential primary debates have increased slowly from 1956 through 1980. With the 1975 Federal Communications Commission ruling that independently sponsored campaign debates were news events exempt from "equal…

To develop patterns for living and understanding citizen roles, students engage in press conferences interviewing a wide assortment of celebrities. (JR)

A German version of the Sesame Street television program which integrates social and political education is described. (DE)

Concludes that children who watched crime shows identified with the television character but that attitudes toward the police were influenced more by attitudes of friends and family. (RB)

Planned changes in instructional television programming for grades 5-10 for the school year 1974/5, and to some extent for 1975/6, are reported. Information regarding seminars for inservice training and suppliers of written material is given. (RM)

Two-way interactive television (ITV) can broaden the variety of instructional programs available to students, ease the logistical problems of teacher inservice, provide new services to community members, and sometimes be a magnet for the collaboration of business and education. This special report, third in a series, examines the technology,…

This ERIC digest addresses problems associated with children's excessive viewing of television programs and commercials and provides suggestions to help parents guide their children's television viewing. Children who watch television 3 to 5 hours a day have little time for other activities such as play, reading, and talking with others. Excessive…

The purpose of this study was to identify conflict resolution strategies used by siblings when they chose television programs to watch and to examine differences in strategies associated with sex of child, the age interval between siblings, and their ordinal position. Children, 116 pairs of siblings in first through sixth grade, were interviewed…

A 2-year longitudinal investigation of developing television viewing patterns involved 271 children who were followed from 3 to 5 or 5 to 7 years of age. Viewing was measured from diaries maintained by parents for 1 week in the spring and 1 week in the fall for 2 years. Programs were classified as (1) child informative or educational; (2)…