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A study analyzed the attitudes of newspaper subscribers and nonsubscribers to determine whether the two groups were truly distinct, homogenous segments of the public or whether there were "atypical" subscribers and nonsubscribers. Data were gathered through telephone interviews with more than 1,000 adults in the southeastern United States. Based on their responses to a number of questions related to newspaper use, these adults were segmented into four groups: (1) hard-core newspaper subscribers, who indicated that they would continue subscribing to a given newspaper; (2) marginal subscribers, who said they might stop subscribing; (3) potential subscribers, who said they might begin subscribing; and (4) hard core nonsubscribers, who indicated that they would not begin subscribing. Analysis of data generated in the study revealed that newspaper subscribers and nonsubscribers are not distinct, homogenous groups. When segmented to reflect strength of commitment to continue subscribing, the respondents indicated that there are atypical subscribers and nonsubscribers who share many of the same demographic and news content interest characteristics. The findings suggest that two segments of the reading audience are of critical importance to newspapers--the marginal and the potential subscriber. By identifying the members of these segments, newspapers can focus their promotional and marketing efforts on the people most likely to affect circulation trends. (FL)

The field of international telecommunications, especially that of direct broadcasting by satellite, has attracted increasing attention over the past decade. This aspect of communication technology has also become a part of the larger debate at the United Nations, Unesco, and the International Telecommunication Union concerning issues of access and participation of the Third World countries in the flow of news and information. Conventional wisdom does not seem to be adequate for understanding or coping with technological changes that have occurred in international communications during the last two decades. A theoretical task to comprehend and analyze the significance of satellite communications across national boundaries is an urgent one. Unless communications scholars begin to formulate innovative explanations for problems in international telecommunications, the resultant policies and regulations will be tenuous, tumultuous, and short-lived. The theories of Canadian economist-historian Harold Innis have great potential for communications policy making. His concepts of time and space, monopoly of knowledge, and dimensions of social structure and culture have specific relevance to the direct broadcast satellite, politico-economic, and national sovereignty issues that have been raised by advances in telecommunications. (FL)