Attitudes about farming and government agricultural policies differed among residential categories ranging from urban to rural. A mail survey gathered 3,232 completed questionnaires from a national random sample of 9,250 households. Statistical weighting made respondent categories representative of national proportions. Although respondents…

This paper presents the argument that in order for democracy and the free enterprise system to continue to thrive, U.S. citizens must overcome the boundaries imposed by a national consciousness and develop a truly international perspective. The study of American history reveals a loyalty to and a concern for the ideals expressed in the Declaration…

In January 1983, the American public read or saw hard-hitting allegations of leftist bias by the National Council of Churches (NCC) in the largest circulation magazine, "Reader's Digest," and on the top-rated television program, "60 Minutes." A study examined the extent to which the media set the agenda for debate on this…

A study compared the three major American television networks' early evening newscast coverage of 1984 vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro's financial status, specifically examining the emphasis placed on the story and seeking to determine whether coverage was objective or biased. Early evening network newscasts (excluding weekends) for…

This essay examines some of the campaign communication behavior during the 1988 presidential race in terms of ethical criteria for a participatory democracy. Overall, this campaign violated several standards for ethical behavior through strategies such as over-reliance on emotional appeals, ridicule, failure to focus on relevant issues, and…

This paper examines recent behavior of public officials at various levels of government in the United States, finds a systemic failure to meet ethical standards, and concludes that the wisdom of James Madison has much applicability to current times. Given his keen perception of human nature, Madison would not be too surprised at today's poor…

Two experiments investigated the role of ego-involvement in perceived media effects. Subjects, 34 pro-Israeli, 34 pro-Palestinian, and 34 neutral college students, viewed a specially constructed videotape of footage of the 1982 war between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that portrayed both sides equally as aggressors and…

Examining the relationships among social motivations, media use, and levels of political knowledge, a study (1) measured the unique contribution of social motivations beyond simple exposure and individual motivations, (2) tested for interactions between social and individual motivations and public affairs exposure, and (3) examined the interactive…

Academic freedom for precollegiate teachers in the United States is less clear than that expressed and confirmed in law and custom for college faculties. The question studied was how academic freedom is perceived in theory and practice by secondary school teachers outside of the United States. The interview schedule was modeled after schedules…

Noting that attention, or increased mental effort, has long been recognized as an important variable in the processing of mass communication messages, this paper examines both methodological and theoretical issues associated with the measurement of attention, particularly to the news and public affairs content in the news media. After a brief…

The political context surrounding Canadian broadcasting dramatically changed following the election of a conservative government in 1984, and Canada's current broadcasting debate is marked by national and special interest concerns. While an important social aspect of the system is its profoundly undemocratic nature, the constituent elements of a…

The race between Mary Decker and Zola Budd, a head to head confrontation in the 1985 Olympic Games, is examined within the broader context of the transformation taking place in sports as a result of the combined efforts of television and the economic forces of sponsorship. Athletics is going through this process of transformation both economically…

This paper reports the summative evaluation of the part-time learning project "Women and Politics," based on a 2-day forum sponsored in November 1986 by the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (Toronto, Canada) and the Committee for '94. The project consisted of a 6-part series featuring the speeches, workshops, and question periods from the…

To determine the extent to which peace studies are available and the attitudes of school officials toward peace education in Great Britain, an 8-part survey was administered to 125 Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The extent to which peace studies were implemented and accepted by LEAs is…

This study examined the effect of reference group norms on individual attitudes when these norms were transmitted to the individual via the results of an opinion poll. In particular, the study was concerned with the strength of a prior attitude toward an issue and the degree that a reference group could influence attitudes. It was hypothesized…