THE TIME A MORE PERSONAL VIEW OF THE PRESS COVERAGE OF SOCIOLOGICAL CONVENTION.

The present article is by way of a report of a grant by the Russel Sage Foundation-not exactly an evaluation report, since the authors involvement in the event would make them suspect as judges, but rather a personal report of what occurred and the meaning that can, or should, be attached thereto. The Public Relations Committee appealed for cooperation from paper-readers, asking them in advance whether they would want a press interview in Miami. The paper by Robert Parke, Jr. and Paul Click, discussing the "marriage squeeze" resulting from the post-war baby boom, led all others in amount of space given to it. The American Sociological Association (ASA) therefore, both in its administration and in its membership, should have little concern for improving the "image" of sociology in the public eye, but it should have great concern for increasing the level of sociological information among persons outside, as well as within, colleges and universities. The fact is, however, the ASA structure has no device for handling communication with the public in more than fortuitous ways. As long as "press coverage" at conventions begins only a few weeks before the event and ends promptly at the last session, it is doubtful that success in this realm can ever be more than smooth public relations.