An investigation of structural aspects of television messages focused on the interaction between structure and content in the creation of meaning. A preliminary study using quantitative data analyzed 137 television news stories from the commercial networks on the fighting in El Salvador to determine how structural elements were used by newsworkers, those decisions being a product of different codes. The codes studied included editing (cuts, dissolves, wipes); camera work (angle, movement, distance); and visual/aural combination, such as a voice-over. Another concern was to determine if these elements were used consistently in the same way, or if they changed over the 5-year period covered by the news stories. Preliminary results found both similarities and differences among the three networks for camera movement. The study then moved from quantitative analysis of the use of formal elements within the news reports to a qualitative examination of how these characteristics interact with the content they convey. Semiotic theory, particularly the concepts of denotation and connotation, was used as a framework to analyze this interaction. This study is the first part of a complete analysis of the function of structural elements and their effect on meaning. Seven references are listed. (LMM)