Search

Notes that relative to traditional newspapers, Internet-based papers provide fewer cues about news story importance and give readers more control over story selection. Finds that online student readers of the "New York Times" appear to have read fewer national, international, and political news stories and were less likely to recognize and recall events that occurred during the exposure period. (SC)

Suggests that a combination of face-to-face and computer-mediated discussion (CMD) provides a learning environment superior to that of the traditional classroom. Finds that students actively involved in CMD groups not only reported learning more than they otherwise would have but also tended to earn higher grades than students taking part in face-to-face discussion only. (SR)

This article explores the sources of the Bush administration's decision to embed reporters in military units to cover real-time, frontline combat for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In doing so, the authors have two primary goals. First, the administration's embrace of the embedded reporter program is explained by reference to events transpiring during the war in Afghanistan, the communication technologies at the disposal of the media, and the policymaking context in which the U.S. Department of Defense determined its media-management strategy. Second, the structure of the embedded reporter program is delineated, and it is shown that the administration sought to provide domestic and international media from coalition and noncoalition countries with as much frontline access as possible. Keywords: military--media relations; embedded reporting; Iraq War; Bush Administration

This article provides a model for how communication phenomena can be normatively assessed using multiple normative perspectives simultaneously. We exemplify the procedure of multiperspectival normative assessment (MNA) using mediated reactions to terrorism as our case in point. We first identify the normative challenges related to the speed and substance of terrorism communication and the ways in which relations of solidarity are communicatively constructed in reacting to terrorism. We link these challenges to four distinct normative theories that prioritize competing values for public discourse (freedom, community values, empowerment of the marginalized or constructive debate). The resulting set of competing normative expectations, which help assess the performance of terrorism communication, are eventually translated into recommendations for professional and non-professional communicators. In conclusion, we show how MNA can help ground empirical scholarship in firmer theoretical foundations while simultaneously demonstrating the usefulness of normative theory in analyzing a wide range of issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The turnout literature has identified individual, social, and institutional factors that increase citizen voting. Our article shows that local television market size also affects turnout. Larger television markets tend to give disproportionate attention to higher-level races involving statewide or national offices. Because voters in larger markets should be exposed to less information about the lower-ticket races in which they are eligible to vote, we expect market size to affect levels of turnout. This article tests market size impact using a novel combination of aggregate turnout data for local voting areas, census data giving contextual information about these areas, and data detailing the boundaries of local television media markets. Using the Record of American Democracy data set, our aggregate-level analysis covers four election cycles (1986 to 1990) and nearly every county in the continental United States. Our analysis shows that voter turnout is negatively associated with television market size, a relationship that is stronger in midterm election years. Keywords: voter turnout; media markets; market size; political communication; designated market areas (DMAs)

This study examines whether readers of the paper and online versions of a national newspaper acquire different perceptions of the importance of political issues. Using data from a weeklong experiment in which subjects either read the print version of the New York Times, the online version of that paper, or received no special exposure, this study finds evidence that people exposed to the Times for 5 days adjusted their agendas in response to that exposure and that print readers modified their agendas differently than did online readers.

Analysis of presidential campaign appearances between 1972 and 2000 suggests they have increased in geographic scope and number. Areas with large dense populations tend to be influential and candidates have tended to avoid concentrating on smaller segments of the US population.

The authors discuss a survey of undergraduates that showed that use of the World Wide Web was positively related to the reading of newspapers, but had no correlation to television news viewing.

A content analysis of the press coverage of the 1985-86 US-Libya crisis suggests the need to revise W. Lance Bennett's indexing hypothesis. The indexing norm determines a tendency in news stories and editorials to index the content in accordance with the official policy. However, reports of the US-Libyan crisis fail to show a distinct relationship between media opinion and political debate. While some stories are objective and even-centered, others contradict official positions. Also, a section of the political elite may introduce alternative policy options and shape the debate accordingly.

The uncertainty in literature limits the ability of the researchers to firmly conclude about the nature of media independence. Reasons identified by the political communication literature as to why press has difficulty in implementing its independence are stated.

edited by Ann N. Crigler. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1996. 262 pp. $44.50. Bringing together leading scholars of political communication from the fields of political science and communication [...]