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This paper examines journalistic role performance in coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, based on a content analysis of newspaper, television, radio and online news in 37 countries. We test a set of hypotheses derived from two perspectives on the role of journalism in health crises. Mediatization theories assume that news media tend to sensationalize or to politicize health crises. A contrasting perspective holds that journalists shift toward more deferential and cooperative stances toward health and political authorities in a health crisis, attempting to mobilize the public to act according to the best science. Hypotheses derived from these perspectives are tested using the standard measures of journalistic roles developed by the Journalistic Role Performance Project. Results show that the deference/cooperation/consensus perspective is better supported, with media moving away from the Watchdog and Infotainment, and toward performance of the Service and Civic roles. We also explore differences in the pattern by country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iconic photographs are symbolically dense images characterized by broad circulation over time and recognition by large publics. Following this definition, we track the republication and reframing, over nearly 70 years, of 15 news photographs previously identified as most recognized by the Israeli public. Distinguishing between "discrete icons" (singular photographs of particular scenes) and "aggregate icons" (where several variants of the same event are continually reproduced), our quantitative and qualitative analyses show that iconic images are both resistant to the passing of time and kept in motion through renewed media use. We identify four "iconic modalities," corresponding to different ways in which iconic status and meanings are achieved, transformed, or denied through republishing and reframing. This concept improves our understanding of iconicity as a fluctuating material and symbolic process, whereby the circulation of images not only produces shifts in meaning, but constructs powerful aggregative frameworks of collective visual memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study of the advice given by mental health professionals on Israeli radio during the Persian Gulf War reveals the claims of critics regarding the quantity and quality of the advice to be baseless generalizations. Advice was given on empirical and theoretical information. The number of experts giving advice fell during the second and third periods of the war, while the number of psychologists among the experts increased. Criticisms included neglect of priorities, misinterpretation of problems and use of irrelevant relaxation techniques.

Television coverage of the Apr 13, 1989 clash between the Israel Border Police and Palestinian residents of Nahalin by 10 stations of five countries are comparatively analyzed. The 'closed' or 'open' nature of the 10 versions are explained in terms of the rhetorics of balance, facticity and neutrality. The analysis suggests that the coverages of both Israel's ITV and the Columbia Broadcasting System are 'closed' with the former being 'defensive' and the latter being 'offensive'. The other stations show the tension between 'closed' and 'open' coverages.

This study examined differential perceptions of men and women as they appear on television (symbolic reality) and in real life (social reality). The marked tendency of television viewers to regard symbolic reality as more stereotypic than social reality for most traits, roles, and occupations was especially true for heavier viewers. (Author/MBR)

Examines gratifications associated with home video cassette recorder (VCR) use among Israeli school children. Finds that while the VCR is often used, it has not achieved any special priority in its perceived utility to gratify various needs. (MS)

Presents a study concerned with relating the understanding of the functioning of mass media, particulary television and newspapers, to the formation of public opinion regarding economic issues. Concludes that frequent exposure to news develops a false impression that the public understands more than they really do. (JMF)

Examines illustrator-type gestures that are directly tied to speech in terms of their encoding and decoding functions, and suggests some variables bearing on these functions. (JMF)

Compares American middle-class children, as representatives of heavy television viewers, and Israeli middle-class children, as representatives of lighter television viewers, to determine the extent to which accumulated television viewing enhances the development of particular mental skills. (PD)

The characteristics of the Russian broadcast and print media in Israel during their golden age is explored. Their social and culture context by relating the structural position of the Russian cultural minority as a voluntary 'returning Diaspora' and the type of cultural field developed by this type of minority is analyzed.

This article draws upon content analytic and survey data from a 12-nation comparative study to examine the question of content-interest correspondence (CIC) regarding foreign news on television. That is, to what extent do the contents of foreign news aired on television match the interests that viewers have regarding foreign news? Treating CIC as a variable, the data show that, among the nations studied, CIC concerning foreign countries covered in the news is generally stronger than CIC regarding news topics. At the same time, the analysis examines whether the level of CIC relates to several national, media system, and viewer characteristics. The analysis shows that larger nations exhibit higher levels of CIC regarding topics and lower levels of CIC regarding countries. Also, CIC regarding news topics is lower in countries where the ownership and revenue structure of the television system leans toward commercialism and where television news focuses more heavily on soft news. Implications of the findings and directions for further research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]