Showing papers in "Newspaper Research Journal in 1980"

Time to Stop Singing the “Bad News” Blues

Abstract: \"(I)t's been 25 years since a cow died from respiratory trouble in the fog at Smithfield.\" That hardly sounds like news, especially in the influential Sunday Times of London. But the Times story did appear recently and it wasn't exactly a joke. Rather, the story was part of a tongue-in-cheek good news front page birthday present to bonnie Prince Charles. The British heir had earlier joined dozens of critical readers who ask why newspapers always print what's bad but never what's good. ''Why don't they, for a change, tell us how many jumbo jets landed safely at Heathrow Airport?\" Charles had asked at a press awards luncheon.' Does this sound familiar? Echoes of Spiro Agnew? It was on November 13, 1969, that then-Vice President Agnew initiated a campaign against the media in his Des Moines, Iowa, speech, charging the networks with overemphasizing stories of dissent, lawlessness and controversy.^ But before Agnew's criticism, some editors of the nation's newspapers apparently perceived the public's demand for \"good\" news. The Arizona Republic ran a ''good news\" feature titled \"The Brighter side\" and the Miami News printed a ''non-violent\" issue May 16,1969. The Florida readers had general positive reactions, but most recognized reporting only \"good\" news would preclude the presentation of an accurate and complete picture of the world.^ Contrary to the critics who demand more \"good\" news, readership research shows much of what is considered \"bad\" news is more frequently read than the \"good\" news. In a massive 1955 survey Charles Swanson showed stories most widely read were about war, defense, fire-disaster, human interest, weather, individuals, major

The Newspaper Preservation Act: A Retrospective Analysis.

Abstract: If the 91 st Congress had been able to see a decade into the future when it passed the Newspaper Preservation Act in 1970 granting special antitrust exemptions for certain newspapers, would it still have considered the Act a valid means of \"maintaining a newspaper press editorially and reportorially and competitive in all parts of the United States''? As current antitrust legislation receives close inspection by the Congress this year, a reassessment of public policy regarding the Newspaper Preservation Act would be appropriate as well. This commentary will attempt to show through specific cases involving the statute that: I. The Act, while purportedly designed to maintain two independent editorial voices in a community, has been used to eliminate economic competition which otherwise might have been preserved. IL The Act has not prevented the demise of dual editorial voices in metropolitan areas. III. The intent of the Act has been distorted by including under its aegis newspapers that are not in probable danger of financial failure. Each of these assertions will be examined in the light of cases which have arisen under the Act in the past nine years. But to evaluate the impact of these cases, some background on the formation of the Act is necessary. The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970' sanctions conduct (specifically, price fixing, profit pooling and market allocation) for a select group of jointly operating newspapers which otherwise is expressly prohibited under the Sherman and Clayton antitrust acts. The exemptions granted by Congress under the Act to those joint ventures already in existence and to any that might be approved in the future hold in perpetuity the right of these newspapers to engage in monopolistic practices of setting joint advertising rates, circulation rates and revenue distribution.

Leaks to the Press as Communication within and between Organizations.

Abstract: Contrary to the myth which has grown up around investigative journalism, few ofthe major political scandals of the last decade have been uncovered solely by the persistent digging of the press. Most such stories have been broken only after crucial details were leaked by someone in the bureaucracy. The wholesale leak of classified documents, for example, brought the Pentagon Papers to the attention ofthe world. And the unraveling of the Watergate scandal—a feat generally credited to the industry of two reporters—would have been incomplete or impossible if it were not for leaks by government investigators.' Leaks have become a principal means by which the inner-workings of bureaucracies are exposed to the scrutiny ofthe press and public. Leaking dates back at least to 1844 when a senator arranged for publication of a treaty which President Tyler hoped to sneak through the Senate in executive session. Tyler's ''strategem was defeated.''^ But the term *'leak,'' coined in the early twentieth century, was originally applied to inadvertent slips in which information was picked up by reporters.-^ The word quickly acquired a broader, more active meaning: any calculated release of information to reporters with the stipulation that the source remain unidentified. A variety of formal press-official interactions have institutionalized leaking, most notably background briefings in which information can be attributed to a veiled source (e.g., ''high official," ''spokesman"), and deep background press

How Reporters Evaluate the Credibility of Their Sources.

Abstract: Reporters appear to fall into three types according to the way they evaluate their sources' credibility. And the major differences between the three types appear to lie in the weight they give intuition, or gut feeling, and to their ability to get corroboration of information supplied by their sources. The three types are: 1. Insists upon corroboration and specifically rejects intuition as a reason for believing or not believing a source; 2. Insists upon corroboration but is neutral on intuition; 3. Insists upon corroboration but rates intuition just as high as a part of the total process of deciding whether a source is believable. The study also yielded four dimensions on which reporters appear to base their evaluation of credibility as a part of the overall process: reliability, appearance, motivation and status-position. Of the four, it hardly is surprising that reporters appear likely to believe sources who have been reliable in the past and that they tend to consider motivation (Why is the source telling me this?) in trying to decide whom to believe. But it might be somewhat surprising that reporters appear to put more emphasis than might have been thought—or that some might have been willing to admit—upon appearance and status-position. This is not to say that appearance and/or status-position by themselves are used for believing or disbelieving a source. In fact, the data indicate such criteria are rejected by the reporters according to the three types. But some reporters do appear more willing than others to apply

The Electronic Gatekeeper: Editing on the Copy Desk of a Metropolitan Newspaper.

Abstract: Without question, the newspaper industry has experienced vast technological changes in the past decade as the computer has entered the newsroom and composing room. Computerization has afFected all departments, from circulation to advertising to news and editorial. Newsrooms are often carpeted with little or no noise, in contrast to the hard floors and constant clatter of typewriters common just a few years ago. Electronic word processing systems have replaced the manual typewriter, pencils, erasers, scissors and glue pots. Numerous mass communication theorists have written about the possible effects of such technology on communication behavior. Their arguments are, in general, that technological innovations change the communication process. McLuhan stated that the predecessor of the video display terminal in the newsroom, the typewriter, caused ''an entirely new attitude to the written and print word.\" He pointed out that perceptions of the typewriter's effects were so influential upon newspapers that the typewriter was given a \"lukewarm reception for some time after its development.\"* Carpenter believes that \". . .each communication channel codifies reality differently and thus influences, to a surprising degree, the content of the message communicated.\"^ The emergence of various forms of mass communication affects the

Book Review: The Newspaper: An Introduction to Newswriting and ReportingLovellRonald P., The Newspaper: An Introduction to Newswriting and Reporting. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1980.

Abstract: not edit on the tube.\" The text also provides some general discussion of both apparent benefits and shortcomings ofthe technology's impacts. There are two major strengths— in spite of some minor weaknesses— which make this book a valuable and needed contribution. Both stem from the author's apparent experience and understanding ofthe electronic technology and the news editing process. First, he takes the mystique and apprehension out of the newest technology. Second, he simplifies and clarifies the traditional copy editing functions for the novice. On the mechanics of electronic editing he offers the anxious beginner this encouraging conclusion: \"Experience indicates clearly that few people have any great trouble in learning how to manipulate copy on the VDT. Ten minutes at the tube will get most people started . . . .\" The book combines ' 'a major structural departure\" along with ample examples and illustrations of actual copy handling practices. His technique is to frequently ask the reader questions and solicit participation in selecting answers and writing out responses following explanatory material of key aspects of copy editing. This modified programmed instruction approach, which Gibson says he has tested thoroughly, promises to contribute to improving learning and application, especially for journalism students. What may interfere are the author's ''folksy\" writing style, oversimplification, overstatement, and sometimes obtuse attempts at humor One of many possible examples is the rather unlikely analogy he draws between today's copy editor and Benjamin Franklin. While the new technology has modified the copy editor^s job, this has hardly made either a Franklin, an editorprinter, or statesman out of the student. The focus ofthe book is narrowly restricted to newspaper editing. That's unfortunate, especially since so many of today's students are being employed in non-newspaper careers. When considering the range of skills essential to good copy editing, it's tempting to demand more than this, or any other book, offers. There's certainly more to desk work than is covered in detail here, but it provides a thorough starting point for beginning copy editors and offers some valuable review for others in areas where enhancement is always desired, including The King's English, headline writing, libel, layout, and photographs and cutlines.

The National vs. Local News Controversy: A Behavioral Approach.

Abstract: The results of news research are sometimes disseminated as if they were printed on bumper stickers. A fmding that is valid and important for a particular time, place, and set of circumstances becomes distilled into an aphorism which is then applied to a much broader set of situations than the researcher intended or the results justified. John S. Knight has told a story that illustrates the problem. In his early years at the Miami Herald, he once complained to the editors about a Page One photograph of circus elephants walking across a causeway. It was free advertising for the circus, he contended. Years later, he learned that this admonition had survived in the form of a copy desk maxim: \"The boss doesn't like animal stories.\

“Do-it-Yourself” Polling: A Case Study and Critique

Abstract: The impetus for \"do-it-yourself' polling comes from several sources. Part of it comes from the changing nature of journalism itself, with more interest in interpretative reporting and with more backgrounding of the news. Part of it comes from a new generation of journalists who want to apply the research capability they acquired in schools of journalism; many newspapers now have staff members who have the background and expertise necessary to undertake various kinds of survey research. Part of the impetus comes from the availability of new technology and new applications of it; for example, computers which are used in typesetting can also be programmed to handle research data as well. Some of the mystique which once surrounded polling is disappearing, thanks to the workof such writers as Philip Meyer, who has done much to make the esoteric language of the social scientists understandable to the layman. In his now widely-known Precision Journalism, Meyer urges reporters to use solid survey research as the basis for interpretative reporting; he says this is a far more defensible ''anchoring point'' for this kind of reporting than are ideology, personal conviction, or conventional wisdom.* Further encouragement comes from such established researchers as Max McCombs, Donald Shaw and David Grey. They suggest that the press is especially suited to do what they call 'Tire-house^' research, or the ''rapid production of social indicators.\" Timeliness and rapid reaction to situations are the hallmarks of American journalism, they

Three Ways of Assessing Newspaper Readership Demographics

Abstract: Research on newspaper readership and exposure to other mass media has been growing rapidly in volume in recent years, and a variety of new analytical techniques are being applied to sample survey data. The latter trend has been fostered by the availability of statistical program packages that permit the efficient computer processing and analysis of survey data, and by the increased sophistication of media researchers themselves. As in other fields, these new technologies have encouraged experimentation, and the pursuit of many leads using a number of statistical models to achieve research objectives for which they appear ill-suited. Much of this \"data-dredging\"* never sees the light of day in the form of published analyses of fmdings. As a result, the merits and drawbacks of various techniques in providing answers to specific research questions are less apparent to those who may wish to experiment on their own. Of equal importance, the endusers of such research, including media policy makers, have little basis for assessing the findings independently and deciding what they mean and what to do with them. Our objective in this brief paper is to illustrate and assess three commonly-used data analysis techniques in relation to a lively research issue: what accounts for people's daily newspaper reading? Two specific questions will be explored: 1) How do these modes of analyses compare in identifying key demographic variables affecting newspaper readership frequency?; and 2) What are the principal uses of each method in accounting for demographic sources of variation in newspaper readership frequency? Answers to these questions can help us assess just how powerful are demographic factors in newspaper readership.

An Examination of the Perceptions of Newspaper Advertisements

Abstract: A limited number of studies have examined the attitudes of the general public and newspaper consumers (subscribers and readers) toward the advertising content of newspapers. Some studies have established that newspaper ads are perceived more favorably than other forms of advertising. A nationwide survey of 1,803 adults by the American Association of Advertising Agencies found that newspaper ads were evaluated more favorably than those of magazines, radio, television, billboards, or direct mail.' The study also found that the one in three members of the public who most favor advertising are somewhat less educated, less affluent and older than the other segment of the public.

Managerial Incentives: Effects at a Chain Owned Daily

Abstract: The rush to chain ownership has alarmed many observers of the press. Their concern often focuses on the immense power of the chains, and potential for abuse.' Although there are newspaper groups that follow a profits-at-all-costs philosophy, there is a large segment of the industry that provides the financial benefits of group membership coupled with journalistic integrity.^ John Soloski has noted that in general \". . . the larger chains . . . avoid directly interfering with news content of member papers... Indeed it appears that the larger chains do not interfere with the editorial content of member newspapers.\"^ However, he found that, in one Midwestern newspaper, the chain's profit goals changed the role of the publisher and in turn had a great impact on editorial content and newsroom personnel.'* This article, which is based on information from interviews with the editor, managing editor and associate editor, focuses on management incentives at a chain-owned daily. It demonstrates how four incentives—salary, budget, a management by objectives (MBO) bonus and a stock option plan—are used to reward and evaluate the performance of the paper's managing editor and associate editor. Using the principal-agent model— the economic relationship between a firm and its employes—as a base, the paper critiques the incentive program from an economic standpoint.̂ The outline of an incentives program coupled with an economic critique of the program presents a case study of the use of incentives at one large newspaper.

The Autonomous Work Group in Journalism.

Abstract: Much of American industry over the past few decades has come to realize that an employe is a resource which must be paid attention to. There are several factors, other than money or health benefits, which must be catered to if the worker is to be satisfied. Researchers say these psychological states need satisfaction to make the work more meaningful: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback.* Several recent studies show that the average American worker is dissatisfied with his or her job.^ Workers perceive that there is a decline in the quality of working life. Newspaper editors and publishers must realize that the news industry is not immune from this changing tide of worker opinion, and therefore the job growth needs of reporters and editors must be met if the jobs are to become more professional, and productive, and if the industry's massive turnover rate is to be cut way down. Chris Argyris, with Harvard University's Department of Education, spent several years researching the organizational structure of a large metropolitan newspaper. He concluded that '\"organizational health requires continual self-examination and self-renewal. Yet, as far as I could see, the communications media has shown little interest in such activities.\"^ And, added Daniel Yankelovich, \"there is strong resistance in top management circles, once you get beyond lip service, to the idea that human resources are a key to improving productivity and competitive effectiveness.'\"* This paper, therefore, is directed at the manager who, even if inadvertently, has neglected the job growth needs of his or her employes. To help eliminate the problem, the work of the journalist may have to be redesigned, and one form of job enrichment and work redesign is the autonomous work group. Certainly this is a radical idea for the newsroom, but it could help satisfy the

Newspaper Front Pages Revisited: Reader Reactions

Abstract: The subject has not escaped the attention of researchers. Since the late '60s and through the '70s there have been several published research studies dealing with page layout and graphics. One of the early studies by Click and Stempel found that readers preferred horizontal makeup to vertical makeup \"although both examples presented to them used eight column pages. \"^ In 1973, Price tested reactions to six different page designs. Among the six different formats, readers' first preference was a five-column format followed by a six-column format^ Also in 1973, Click and Stempel, in a follow-up study of their 1967 research, found that out of six front pages, readers rated the three modern layouts 1-2-3 in prefer-

Newspaper Readership Patterns in Non-Metropolitan Communities

Abstract: Newspaper readership has been explored from a variety of theoretical perspectives. The literature reveals the ebb and flow of such explanations for newspaper readership as market segmentation, e.g., demographics;* media environment, e.g., media exposure;^ social structure, e.g., community orientation;^ uses and gratifications, e.g., motivation and need fulfillment;"* and content preferences, e.g., readership of specific newspaper items.^' Despite the emergence of these varied research thrusts, the newspaper industry is still challenged to provide a clearer and more comprehensive portrait of its product.^ One need is for a broader geographic data base. Most readership studies are based upon major urban audiences or a few selective non-metropolitan communities. The opportunity to examine readership over a broad geographic base, especially in non-metropolitan communities, has increased through the recent involvement of state press associations.^ Innovators in this regard have been, for example, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Tennessee, the study upon which this report is based. In addition to broadly-based nonmetropolitan data, there is a strong need for studies on various situational variables in newspaper readership.^ One of these situational factors is the type of community in which newspaper audiences live and interact with their newspapers. In a comprehensive review of the uses and effects of newspapers and

On Their Way to the Top? Men and Women Middle-Level Newspaper Managers.

Abstract: The managers are still male and their subordinates are largely female in the contemporary job market—in the newspaper business as in other U.S. businesses. Women are entering the work force in ever increasing numbers under the protection of affirmative action programs, equal employment legislation and more enlightened employer attitudes. As of July, 1978 there were 42.1 million women in the work force or 56% of all women aged 16 and over.* Yet the employment distribution of these women indicates nearly 80% worked in clerical, sales, service, factory or plant jobs. Of all working women, 16.3% were in professional-technical jobs, while only 6.3% worked in managerial or administrative positions. About 35% of all persons employed by the newspaper industry in 1977 were women, compared to 42% in the labor force overall.^ The most recent statistics issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission state that women make up about a fourth ofthe professional newspaper staff, one tenth of the managerial positions and almost three fourths of the clerical and office workers. A somewhat larger percentage of women work in professional or technical jobs (e.g. as reporters and lowlevel editors) than in other industries. Women have traditionally worked as general assignment reporters and have been in charge of the woman's section of the newspaper. However, the top-level managerial jobs in the U.S. daily press

A Case Study of the Relationship between Daily Newspaper Carrier Turnover and Office Subscription Payment.

Abstract: The business side of newspapers has become an area of increasing concern to journalism researchers. Kaufman has suggested that the research perspective be broadened and academics concern themselves more with non-editorial newspaper matters.^ A national survey of publishers revealed that, as early as 1970, the persons who head the nation's newspapers felt their greatest research needs to be in the area of \"operational newspaper functions.\"^ The president of the International Circulation Managers Association has called for journalism schools to provide programs for the \"entire newspaper\" and \"not only the editorial and advertising functions.\"^ He urged increased research into \"the fundamentals of production and distribution\" by faculties, and greater use of that research by newspaper managers.\"• This shifting emphasis is based on growing fears for the survival of the medium. Declining circulation penetration,^ infiation and the complexities of the modern business environment have forced closer examination of distribution and production.^ The aim is greater cost-efficiency by streamlining strategic functions^ that have not been substantially altered since newspapers were first put into mass production. Pervasive change has come to newspaper production systems in the last 10 to 15 years. Distribution, for the most, has continued

A New Approach to the Circulation Problem.

Abstract: But most circulation managers, when pressed, will admit that they sell hundreds, even thousands of new subscriptions every year only to wind up the year with a net loss or only a modest gain in circulation. In 1974 the ANPA published a research report which found that most people stopped their newspaper subscriptions because of circulation-related reasons.^ In two, more recent, proprietary studies in different parts of the country the earlier ANPA findings were corroborated—most people stopped delivery of their newspaper because it was not delivered regularly every day. And often, when it was delivered, it was in such poor condition it was impossible to read. Stanford Smith, retired general manager ofthe ANPA wrote that \"of all the elements of newspaper operations, distribution presents the most nagging problems.\"* Practicing the marketing concept's precepts will not, automatically, insure that the newspaper will be delivered to the subscriber regularly, on time, and in readable condition. Implementing the marketing concept requires that a newspaper \"develop an organizational structure which fosters an integrated response to the problems faced in the marketplace.\"^

Trends in Newspaper Coverage of Business and Economics, 1968-1978.

Abstract: For years reporting has concentrated on local politics, the courts, city hall, natural disasters and tragedies, human interest stories and wars. Business and economic topics were on a business page between sports and the classified ads. The 1970s have seen economic issues raised from the occasional and arcane to what John Chancellor has called the decade's most important major story. ̂ Both business and media leaders have called for more extensive and in-depth coverage of business and economics. Katherine Graham, chairman of the Washington Post Co., stated,

An Analysis of Future-Oriented Content in Selected U.S. Metropolitan Daily Newspapers.

Abstract: Wilbur Schramm describes two kinds of rewards people receive from reading the news. The first is the immediate reward which provides pleasure or a vicarious experience for the reader. This category would consist of ''news of crime and corruption, accidents and disaster, sports and recreation, social events and human interest/'' The other is a delayed reward, something Schramm characterizes as closer to \"reality,\" which consists of \"news of public affairs, economic matters, social problems, science, education and health.\"^ The delayed reward helps the reader \"\"avoid trouble by being informed/' even if it helps him just to stay dry because he read a forecast predicting rain.-̂ Walter Lippmann has said that the American society has been shaken because it was unprepared for change, not well enough prepared to cope with growing government, economy and technology.** Lippmann blames society's unpreparedness on the inability of the press to socialize and educate.^

Evaluations of Newspaper and Television Coverage of Local, National and World News

Abstract: Much has been written about newspaper content and audience preferences for international, national and local news. Most of the research has supported conventional wisdom in revealing that people prefer a variety of news, with high interest expressed in all three types of news.^ While this conclusion is important in itself, an equally important question from an editorial standpoint is how such news should be treated. This study addresses that issue. Specifically, it considers not only how often people read various types of content, but also whether they are satisfied with the amount and type of treatment given to local, national and world news. Attention is given to the importance of variety. differing perspectives and editorial selectivity as well as quantity of coverage. As a basis for comparison, people's evaluations of newspaper treatment of these news categories are compared to evaluations of television coverage of the same content. The results on newspaper treatment, when considered in the context of the same evaluations of television, offer guidance for newspaper editors, so that reader interest can be better served.

Exploring New Options in Newspaper Readership Measurement.

Abstract: A great mass-perhaps the bulkof newspaper research falls under the general label of \"readership surveys.\" This kind of research is taken quite seriously by newspaper executives, judging by the amount of money spent and editorial decisions based on its findings. Despite its growing application, readership research has yet to take stock of the measurement questions central to increasing its usefulness. Seldom have questions been raised as, \"What is there about newspaper reading that could be measured?\" and ''Which measures are comparable and which are not?\" These are not just methodological concerns. The form in which readership measures are recorded and compared should be of concern to publishers and editors, as well as to researchers. It is quite different to report that a reader spends 15 minutes a day with newspapers than to report that he reads five stories a day in the sports section. The research community must pursue measurement issues carefully if publishers are to get full value from readership studies. This study represents a first step in that direction-an exploration of several measurement options open to readership research. Examination of the present state of readership research reveals anything but a disciplined approach to measurement questions. The lack

Test of an Automatic Telephone Interviewing Device vs. Live Telephone Interviewing.

Abstract: The 1970s saw a number of technological advances in survey research, primarily in methods of turning responses into data that could be analyzed by computers, and in the analytical methods that could be applied to the data. One device, however, was an attempt to automate the interview itself with the automatic telephone interviewing device. For brevity, we'll call it the ATID in the rest of this report. There were several brands of ATIDs on the market. Basically, the devices used a recorded message and a recording device for the response. One operator could operate a bank of two or three of them. The manually-operated devices relied upon the operator to dial the telephone number and wait for the phone to be answered. When the phone was answered the operator fiipped a switch activating the recorded message. At the end of the recorded message, the recording unit was automatically activated to receive the response. Makers of these units claimed that several questions could be asked of each respondent by this technique. They also claimed high response rates and excellent cost-efficiencies in obtaining interviews. At the end of the interviewing, an operator simply played back the response tape and tallied the responses. The Detroit  e»v5 purchased one such unit. When the editorial department decided to use it to conduct a study of readership of various items in the newspaper, we had an opportunity to test the use of this unit against a similar study conducted by using live telephone interviewers. The readership measures were to be obtained using a ques-

The Los Angeles "Times": Weakening of Territorial Imperative.

Abstract: The rivalry between news desks over coverage responsibilities has long been a problem at prestige newspapers. Talese wrote in The Kingdom and the Power that office empires flourished at The New York Times,^ Sigal, in his book on the organization and politics of newsmaking at The New York Times and Washington Poi*/, noted there were frequent squabbles among the desks at the two papers when events did not fall within the geographic or beat boundaries drawn by the organization.^ Tuchman, in Making News, discussed how territorial prerogatives at newspapers and television stations affect how news is identified, covered and legitimized.^ The Los Angeles Times has also been beset by problems of territorial imperative. In 1968, the rivalry between the national and metropolitan desks crippled the Times' ability to cover the California primary effectively. The Times' national political reporters who reported to the national desk in 1968 covered the presidential candidates until they reached the California border. At that point, reporters for the metro desk took over. This meant readers were denied the benefits of reporting by Times national reporters who had covered the candidates since the New Hampshire primary. The Times decided it did not want history to repeat itself in 1972, so a decision was made that the national and metro desks cooperate when presidential candidates were in the state. However, cooperation between the Times' two most powerful desks was easier said than done. Political writers from the metro and national desks sometimes found themselves at the same press con-

Newspaper Treatment of a Controversial Series: A Case Study of "Johnny Still Can't Read.".

Abstract: With these quotes, Associated Press Newsfeatures (APN) promoted to AP subscribers a 10-part series entitled \"Johnny Still Can't Read—But You Can Teach Him At Home.\" Offered for publication during the weeks of Aug. 23-27 and Aug. 30-Sept. 3, 1976, to coincide with fall school openings, the 800word articles were fully illustrated in mats, slick proofs or photo prints. APN's assessment ofthe reading crisis was not unique. Newspapers all across the country had devoted column inch after column inch to discussions about \"the decline of American education\"^ and the \"great class room debacle.\"^ For many editors, the very existence of the print media was at stake. Close to 400 ofthe approximately 1,500 AP newspapers decided to help tackle the problem by running the series offered by APN. Editors were promised \"Johnny Still Can't Read\" would be controversial—and indeed it was. The series brought instant clamours of protest from teachers, school administrators and college professors

Are Mississippi Newspaper Women Discriminated Against?—A Survey of the State Press

Abstract: The National Women's Conference in Houston in 1977 focused national attention on the unequal treatment afforded women in many aspects of contemporary life, particularly in employment. Indeed, one ofthe main factors \"in the rise of the women's movement is the perception of occupational discrimination.\"^ \"The American ideology of equal opportunity holds that equal qualifications and hours worked should bring equal rewards.\"^ Is this ideal realized in practice in the employment of women journalists, in their assignments, and pay? Research has shown that women have not been excluded from employment in the print media as they have been in many other occupations. Rudolph C. Blintz, studying women in the professions from 1870 to 1970, found that the percentage of women as editors and reporters had risen from 1% in 1870 to 40% in 1970, whereas the percentage of women as physicians, surgeons and healers had increased from less than 1% in 1870 to 20% in 1970.^ There is little persuasive argument against the fact that women are being employed in journalism. But other questions remain: Are women journalists with qualifications equal to those of men being paid at the same rate as their male counterparts? Are women journalists afforded the same opportunities for promotion as are males? The first purpose of this study is to determine if women reporters and editors in Mississippi perceive sex discrimination in their jobs.

Readers' and Editors' Agreement on Evaluation of Award-Winning Newspapers.

Abstract: While newspapers routinely bare their pages to the appraisals of readers in the marketplace, they often also join another level of competition, to establish the *'best\" newspaper in selected or overall categories of editing or content. ''Better Newspaper Contests\" are sponsored annually by many, if not all, state press associations. One of the presumptions of the contests seems to be that the newspapers which are selected as \"best\" will have an edge in gaining the approval of their readership, i.e., that they will sell more newspapers.̂ This implies that the audience will recognize and reward gradations of newspaper excellence. But will they? If editors strive for better newspapers, as evidenced by their participation in professional contests, is it likely the audience will notice? Are newspaper readers able to distinguish one relatively good newspaper from another? Are such distinctions as the readers may make between newspapers a reflection of evaluative criteria suggested in professional evaluations? If readers were to rank three newspapers that were judged by professionals, would their rankings parallel those of the professionals? Atwood found that, on the whole, newsmen and readers showed high agreement in their preferences for news.^ Martin, O'Keefe and Nayman found that editors perceived the views of their readers fairly closely.^ But Starck found at least an indication that \"the public does not have a good grasp of how the function of the press is to be carried

Commentary: Covering Ideas--A New Field of Journalism.

Abstract: One of the constant complaints of newspaper readers through the years is that they get very little "good" news and lots of ' 'bad" news in their daily newspapers. The progress that mankind is making in solving the social, economic and political problems faced by the different nations ofthe world is largely ignored chiefly because the press has not found a way to cover this type of news. Our press services-AP, UPI, Reuters and others do a good job covering world events. If a bus goes over the side of a mountain in Yugoslavia, if a fire destroys a hotel in Calgary, if hostages are taken in Colombia, if an earthquake in Turkey registers 6.1 on the Richter scale, people throughout the world are informed of these happenings within a matter of hours. The press, on occasion, does report outstanding achievements in these different fields. The press, however, has yet to make a systematic effort to cover ideas, even though the progress of mankind depends in large measure upon new ideas and the rate ofthis progress depends, in turn, upon the speed with which ideas are disseminated. Since my early days as ajournalism teacher I have held that anything that interests readers qualifies as ''news". And certainly new ideas meet this test, especially when these ideas concern important developments in the world. At present, 152 nations are members ofthe United Nations. A careful examination of their problems, whether they be developing nations or advanced industrial societies, will reveal that all have at least 60 major problems in common with other nations. These problems range from inflation, food production and distribution, energy conservation, crime, health, education, housing, unemployment, industrial growth, care of the poor and elderly, to the many problems associated with urban living and distribution of wealth. Since each nation is trying to deal with these many problems in its own

Text Review: Programmed Journalism WritingAlexanderJames P., Programmed Journalism Writing. The Iowa State University Press, Ames; 1979. 190 pages.

Abstract: 1. Newspaper Advertising Bureau, r>vo Society of Newspaper Editors, Virginia, Dimensions of News: Interest and Import1979. ance Ratings of the Editorial Content of the American Press, New York. January 1978. 3. Joe Belden and John Schweitzer, "The Effect of Distance on News Appeal." Belden 2. Ruth Clark. Changing Needs of Research Seminar, Dallas, 1978. Changing Readers: A Qualitative Study of 4. The 95 percent confidence intervals the New Social Contract Between Newsindicate a range of sales increases from 0.3 paper Editors and Readers, American percent to 2.4 percent.