Discusses the impact of commercialism on American public schools, arguing that commercialism imperils the democratic nature of public schools and compromises the goals of quality education for all children. Maintains that education's larger purposes diverge tremendously from those of the business community and that in-school advertising results in…

The purpose of this paper is to explore another facet of visual literacy--technical visual communication (TVC)--and to discuss how this new perspective can further strengthen visual literacy as a discipline. Unlike visual literacy, which looks to a desirable state of affairs, TVC addresses the nature of actual visual communication. Both visual…

This experimental comparison of the advertising effectiveness of television, movies, radio, and print finds no support for McLuhan's idea that television is a "cool" medium and movies are a "hot" medium. (RB)

A study examined the treatment and portrayal of political parties on Soviet and American television. The content of six newscasts of "World News Tonight" and "Vremya" during June of 1984 were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The overall results suggest that 15 stories (24% of the total allotted time) pertaining…

Compiled in response to the need for more information on the differences between the press systems of the United States and the Soviet Union, this bibliography contains 240 entries. Consisting of newspaper articles, journal articles, books, and pamphlets, the bibliography provides an overview of the different journalistic philosophies of the two…

The use of religious tracts in teaching a course in persuasive communication is described in this paper. Excerpts from a number of tracts are presented to show how religious tracts can be used in teaching about (1) persuasive messages that appeal to fear, (2) the question of ethics in persuasion, (3) appeals to concerns about physiological…

Four hundred fifty subjects at Texas A&M University provided data, through self-administered questionnaires, to evaluate the influence on readers of qualifying statements regarding technical performance claims in magazine advertisements. Each respondent was exposed to a single treatment by viewing one of 30 versions of mock magazine…

In the past five years, unprecedented discussion and analysis have been focused on mass media in the third world. Common topics include development journalism, the New Information Order, cultural invasion and exchange, and ruralization of media. Ethical considerations for first world involvement in third world media have arisen in several areas.…

The method of campaigning politically on television has changed markedly between 1952, when speeches by candidates were the prevalent mode of television campaigning, and 1972, when 60-second and 30-second spot announcements had almost replaced broadcast addresses. However, studies show that spots do not constitute an important source of political…

Combining two issues significant in contemporary broadcasting--the influence of television on children and the role of women as portrayed by the media, this study analyzed the image of female children in 294 television commercials shown from eight in the morning until noon every Saturday from November 10, 1973, until December 8, 1973. Although the…

This 20-week course in mystery fiction for high school students is designed to provide experiences in logical thinking, reasoned written presentation, the nature of literary analysis via the crime story, and the tools of research. Students should be able to (1) use their language well, (2) read critically with attention to detail, and (3) meet and…

Critics claim that consumer education materials from business sources are commercial in nature. Research evaluating the extent to which this claim is justified found that business-sponsored consumer curriculum materials contain significantly more commercial and advertising content than nonbusiness materials. (Author/CH)

Stresses the importance of instruction which prepares students to think critically about the language of politics. (RB)

Two defeats at the polls were the prelude to one park district's successful bid for tax support