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We use national survey data to examine the extent to which various sources of political information expose people to dissimilar political views. We hypothesize that the individual's ability and desire to exercise selective exposure is a key factor in determining whether a given source produces exposure to dissimilar views. Although a lack of diverse perspectives is a common complaint against American news media, we find that individuals are exposed to far more dissimilar political views via news media than through interpersonal political discussants. The media advantage is rooted in the relative difficulty of selectively exposing oneself to those sources of information, as well as the lesser desire to do so, given the impersonal nature of mass media.

This article presents some of the general findings and, in particular, the information on family planning practice in Isfahan City and Ostan compiled in two phases of the Isfahan Communications Project (ICP). In terms of information generated, the project had two main stages: (1) the ostan-wide sample presurvey (May, 1970), and (2) the ostan-wide mass media campaign (August, 1970-March, 1971). The presurvey was made to obtain demographic information and data on the knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) of family planning among the population and their exposure to the various media. The media campaign was directed at those couples who because of their media behavior and previous experiences with contraception were thought to be predisposed to adopt modern family planning methods.

The ability of interest groups to make their views heard is a central tenet of pluralist views of American politics. Despite consensus about the importance of news coverage to interest groups pursuing "outside strategies," however, little work has examined the ability of ordinary groups to make news. I argue that the best predictor of an interest group's ability to use the mass media as a political tool is the level of organizational resources (money, members, staff, etc.) it enjoys. Through an investigation of the quantity & quality of news coverage received by a sample of 244 interest groups, I show that uneven distribution of resources leads to heavy concentration of news on the largest & wealthiest groups as well as to important differences in how the media portray group actions. I conclude that the outside strategy is more a romantic myth than an accurate portrayal of the American system. Tables, Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

The analysis of cultural context in media texts can contribute to understanding how national images are constucted in the international media discourse. The image of a country is better understood by the audience of another country when it is introduced through familiar cultural concepts and well-known experiences so that specific, culture-bound elements of the other culture are brought closer to the target audience. The research provides linguo-cultural analysis of Russia's portrayal in political media discourse in English-speaking countries drawing on the approach to political discourse as the process of production and interpretation of a text in meaningful political, social and cultural context. The study is aimed at exploring British and U.S.A. mass media to reveal typical features of the English-language political discourse concerning Russia and to find out how Russia's image is constmcted. In the course of the study we examined culture-bound lexicon in texts of various genres of political discourse in mass media focusing on Russia. Further, the use of Russian culture-bound items without translation in British and American mass media was analyzed, and such items were classified into categories according to their contextual functions. The results indicate that Russia is deeply integrated into the cultural context of the English-speaking audience; it can be said that Russia's image in the Anglophone political media discourse is outlined with the aid of various cultural-bound associative, connotative and metaphorical links which are familiar for native readers and serve them as a bridge facilitating their understanding and interpretation of Russian culture.

When environmental science acts by enlightenment rather than instrumental use, that is, by changing the aims and values of politics rather than its means, adequate communi cation to the general public is crucially important. Based on the study of two issues, forest death from acid rain and the size of whale stocks, this article shows how the "constraints" of commercial mass media can be contrary to the task of enlightenment. It is also argued that skeptical and relativist views of science contribute indirectly to bias by undermining criticism.

Most of the new developments in the mass media during the 1960's turned out to be unfulfilled promises, for good or ill. A partial list is suggestive:1. The tapering off of the underground press.2. The inconclusive, still smoldering Agnew controversy.3. The decline of the mass magazine.4. The rise of pornography as a mass medium.5. The gradual eclipse of McLuhan and his theories.6. The ambiguous influence of TV in politics following the excitement of the Kennedy-Nixon debates.7. The blunted impact of the big reports: Kerner, Eisenhower, Pornography, and the Surgeon-General's report on violence.8. The failure of educational TV to get up a full head of steam.9. The failure of commercial TV to develop new, innovative, and imaginative programs.10. The technological promises unfulfilled: the electronic newspaper and magazine, TV cassettes, CATV's slow march, home video tapes, 3-D TV, and so on, along with the persistence of raised-type printing, radio, comic strips, newsboys, and much else often proclaimed obsolete.Despite inevitable overlapping, it is convenient to divide the foregoing into print and broadcasting.

Abstract: Can a primitive society set a public agenda? Are there some advantages for a religious society in setting an agenda? From a critical study of the communicative perspective of the Bible and hermeneutic reading of its texts, it can be said that certain elements in primitive societies succeeded in influencing the political and social agendas. They did so by exploiting specific public assemblies or appearing in crowded places in attempts to impact local and national agendas. This notion is significant because it suggests that in countries that do not have developed communication infrastructures or established religious institutions (e.g., churches, mosques, and synagogues) that serve as public arenas, indeed even in seemingly closed religious communities, there may well be attempts to use venues other than mass media to influence the public agenda. Keywords: agenda setting, religion, Bible, New Testament***Résumé : Bien que la notion d'agenda setting n'a émergé dans l'analyse des politiques publiques qu'au début des années '70, une lecture de la Bible dans une approche herméneutique critique dévoile le fait que déjà dans l'antiquité biblique il était possible d'influencer les programmes politiques et sociaux, grâce à l'exploitation d'assemblées publiques d'ordre religieux, comme plateformes médiatiques. Cette thèse est pertinente car elle affirmerait que bien avant le développement des infrastructures modernes de communication, les différentes manifestations religieuses servaient de facto comme tribunes publiques et passerelles médiatiques en plus de leur rôle cultuel de jure. Mots-clés : agenda setting, religion, Bible, Nouveau Testament

Surveys conducted in two midwestern cities investigated the hypothesis that says people will perceive effects of mass media as being greater on others than on themselves. Findings demonstrate this, with almost 90% of respondents judging they were less influenced than were others. Respondents with more education saw others as being even more influenced, but not themselves so much. Older respondents were most likely to feel mass media influenced them less than others, perhaps because older people feel they have other sources of information.