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The nation is rapidly moving toward two increasingly separate Americas. The Kerner Report, 1968

We estimate the impact of press coverage on citizen knowledge, politicians' actions, and policy. We find that voters living in areas where, for exogenous reasons, the press covers their U.S. House representative less are less likely to recall their representative's name and less able to describe and rate him or her. Congressmen who are less covered by the local press work less for their constituencies: they are less likely to stand witness before congressional hearings, to serve on constituency-oriented committees (perhaps), and to vote against the party line. Finally, federal spending is lower in areas with exogenously lower press coverage of congressmen. Adapted from the source document.

The ways in which social workers are criticised in the press have led to concern in the profession, especially in cases involving child-battering, and illustrated more recently in press reactions to the social workers' strike. Here, local and national press reports for two months in 1978 have been analysed to provide a broad picture of press treatment of social work material, both with regard to controversial issues and the day-to-day handling of social work news. In fact, the number of positive comments on social work were found to slightly outnumber the negative ones, although what impact each type of story has on the public is difficult to estimate. However press concentration on certain areas of social work (like child-care cases) at the expense of other areas (like work with the elderly) may influence public definitions of social workers' roles. In addition, there were considerable differences between newspapers, and only a vague pattern to these differences, and the article suggests that there is potential for social workers to improve their press image if they are prepared to approach the press, rather than wait for the press to question them over 'sensational' and potentially damaging stories. In this context, press reaction to the annual report of the NSPCC is in stark contrast to that following the report of inquiry into the death of Karen Spencer.

Words spoken and actions taken at the United Nations echo around the world, and have very great impact on the hundreds of millions of individuals whose opinions, collectively, make up world opinion. World opinion, in its turn, has a distinct and traceable impact on diplomacy and international relations. Many consider it the only real weapon the UN possesses.

An examination of 600 items in the local press coverage of environmental conflict during a ten-year period showed that a community daily in a small, hut heterogeneous system (1) did indeed favor government/industry sources rather than activists/citizens through all five stages of the conflict; (2) supported local industry in editorials and staff opinion columns in only two stages (Mobilization and Confrontation); and (3) legitimized local industry and marginalized its opponents through all five stages.