Suchergebnisse

Surveys of journalism department heads in 1997 and 2008 showed general support for the need for journalism students to reason with statistical information. Stronger support was associated, in particular, with the perception that this cognitive skill would give students an advantage in the journalism job market. However, many chairs also perceived constraints to learning, such as student inability and/or unwillingness to focus on this material and the difficulty most of their faculty would have teaching it. Some of these concerns may be more perceptual than actual.

When newspapers cover stories about environmental pollution, the nature of the community they serve can indirectly influence the contents of that coverage. This article describes research showing that newspapers in pluralistic (i.e., usually larger) communities are more likely than papers in homogeneous (i.e., usually smaller) communities to interpret the pollution as a science story. Framing a pollution incident as a science story makes it more likely that the story will link the pollution to health effects, especially when (1) newspapers in pluralistic communities are dealing with a local polluter, and (2) newspapers in homogeneous communities are writing about pollution problems outside the community. These results are consistent with the Tichenor, Donohue, and Olien conflict/consensus model, which posits that the way power is distributed in a community affects the way that stories are selected and framed by local mass media.

This study applies attribution theory to field research into communication and public perceptions of a social group. In particular, audience viewing of various popular Vietnam War films related to attributions audiences made for readjustment problems facing some Vietnam veterans, which in turn related to public opinion about government assistance to Vietnam veterans. Results also suggest that mass media might play a role in the social definition of the meaning of the Vietnam War as the United States comes to closure on that episode in history.

An analysis of 373 daily newspapers in the Midwest found that community structure and an information subsidy from an environmental group affected press coverage of a story about pollution from industrial toxins. A press kit the group sent to some newspapers appears to have influenced the papers to run a story on industrial toxic releases, but it primarily prompted editors to delegate local staff to cover the story. Results indicate that the press' function to report or raise issues concerning industrial toxic releases and related health risks is tempered by community structure and particularly by community reliance on manufacturing.

THE AUTHORS STUDY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BLACK POPULATION AND CONGRESSIONAL LIBERALISM IN RECENT DECADES, DISAGGREGATED BY REGION. THEY SHOW THAT DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONSTITUENCY EFFECTS HAVE APPLIED IN DIFFERENT PERIODS AHD IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES. THEY LOOK AT THE POTENTIAL POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF DISTRICTING SCHEMES THAT EITHER CONCENTRATE OR DISPERSE BLACK POPULATION ACROSS CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS. THEY SHOW HOW SUCH REDISTRICTING CHOICES MIGHT BE EXPECTED TO AFFECT MEAN CONGRESSIONAL LIBERALISM AND TO AFFECT THE LIKELIHOOD THAT DEMOCRATS WILL BE ELECTED TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN THE 1990'S. THEY ALSO EXPLORE THE CLAIM THAT CREATING BLACK-MAJORITY DISTRICTS REDUCES THE MEAN POLICY LIBERALISM OF CONGRESS BY LEADING TO REPUBLICAN AND CONSERVATIVE GAINS IN DISTRICTS THAT HAVE BEEN STRIPPED OF BLACK VOTERS.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM CLAIMS THAT THE SENATE IS MORE LIBERAL THAN THE HOUSE. THIS GREATER LIBERALISM HAS BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO BOTH INSTITUTIONAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES IN THE CONSTITUENCY BASE OF EACH BRANCH OF LEGISLATURE. THE AUTHORS OF THIS ARTICLE ARGUE THAT THE PARTY COMPOSITION OF EACH BRANCH IS A CENTRAL DETERMINANT OF THE RELATIVE LIBERALISM OF THE TWO BRANCHES. HOWEVER, EVEN WHEN PARTY AND DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES ARE CONTROLLED, THEY FIND A SMALL BUT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT INSTITUTIONAL EFFECT--WITH THE SENATE ON AVERAGE THE MORE LIBERAL BODY FROM 1960 TO 1989. THIS FINDING IS FURTHER CONFIRMED WHEN THEY EXAMINE THE DATA ON ADA SCORES OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS FROM THE STATES WHICH ELECT A SINGLE REPRESENTATIVE--STATES FOR WHICH THE HOUSE AND SENATORIAL CONSTITUENCY ARE IDENTICAL. IN THESE STATES, THE AUTHORS FIND THAT DEMOCRATIC SENATORS ARE ON AVERAGE SLIGHTLY TO THE LEFT OF DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVES AND REPUBLICAN SENATORS ARE ALSO ON AVERAGE SLIGHTLY TO THE LEFT OF REPUBLICAN REPRESENTATIVES.