n i s study describes a content analysis of 14 American newspapers over an 8-week period, which measured the extent to which potentially prejudicial statements identijiied in the American Bar Association (ABA, 1983) Model Rules are reported in news stories about crime and criminal defendants. n e sources through which such publicity reaches the press were also examined. Results indicated that over one quarter of the suspects described in crime stories are identijiied in connection with information specifically targeted by the ABA as problematic. Law enforcement officers and prosecutors were most often the sources of potentially prejudicial information about criminal suspects. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the effects of prejudicial publicity on juror decision-making and for the effectiveness of judicial remedies.

Short-term exposure to nonviolent sexual media stimuli can produce cognitive changes in men, which, in turn, can affect their attitudes toward women. This study sought to build on past research by reliably distinguishing between (a) sexually explicit and non-sexual films and (b) sexually explicit films that are either degrading or non-degrading to women. We tested whether men's viewing of these materials affects their judgment of women in subsequent face-to-face interactions. Sex-typed and non sex-typed men (Bem, 1974) viewed one of three equally stimulating film stimuli determined by an independent set of viewers to be: (a) sexually explicit and degrading, (b) sexually explicit and non-degrading, or (c) non-sexual film. After viewing, the men interacted with women and then evaluated their partners' intellectual competence, sexual interest, sexual attractiveness, and sexual permissiveness. Women rated the men's sexual interest, dominance, and their own feelings of degradation during the interaction. No effects for film exposure alone were found for any of these variables, and no interaction effects between film and partners' sex-role orientation were found for women's evaluations of their partners. However, men's sex-role orientation moderated film effects for men's evaluations of their female partners' intellectual competence and sexual interest. These findings are discussed in terms of their consistency with other studies and the potentially negative social implications for everyday male-female interactions.

In the first of two experimental trial simulations, the authors manipulated exposure to publicity about the defendant and exposure to general stories about acquaintance rape that portrayed men as sexual predators. Participants then viewed an enacted acquaintance rape trial. Across many dependent measures, men exposed to the predatory rape publicity exhibited a pronounced pro-defendant tendency, whereas women were unaffected. Case-specific pretrial publicity had a relatively small impact. In a follow-up experiment, participants were exposed to the predatory acquaintance rape scenario or to a scenario emphasizing male-female miscommunication. Again, men exposed to the predatory publicity became more pro-defendant; men receiving the miscommunication scenario did not exhibit such an effect. The tendency of male jurors to react against information that reflects negatively on them is discussed in the context of psychological reactance and social judgement theory.

This experiment assesses the impact of two exposure strntegies on children's emotional and wgnitive reactions to afrightening movie scene. Childrenfrom twograde levels (kindergarten andfirst vs. second thmughfourth) received a desensitization treatment in which moa'eled exposure to a live earthworm was factorially varied with exposure to graphic photogzaphs of worms takenfrom a h m f i l m . Children then viewed afrightening scene involving worms tnkenfmm this m e f i l m . Results indimted that exposure to photographs increased children's enjoyment of the movie segment and reduced f a r reactions to the scene. In wntmst, the live exposure strategy was effective in reducing fear reactions to the movie only among boys. However, live exposure did alter children's affective reactions to and judgments of w m themselves. Thefindings are discussed in terms of current theories of desemitiazfion and information processing. raphic and frightening mass media presentations have become increasingly popular over the past decade. Friday the 13th Part G VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, Halloween V, and A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child are just a few examples of recent box office suc-Audrey J. Weiss (MA, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1990) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on the impact of mass media on children's cognitive and emotional reactions. Dorothy J. Imrz'ch is a doctoral student in the same department and is interested in the psychological effects of the mass media. Barbara I. Wilson (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1985)is an associate professor in the

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