Public Understanding of the News Business: A Replication.

A study was conducted in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, to replicate research undertaken in Columbus, Ohio, that measured public knowledge about newspapers and television news business. Data were collected through telephone interviews with 341 heads of households. The results supported the findings of the earlier research. Among the findings of the studies are the following: (1) the public knew more about television than about newspapers and was more knowledgeable about licensing than about ownership, (2) media knowledge resulted from exposure to print media, and (3) education exerts both independent effects on media knowledge and indirect effects by increasing the likelihood of exposure to print media. Although differences in the studies' findings were slight, one variation was noteworthy: while the Columbus study found that the viewing of local television news was negatively related to media knowledge, the Champaign study found no such relationship. (FL)