Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly

This exploratory study matches a content analysis sample of Time magazine coverage of two “concrete” issues (drug abuse, energy) and two “abstract” issues (nuclear arms race, federal budget deficit) with Gallup Poll data over a lengthy period to find confirmation of the hypothesis: The media set the agenda with news about specific news events which readers/viewers can visualize, but the effect does not hold for news abstractions hard for readers/viewers to relate to. The study develops measures, tested independently in a separate, second study reported, to divide issues into either concrete or abstract categories. In agenda-setting terms, the study concludes, concreteness increases news media agenda-setting power; abstractness decreases agenda-setting power.

Based on a survey of 364 households in a small northeastern city, this study used factor analysis to compare the surveillance role and communication utility of television and newspapers. The study, reflecting a uses and gratifications approach, defines surveillance as meeting readers'/viewers' need to know about community and world events, and communicatory utility as providing readers/viewers with information to use in social interaction with others. The study finds much variance explained by these two uses, plus finds those who seek hard news on television also seek hard news in newspapers. News information-seeking behavior held across television and newspapers.

This study compares 21 states that allow advertising supplements to be taxed with some states that do not. Based primarily on legal sources, the study finds that states normally consider such factors as where the supplement is published and whether it is called a “supplement,” or readers would miss it, or is indexed, or is under control of the newspaper. States that do not allow taxing generally rule the supplements are part of the newspaper, while taxing states do not. The study argues this area may become more important in an era of declining government revenues, but the study does not find a national trend toward supplement taxation.

This experimental study portrayed women in several advertisements in two major conditions. In one, women were portrayed in stereotypical settings with products. Women and men student subjects evaluated a “neutral” female photograph following the experiment, on such traits as aggressiveness, leadership, analytical ability, rationality, and liking for doing complex tasks. After viewing nonstereotypical advertisements, men students rated the neutral woman as higher on these dimensions, but the experiment had little effect on women subjects. The study advises advertisers to avoid portraying women in stereotypical roles.

Advertisements are not normally considered a binding contract, but this summary of recent cases finds that when there is “commitment,” and no error in the advertisement, the seller may have to pay up. Copy writers should be cautious in using such words as “guarantee” and “offer.” Advertisers can revoke one advertisement with another one in the same mass medium.

This survey of more than 400 mall shoppers in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, finds that shoppers ranked newspaper advertisements as most informative with radio commercials next, and television commercials least. But sampled shoppers — similar in demographic makeup to the community — also tended to be somewhat more irritated by newspaper than by radio and television advertising. Those older and financially better off were more likely to express irritation with advertising.

The earliest cases involving intentional infliction of emotional distress and intrusion date to the 19th century, but this study reviews recent cases in the highest nonfederal courts in the 50 states and District of Columbia through early 1989. The study finds that 25 states recognize both torts, while some recognize one or the other or neither. Some states recognized intentional infliction of emotional distress first, others intrusion. The American Bar Association officially recognized the intentional infliction of emotional distress tort in 1948 and intrusion in 1965. This study points out how similar the language of complaint often is with regard to both torts, and offers some advice to reporters, especially with regard to avoiding intrusion during news gathering.

This case study of a 1987 libel suit brought by entertainer Wayne Newton against NBC for that network's broadcasts about Newton's purchase of a Las Vegas hotel resulted in a jury award of $19 million reduced to about $5 million by the judge. Newton introduced public opinion survey evidence to prove damage to his reputation and the jury apparently was influenced by it, but not the judge. The authors argue that legal proof currently is less rigorous than is proof demanded by sound social science. Newton's lawyers argue that a post trial survey showed the $5 million award helped restore Newton's reputation — a trend that could be dangerous, the authors argue, if lawyers in the future say only a big award can restore a reputation.

Employing content analysis, this study examines coverage of the stock market crash in 1987 for October and November by CBS Evening News, Newsweek, The New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. The news media published/presented 167 crash stories, citing 1022 sources from business, government, academic life, Wall Street, lobbyists, and others. Sources differed, with the government sources mentioning causes of the crash — most often the national debt — while business and lobbyist sources focused more on effects. Print media favored Wall Street sources — and used more sources in general — while CBS favored government sources. This study finds, as hypothesized, that news media favor high prestige sources, and that use of different sources resulted in distinctly different slants. Public views of the crash would have been shaped as much by the sources cited as medium read/viewed.

This study, using content analysis to study 24 dailies in 22 Louisiana cities, finds that crime news increased in 1985 over 1980. But the study did not find a clear relationship between actual crime and crime coverage, as other studies have not. In 1985, crime tended more often to be on the front pages, and there were many more stories about arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol or crime stopper type stories, reflecting recent trends. Recently there has been more emphasis on stories of violent crimes, including terrorist crimes committed elsewhere in the world.

This study compared 98 competitive newspapers with 100 monopoly newspapers to test the hypothesis that newspapers use more wire services when they are pressed by competition, controlling for circulation. The study also contrasted leading with trailing newspapers and found that competition did lead to use of more wire services. This study compares findings with those of earlier studies of competition and wire service use.

The “horse race” aspect of political coverage of primaries was by far the most emphasized in this content analysis of two major newspapers during January-June 1988. By contrast, only about one-tenth of the coverage highlighted campaign or policy issues. This study is based on analysis of sentences.

This study uses content analysis to compare the coverage of science in two groups of dailies to see how the addition of a science news page influences coverage in nine dailies, some which added science sections while others did not. The study finds when a paper adds a science section, there is an increase in the number of science stories, more illustration, and a tendency to group basic science and technology stories in the special section. The addition of a special science section had less effect on coverage of the environment and medicine, stories which — regardless of section — appeared throughout other sections of all sample papers.

A study of leads and other top paragraphs in stories in the AP, UPI, Scripps Howard News Service, and three major newspapers shows average lead sentence lengths ranging from 39 words (Washington Post) to 25 words (Scripps Howard). Lead sentences were longer than sentences in paragraphs two through four. The AP used more one-sentence leads (95%) than did UPI (77%). The author suggests journalists may be writing for themselves more than for readers.

These authors asked 86 reporters and their editors to fill out some measures of their knowledge of language mechanics and writing ability. The study found that editors judge reporters according to three major factors: writing mechanics, expressive skills, and journalistic abilities. Reporters judge themselves very similarly. On some tasks, college English majors scored better than did other types of college majors.

This study, based on a summer 1989 mail survey of 68 sportswriters from 10 Southwestern newspapers, used Likert scales to measure attitudes toward such topics as accuracy, ethics, and writing styles. The sportswriters, who had a median age of 35, 12 years of sports writing experience, and (mostly) earned college degrees, judged themselves more often ethically tested than were other reporters. They regarded their work as creative, liked it, and generally felt good about themselves. Many aimed eventually to write sports columns.

This research focuses on the role of editors as community news gatekeepers. It surveys more than 150 editors from Minnesota, Iowa, North and South Dakota, and Wisconsin, comparing findings for two time periods, 1965 and 1985. The 1985 period was characterized by increased planning, especially in large, complex communities. This study finds that nearly all surveyed editors, as community elites, favored community planning, but by 1985 saw this planning as an aspect of community growth more than an instrument of community control. Yet editors from complex, pluralistic communities did tend to see planning as part of maintaining community social order and control more than did editors from smaller communities.

This content analysis of the pictures in three major magazines for an entire year for each of 11 sampled years in the 1937 through 1988 period shows that African Americans increased visibility from a low of 1.1% to a high of 8.8% of all photographs. This included the presence of African Americans on covers, in advertisements, sports, everyday life, and in other areas. The authors found the African-American photos could be grouped into periods of stereotyping (1937–1952), civil rights (1957–1972), and working within the system (1978–1988).

Based on personal interviews with 166 men and women older than age 65 and 246 mail questionnaires, this study finds that older people prefer television for national and world news, but newspapers for local news. Of television programs, both men and women prefer news and public affairs programs highest, but thereafter women prefer educational programs next while men favor sports programs. Women watch early evening television news more than do men, while men more often watch late night television news. Men and women who rely on television news tend to think of news anchors and television reporters as like real people they know, and women often report they learn information from television to pass on to others in conversation.

This content analysis of the evening news of ABC, CBS and NBC for the 1978–1987 years, using the Vanderbilt archives, enables these authors to examine coverage of several infectious diseases and teenage suicide to see if television favors covering illness where it clusters, or near major news centers, where it is easier to cover. In general, this study finds television did go to where illnesses broke out, but tended to favor reporting urban over rural suicides. The study included coverage of AIDS, botulism, influenza, Legionnaires' Disease and measles, as well as teenage suicide.

This study tests the recent FCC ruling that marketplace forces will provide sufficient high quality broadcast programming available in a medium-sized midwestern city during the 1981 through 1983 period. An analysis of more than five thousand programs, involving more than twenty thousand program hours, during six sample points of two weeks each showed that children's programming actually declined, except for public broadcast stations, where it somewhat increased. While commercial broadcasters presented less children's programming, cable channels did not fill in the gap, as some had expected. Some high quality cable programs for children did become available during the 1981–1983 period, but they remained out of financial reach for many poor children. The marketplace, the study argues, does not favor children.

This article employs content analysis to study topics and themes of televangelist Pat Robertson's televised “700 Club” in the last months of 1988 and early 1989, after Robertson lost the race for the Republican presidential nomination and a Bush administration took office. The study found that in the 30 episodes analyzed, social, political, and religious topics each accounted for about one-third of topics mentioned. The tone of political discussions was often disapproving. Areas of the world emphasized were North and South America and the Middle East. The study speculates that the religious right is keeping its hand in the national agenda-building process.

One legacy of the Reagan administration was the transfer of many responsibilities from federal to state levels. Under Reagan, the federal government combined various programs into block grants for state administration. This mail survey of 35 of the 50 state directors of state community block grant programs reveals that most directors do not find much coverage by newspapers, television, or radio about how the money — once allocated (often covered) — is actually spent. Such as it is, newspapers provide most coverage. Most stories are descriptive, but some are analytical and investigative. Most directors spend little time with the news media but those that do report generating more coverage. The study speculates that news media do not give these federal-to-state programs enough coverage, providing a weak link between government and people.

This study reveals the decision-making that went into the first television condom advertising on San Francisco's KRON-TV in January 1987, regarded as one of the first stations to take this step. The study is based upon in-depth interviews with key station managers immediately after the decision. Station leaders debated questions of public interest and public tastes in a city hard hit by AIDS. Linking up with a public interest group, the station devised careful guidelines and began broadcasting on a trial basis. Nearly all public and media reaction — and there was plenty — was favorable.

This mail survey of 136 public relations practitioners in Washington State reveals that public relations tasks are most easily sorted into two — those of manager or technician. Factor analysis suggests that earlier study divisions into four distinct roles are hard to defend because of role overlap. This study suggests the need to rework the Broom and Smith public relations role scale.

This survey of 27 French journalists responsible for choosing foreign news from the wire services to publish in regional newspapers outside Paris shows that Agence France Presse remains the major wire source. But the concise, unadorned style of the French language service offered by the Associated Press has gained many users. French journalists are specializing more, and about one-fourth of younger journalists have formal journalism training. There is less time for editing on some newspapers. The study suggests the unique style of Agence France Presse may have to give way to be more competitive, at a cost to a unique French emphasis on foreign news. International news may become like foreign news in any press.

Previous studies have shown that news selection is influenced by economic, social, political and geographic values, while this study tests the notion that cultural proximity also influences news choices and display. A content analysis of a liberal and a conservative Creek newspaper during the final three months of the 1988 U.S. Presidential campaign shows that Democrat Michael Dukakis, a Greek-American, was given more space — and that more favorable — than was Republican George Bush. The two newspapers used similar wire sources and differed little in overall U.S. campaign coverage, however, despite strong ideological differences.

This content analysis of 17 Nigerian daily newspapers from 1980 through 1985 reveals the publication of about one story in 20 devoted to agriculture. Of these, the largest category dealt with general agricultural news and the smallest with pricing and marketing news. Unlike many other content analysis studies, this project finds a relatively low correlation between the length and number of agricultural stories, measured separately.

This content analysis of two major papers shows that the lifting in January 1988 of a three-decade old ban in Taiwan on numbers of newspapers and newspaper pages did not result in any radical changes in the percentages of pages allocated to ROP or classified advertising. There was a relative increase in some types of advertising, such as for food, and a decline in other types, such as for consumer electronics. A survey shows readers spent more time with fewer, larger papers and have some resistance to newspaper changes.

The United States used the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Foreign Agents Registration Act to require those mailing propaganda to the United States to register with the government, a requirement that offended the Soviet Union even after 1941 when the USSR changed from supporting to opposing Cermany. Empowered to evaluate, stop and burn incoming materials, the Post Office played an active role under direction of Postmaster General Frank Walker. Soviet materials did not fare well throughout the war. In all, the Post Office was responsible for burning an estimated 50 tons of materials, despite the concerns of some who argued that “book burning” was alien to United States tradition.

This study, based on primary sources, explores the role of Idaho Senator William E. Borah in getting the Senate — and government — to finally act to pass the first national 1927 Radio Act. Borah represented a long and continuing progressive tradition in the 1920s age of business. His concern about preserving freedom of speech from government brought him into conflict with many, including his own Republican President Calvin Coolidge, who wanted to keep closer federal control over radio.