Lines are elemental design devices that provide the primary structure for visual expressions in printed media. Gestalt principles of perception emphasize the role of the viewer, so the energy of the lines and the commercial viability of a particular design depend upon the designer's and photojournalist's understanding of both the viewer's…

Focusing on changes in the minds of the audience, this study of the impact of television programs provides a general analysis of the perceptual spectrum of the television audience and its values, preferences, and attachments to the content of television programs. Influences are identified and cued to the development of programming, and findings of…

Two exercises that can be used with journalism students to help them clarify and think through the editorial process are the repertory grid and the coorientation model. A technique developed in England by the followers of psychologist George Kelly, the repertory grid asks students to rank ten or twelve authors on criteria such as social…

While muckrakers such as Upton Sinclair, Ernest Poole, Thomas Lawson, and others chose individual approaches for their investigative reporting to the public, they shared some common assumptions about mass communication that influenced the operative impact of their views. In addition to adhering to a simplistic belief in the power of bare facts,…

The purposes of black feminist Pauli Murray in her feminist discourse are to help individuals gain self-awareness about their personal and social histories and about their potential for action, and to direct the energies of all oppressed people toward working together against oppression. Murray's discourse is addressed to successful professional…

This guide offers suggestions and lists resources that are of aid in telling stories in which children can actively participate. Five types of participation stories are discussed: (1) stories in which children participate verbally; (2) stories in which children respond to story cues with appropriate actions; (3) song stories in which children sing…

A telephone questionnaire was designed to collect data on community identification, community involvement, and newspaper use. The entire questionnaire was pretested three times over the telephone and was revised after each pretest, yielding a final form between five and ten minutes in length. The questionnaire was administered to a proportionate…

The interpretation semiotic system that governs interpretation performance pertains to a distinct code of stylized conventions and includes all of the visual and auditory aspects that are generally salient to the characteristics of a performance. The selection of a particular convention for the interpretation of a specific text involves an act of…

In theatrical production, skillful design is effective communication. A study of audience response to nine drama settings gives positive evidence that the successful designer creates "signposts and symbols" that communicate instantaneously to the observer. The setting is a message. All of the scenic elements must be unified in a clear and concise…

The Appalachian Education Satellite Project is designed to apply communications satellite technology to the task of improving the quality of education in Appalachia. The report describes attitudinal responses of the participating teachers to the various learning activities, the delivery system, and the equipment that were used in the course,…

Research in the development of musical perception is described. It is crucial to students' experience that they learn to bring to the surface those "invisible" ideas inherent in music development such as clapping a rhythm or singing a tune. In this way they learn to bridge the gap between intuitive knowledge and the representation of this…

In this essay, the authors explore rhetorical sensitivity and the behaviors that characterize the rhetorically sensitive person as defined by Hart and Burks in a paper entitled "Rhetorical Sensitivity and Social Interaction." Rhetorical sensitivity is viewed as an attitude toward encoding information obtained in social situations. After…

This collection of essays by expert thinkers in the field of public broadcasting explores some of the many policy questions facing public broadcasting over the next decade. Among the topics dealt with in the 18 essays are: public radio, instructional television, public involvement, financing, research problems, production problems and the role of…

In order to understand the communicative interaction of film, it is necessary to carefully analyze the special qualities of film as a visual medium, to understand the elements of audience identification with what happens in the film, and to interpret the use of symbolism that enables an audience to derive meaning from it. Among the special…

This paper discusses the use of television commercials as instructional aids in the teaching of persuasion. Utilizing commercials in considering the sexploitation of women is recommended. The triadic relationship of advertisers, programmers, and audiences is discussed. Television commercials as instructional innovations are advocated for the…