Recent research efforts have attempted to address the contradictory conclusions being drawn about the relative contribution of television and newspapers to citizen awareness of public affairs. The traditional view of newspapers' superiority has been challenged by those investigators who hold that the determinant factors rest with individuals--their motivation, their political orientation, and their ability to derive information from any source. Additional questions surround the difference between media exposure or use, and reliance or dependence upon those media. Some exposure may be passive, habitual, while other exposure is active, selective and analytical. All these factors are involved in the relationships between media use and social perceptions. This study examines the relationship between different measures of media use, reliance and social perceptions in the context of the continuing struggle in South Africa as reported in U.S. media. For black college students, media use and reliance play only a marginal role in the formation of impressions about the conflict. A reference list and six data tables are appended. (Author/TRS)