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This paper summarizes the development of cable systems and cable policy in Britain from the 1920s into the late 1980s. It links the course of cable system development to four general types of factors: (1) the strength of organized interests in support of and in opposition to cable; (2) the pragmatic ability of a new service such as cable to meet reasonably the expectations of major actors; (3) supports and constraints within the legal-institutional framework, including the nature of cable policy itself; and (4) the role of both positive and negative symbols surrounding this particular innovation. The case suggests ways in which the faltering development of cable television in Britain reflects the unique historical circumstances of cable and broadcasting in this nation. But since the same forces may be at work in other national settings, this typology of factors and, particularly, the role of symbolic politics is offered as a framework for comparative inquiry.

ABSTRACTThis article examines the reception by voters of the first direct elections to the European Parliament in June 1979, using data from comparable surveys conducted shortly after Polling Day in eight of the nine member states of the European Community. Against a background of party campaigning and media coverage which often differed from that normally associated with national elections, four indices of popular involvement are examined: degree of interest in the campaign; evaluations of its presentation on television; the extent to which it was followed through the mass media and other channels of communication; and voters' perceptions of the issues that emerged from the campaign. A number of influences that affected turnout and other forms of electoral participation are then reviewed, including outlook on European affairs, partisan affiliations, demographic positions, and amount of mass media exposure to the campaign, a factor which appeared particularly significant for those voters whose interest in the campaign was relatively weak.

This article reflects upon the ways television changed the political landscape and considers how far new media, such as the Internet, are displacing television or reconfiguring the political communications ecology. The analysis explores opportunities and challenges facing media producers, politicians, and citizens. The authors conclude by suggesting that the television-politics relationship that emerged in the 1960s still prevails to some extent in the digital era but faces new pressures that weaken the primacy of the broadcast-centered model of political communication. The authors identify five new features of political communication that present formidable challenges for media policy makers. They suggest that these are best addressed through an imaginative, democratic approach to nurturing the emancipatory potential of the new media ecology by carving out within it a trusted online space where the dispersed energies, self-articulations, and aspirations of citizens can be rehearsed, in public, within a process of ongoing feedback to the various levels and centers of governance.

This article reflects upon the ways television changed the political landscape and considers how far new media, such as the Internet, are displacing television or reconfiguring the political communications ecology. The analysis explores opportunities and challenges facing media producers, politicians, and citizens. The authors conclude by suggesting that the television-politics relationship that emerged in the 1960s still prevails to some extent in the digital era but faces new pressures that weaken the primacy of the broadcast-centered model of political communication. The authors identify five new features of political communication that present formidable challenges for media policy makers. They suggest that these are best addressed through an imaginative, democratic approach to nurturing the emancipatory potential of the new media ecology by carving out within it a trusted online space where the dispersed energies, self-articulations, and aspirations of citizens can be rehearsed, in public, within a process of ongoing feedback to the various levels and centers of governance. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright The American Academy of Political and Social Science.]

The article is shaped by two objectives. First, it reviews approaches and contributions by European scholars with records of continuous and cumulative research into political communication, identifying eight common features of their work. A core notion is that of a `political communication system', including its structure (focusing especially on relations between politicians and journalists), the role of media power, the external influences to which it responds in different societies and how it changes. Audience studies are pursued and normative assessments developed within this perspective as well. Second, a few priority areas for future attention are proposed that could lead to a philosophically grounded critical (but non-Marxist) theory of political communication.

"Dieser Artikel verfolgt zwei Ziele. Er gibt zunächst eine Übersicht über Methoden und Beiträge europäischer Forscher, die kontinuierlich und kumulativ auf dem Gebiet der politischen Kommunikation gearbeitet haben, und identifiziert acht gemeinsame Eigenschaften ihrer Arbeit. Ein zentraler Begriff ist der eines 'politischen Kommunikationssystems'. Der Begriff umfaßt die Struktur (insbesondere die Beziehungen zwischen Politikern und Journalisten), die Rolle der Medienmacht, die äußeren Einflüsse, auf die das System in verschiedenen Gesellschaften reagiert, und seinen Wandel. In dieser Perspektive werden außerdem Rezeptionsstudien und normative Untersuchungen durchgeführt. Zweitens macht der Artikel einige Vorschläge für die künftige Forschung, die zu einer philosophisch begründeten, kritischen (aber nicht-marxistischen) Theorie der politischen Kommunikation führen können." (Autorenreferat)

Early studies of the gratification provided by the media are cited, & their common features & main shortcomings are discussed. In the last few years, there has been a new wave of interest in the subject in the western world sharing the following common characteristics: (1) mass media is conceived as goal directed, the audience as active; (2) the initiative in linking need gratification & media choice is left to the audience member; (3) the media is seen as competing with other sources of need satisfaction; (4) much of the data on the goals of mass media is derived from individual audience members; & (5) as audience orientations are explored, value judgments about the cultural significance of mass communication is suspended. Various typologies of audience participation are evaluated. The study of mass media use suffers at present from the absence of a relevant theory of social & psychological needs. The extent to which the media create the needs which they satisfy is discussed. S. Karganovic.

This article was originally a report for the British government's Peacock Committee on Financing the BBC. Comparative conclusions concerning the impact of different funding arrangements for the range and quality of television programming are drawn from analyses of broadcasting systems in Britain, the United States, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and West Germany. Common trends and pressures are identified. Prime-time television schedules are compared. British programme performance is evaluated. A purpose for public service broadcasting in a period of telecommunications change is proposed. The principal options of broadcasting finance are reviewed in the light of international experience: full advertising; limited advertising; sponsor-ship; co-production finance; and the licence fee.