Describes an explosion in Port Chicago (California) that a journalist later ascribed to a nuclear weapon, explains how his conclusions can be refuted, discusses the sociology of publishing such spectacular claims, and suggests how historians might better assist journalists in evaluating such claims. (40 references) (LRW)

Argues that communication research needs to move toward better integration of observations on the microlevel with systemic generalizations about macrolevel phenomena, and reorient research away from the media behavior and responses of individuals and toward the cumulative consequences of media behavior over time. (SR)

Claims that the field of communication is moving beyond theorizing that treats communication as a process, to what might be called "multiple-process theory." Examines views of message-processing modes and effects, enlarges the scope of inquiry by considering a multiplicity of levels of analysis, and discusses a philosophical orientation compatible…

Discuses three developmental stages of the information society: the electrification of communication, beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century; converging technologies and awareness of information, beginning in the late middle twentieth century; and, beginning in the 1990s, the harmonization of information systems with each other.…

Advocates that communication scholars explore more deeply the work of Emile Durkheim. Explores Durkheim and communication studies, and Durkheimian contributions to communication theory, viewing every corner of social life as communicatively founded. (SR)

Studies the relationships between exposure and attention to three different media (newspapers, television news, and radio news). Finds that the two are separate dimensions. Analyzes the relationships between media exposure/attention and four different possible effects (knowledge gain, opinion direction, opinion strength, and behavior). (SR)

Argues for a more interdisciplinary approach to journalism scholarship to provide a fuller account of media power. Considers briefly the notions of performance, narrative, ritual, and interpretive community as alternative frames through which to consider journalism. (SR)

Tests relationships between trust in television news and newspaper coverage and each of four attitude components: direction, intensity, closure, and involvement. Finds significant relationships for all four components. Notes that existing hypotheses relating credibility to attitude have not anticipated that credibility might be related to more…

Studies how male Saudi Arabians sought and placed credibility in information sources about the Gulf War. Finds two groups: global-oriented, who were international radio-oriented; and village-oriented, primarily rural, who placed more trust in domestic media. Shows that all relied more heavily on broadcast media than on print media. (SR)

Argues that media pedagogics constitutes a discipline of media sciences and of media culture; however, dialog across the boundaries between various fields and branches is problematic. Sketches different phases of a virtual dialog between media pedagogics and media production to illustrate the gap and the importance of bridging it. (DSK)

Reviews issues associated with the preservation of digital documents and their long-term viability. Topics include characteristics of digital information; physical deterioration of digital documents; life spans of digital media; technological obsolescence; digital artifacts versus digital objects; access versus preservation; intellectual…

States that although the influence of fashion advertising on women's relationships with food and their bodies has received considerable attention, the role of food advertising in women's magazines has been virtually unexplored. Argues that food advertisements reflect and contribute to the primary precursors of eating disorders: body…

Finds that exposure to fat-character television, thin-ideal magazines, and sports magazines predicted eating-disorder symptomatology for adolescent females, especially older ones; exposure to fat-character television also predicted body dissatisfaction for younger males; and that relationships remain significant when selective exposure based on…

This 1997 study explored in depth the views and experiences of women with breast cancer concerning disease-related mass media information. Results of focus group discussions indicate advantages and disadvantages of mass media information, and its impact upon individuals may depend on their disease status. Suggests implications for mass media…

Examines the "media effects" debate-whether media in and of itself affects learning-and presents an analysis of various arguments from a learning theory perspective. Proposes a dynamic process of instructional design where assessments are aimed at instructional practices as well as learning outcomes, and instructional media and method…