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CHRIS HILL'S DESCRIPTION OF EARLY EXPERIMENTS in video as 'a radical paradigm for a participatory democracy' (5) could easily be mistaken for one of the exuberant claims made on behalf [...]

Increasingly, scholars have come to see the news media as playing a pivotal role in shaping whether social movements are able to bring about broader social change. By drawing attention to movements' issues, claims, and supporters, the news media can shape the public agenda by influencing public opinion, authorities, and elites. Why are some social movement organizations more successful than others at gaining media coverage? Specifically, what organizational, tactical, and issue characteristics enhance media attention? We combine detailed organizational survey data from a representative sample of 187 local environmental organizations in North Carolina with complete news coverage of those organizations in 11 major daily newspapers in the two years following the survey (2,095 articles). Our analyses reveal that local news media favor professional and formalized groups that employ routine advocacy tactics, mobilize large numbers of people, and work on issues that overlap with newspapers' focus on local economic growth and well-being. Groups that are confrontational, volunteer-led, or advocate on behalf of novel issues do not garner as much attention in local media outlets. These findings have important implications and challenge widely held claims about the pathways by which movement actors shape the public agenda through the news media. Keywords social movements, news media, organizations, environment, voluntary associations DOI: 10.1177/0003122410386689

As part of a larger survey study on young adult sexuality conducted over a 17-year period at a Midwest U.S. university, more than 6,000 college students completed questions on the sources of their sex education and the degree to which they have communicated about sex with various types of individuals. Participants reported receiving more sex education from peers and media than from parents (and mothers more than fathers). Respondents also reported communicating more about sex with peers than with parents or any other categories of individuals. Differences were found in the degree of sex education from various sources and in communication with various targets based on gender, ethnic background, and social class. Furthermore, changes were found over the 17-year period. More recent cohorts of students perceived that they received more sex education from media, peers, and professionals, and communicated more about sex with professionals, relative to earlier cohorts., A majority of adolescents initiate sexual activity by the time they reach age 18 (for a review, see Willetts, Sprecher, & Beck, 2004). Because teens generally are not consistent users [...]

We consider a market where consumers mix goods offered by two firms differentiated a la Hotelling, and show how tariff structures affect consumers, profits, and location decisions. As compared to linear pricing, when firms charge two-part tariffs they make higher profits while consumers are worse off. The resulting allocation is not efficient since firms choose extreme locations and too little mixing occurs. Still, under competition in flat subscription fees only there is no mixing at all, and the outcome is Pareto-dominated by competition in the other types of tariffs. Results are discussed with a particular emphasis on the media industry. JEL classification: L13; L82 Keywords: Two-part tariffs; Flat fees; Combinable products; Media economics; Pay-per-view

The veracity of the notion that media exposure and attention partly mediate the impacts of parameters such as demographics and subjective experience on risk judgments is tested. The effect of media coverage on risk judgments pertaining to alcohol is especially discussed.

The paper seeks to establish a simple three-stage argument. It is argued, first, that the critical proximate economic source of party preferences is heavily valenced--that what matters most to voters are the relative economic management capabilities of the main rival parties. Second, these 'valenced' perceptions of party competence are themselves derived primarily from voters' economic evaluations, and in particular from their personal prospective evaluations. Third, these evaluations derive more from the way in which the media, and in particular television news programs, present economic developments than they do from 'objective' changes in the 'real' economy. These propositions are tested against monthly time-series data drawn from the United Kingdom during the first period of New Labour government 1997-2001. The data set employed combines aggregate-level opinion poll data, 'objective' measures of the macroeconomy, and data derived from a systematic content analysis of television news coverage of the economy. The empirical results provide preliminary support for all three propositions.

A critique of recent developments in research, examining media frames and their influence, is provided. Despite weakness in some recent approaches, framing research has the potential to link news tests to broader social and ideological contexts, including production and reception processes.

A test of the indirect effects model at a maternal health clinic in Nepal is discussed.

A review of works discussing the history of the mass media's influence on society is presented. Topics include national consciousness, public forum, and social history.

This article discusses the effect of radio political talk shows on public opinion of political leaders. The authors examine three types of radio talk shows during the 1996 presidential campaign, focusing on the impact of their messages on attitudes toward Republican and Democratic candidates; exposure to the programs and political knowledge are compared, finding that exposure has more effect.

The purpose of this study is to assess the influence of corporate media owners over news content. In particular, we address the claim that the financial interests of corporate owners lead America's news bureaus to downplay the significant issues surrounding the growing concentration of ownership of the country's mass media. To do so we examine newspaper coverage of one aspect of the 1996 Telecommunications Act: the loosening of restrictions on television ownership. We compare coverage of this aspect of the Telecommunications Act in newspapers owned by companies that stood to gain from the loosening of these restrictions, with coverage in newspapers owned by companies which did not stand to gain. We find substantial differences in how newspapers reported on these proposed regulatory changes depending on the financial interests of their corporate owners.

On April 16, 2007, a South Korean student named Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people and then turned the gun on himself at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in the deadliest […]

The influence of the structure of the Irish media and the development of political marketing is described. There exists a permanent campaign by the incumbents and candidates to establish and maintain their reputation for service delivery at local levels.

Presidential candidates focus on a news item and try to utilize it for their benefit with the help of journalists. Modern technology and instant delivery of news have caused a decrease in the competitive value of facts and conversion of the news item into a stimulator of the stock market and economy.

The potential of media research as a political force involving racism is discussed. The importance of the report about racism and media discourse produced by the Anti-Discrimination Board of New South Wales in March 2003 is highlighted.

The idea of social demand, as developed by Marc Raboy and his colleagues, with reference to the media consumption of Turkish-speaking migrants living in London, is explored. It is argued that it is necessary to move beyond the categories that are used to address national cultures and media.

The new media environment and the influence of the media on their territories are described. Description about the corporate strategies is given which are redefining the shape and substance of media institutions.

The main function of news media is to act as a communication forum for elites in their daily conflicts and negotiations. A critical research in media studies to devote more attention to the part played by media and culture in elite decision-making is presented

The concept of alternative media and a set of alternative media projects produced over six years in and around migrant farm worker camps are described. The need to attend the complex spatial and institutional contexts, that inflect and complicate alternative media project is suggested.

Connections between social movements and alternative media uses are discussed. Contrasts between users of conventional media and alternative media audiences are suggested. The interplay between political consciousness and alternative media is examined.

The author finds that press coverage of a company's falling finances can affect the auditor's opinions.

This article discusses Arab public opinion regarding the politics of Arab states. The author, focusing on the crisis in Iraq, discusses the array of opinions which have been heavily influenced by transnational Arab television and print media.