The police-press relationship has often been viewed negatively by law enforcement officials, who complain about the media's current widespread use of young, inexperienced reporters on the police beat, which the officials believe indicates that editors have de-emphasized the importance of coverage of police activities. This practice was examined to…

A four-part discussion on cultural sensitivity and good listening skills in development professionals is presented. It is noted that there is much in their educational regimen which militates against developing these habits of mind. It is hypothesized that much of this problem resides in the hidden cultural meanings of professionalism in general…

Pragmatic and philosophical cases against codes of ethics for journalists and other mass media practitioners are proposed in this paper. After an examination of the First Amendment considerations related to media ethics, a distinction is made between moral philosophy and moralizing, and it is argued that most media codes tend to be moralistic in…

This paper provides a case study of the use of the Partnership Model in the development of a film about female menopause. Not only are the film maker and the client involved in the trust based partnership relationship, but the film subjects and audience are also included in the information sharing process. Advantages of the Partnership Model…

This pamphlet was prepared to teach certified public accountants (CPAs) the skill of oral communication, in order to prepare them for an increasing number of news interviews on financial and business events. It stresses that the best interests of both CPAs and the general public are served if relations with the press are marked by friendliness and…

Recent research indicates that fourteen linguistic and paralinguistic patterns--thought to measure uncertainty, vagueness, dependence, and negative affect--discriminate between men's truth telling and deceptive language behavior. This study sought to determine if these same patterns also discriminate between women's truth telling and deceptive…

Why has the spirit of conscience characterizing the Sixties disappeared? Reasons are examined and the emerging values of students and educators challenged. Speech presented at 57th Annual NASPA Conference, San Francisco, March 30, 1975. (Author)

Research on feedback acceptance in sensitivity groups has consistently found that subjects rate positive feedback more credible than negative, a phenomenon referred to as the "credibility gap." To assess subjective distortion versus actual differences in credibility as an alternative explanation for the different ratings given positive and…

Noting that the terms used by the Western media in describing the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran by the Ayatollah Khomeini have created the impression that the Ayatollah is both irrational and inhumane, this paper argues from contemporary eclectic rhetorical theory--that "rationality" is a function of perspective--to…

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the television production components and to suggest the research hypotheses and designs that will yield a more systematic exploration of the importance of the use of facial closeups in television interviews. The first part of the paper discusses three potential factors that may influence a viewer's judgment…

Outside factors have changed the role of the school superintendent, leading to alterations in the personal qualities and job expectations that superintendents should have. The outside factors include increased public access to government, new public representatives, more independent political activism, less deference to authority, and a loss of…

Measurement and evaluation have become major public issues in the legislatures and the courts. Testing legislation represents two extremes: (1) confidence in external objective measurement for high school teacher and occupational certification; and (2) distrust of the results. Since 1978, truth-in-testing bills for admissions or other standardized…

Some current scientific-engineering curricula consider the rhetorical expression of ideas as separable and inessential to course content; rhetoric is defined as a distinct set of technical skills practiced by specialists. In contrast, the classical definition of rhetoric subordinates the method or technique of expression to the refinement of the…

Presented is an informal, nontechnical, practical guide to how foundations and their clients may conduct their transactions with the least confusion and the greatest civility and effectiveness. The author supports the freedom of the foundation, but also the freedom of the grantee from interference by the foundation. The abuse of freedom is bound…

Material in this volume has been organized in five sections: (1) a bibliography of studies related to variables of source credibility (110 empirical studies--listed, classified, and annotated--from 1930 through 1969); (2) abstracts of doctoral dissertations in speech communication, 1970 (in the fields of forensics, instructional development,…