This study reports results of a large-scale experiment in which subjects were exposed to news stories presented by one of four media. The goal was to provide both baseline data and a reasonably definitive answer as to the relative level of recall resulting from presentations by newspapers, computer screen, television and radio while controlling for other factors. Facts from news stories presented by newspaper or computer screen were recalled at a significantly higher level than were facts from the same stories when presented via radio or television. Somewhat surprisingly, results from computer screens were closer to newspapers than to television.
In light of the Associated Press Managing Editor's recent revision of its ethics code, the time seems right to examine journalism's original ethics codes, created in the 1920s, to discover what virtues and practices the codes' creators presented as indust y standards. Four situational concerns -the rise of press agents, the fallout from World War 1 propaganda, sensationalism's resurgence, and editorial independencecontributed to a noticeable decline of the public's trust in the press. As a result, the codes consistently emphasized the watchdog ideal, public service, truthfulness, and honesty in advertising.The Associated Press Managing Editors' recent revision of its code of ethics demonstrates that both issues and ethical concerns change over time. Press members today face a host of new ethical issues, including digital alteration of photography, naming victims of AIDS or rape, journalists' involvement in community activism, and changes in advertising via newspapers' introduction of sections devoted completely toward specific advertising topics.'From the outset, ethics codes have been more than philosophical statements of virtuous practices. They provide situational guidelines as well. Editors recognize that new reporters do not enter newsrooms with an understanding of news ethics. Ethics must be taught: often through compiling lists of norms considered ethical. This duality of purpose helps explain why ethics codes are often ignored within a few years of adoption -situational concerns can become outdated quickly.In light of the recent APME revision, the time seems right to examine journalism's ethics codes from the 1920s -the first period of mass creation of codes -to discover what virtues and practices the codes' creators presented as the press's publicly-touted standards. In the process of doing so, the research reveals that four situational concerns -the rise of public relations practitioners, the fallout from World War I propaganda, the resurgence of sensationalism, and editorial independence -were also crucial ethical issues among press members following World War I. Some metropolitan newspapers, including the Tampa Tribune and New York Herald Tribune, also created codes for staff members during the 1920s. Yet, state press association codes are worth examining because they are not the products of merely one newspaper or publisher. Instead, they are May M . Cronin is an assistant professor and lames B. McPherson is a doctoral candidate at the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication, Washington State WMC Q u a w r y Vol. 72, No. 4 winter 1995 University,
Gender balance in caring is heavily skewed towards women providing the majority of care. This is particularly evident in literature relating to intellectual disability. Using the platforms of mothering and disability to examine the literature, this article sheds light on the cultural norms and societal discourses that influence ‘who cares’ for children and adults with disabilities. It highlights that ‘who cares’ is often a socially constructed ideology that results in a reconstructed identity for women. The impact on identity is discussed and suggestions are made regarding how discourse, policy and advocacy can support this cohort of carers.
The study of the word‐of‐mouth flow of news to audiences is an important if somewhat neglected topic. First, this may be the only means by which some citizens receive information about events and issues in their community. Second, in disaster situations many people cannot be reached by conventional means, and critical information comes to them by word‐of‐mouth. The present experiment makes use of the Allport and Postman design for the study of the changes (leveling and sharpening) that messages undergo as they are passed from one person to another in serial retelling. A news story of just over 300 words was presented to a set of “starter” subjects. Each then passed on the information to another subject, who in turn passed it on to a third, and so on. Seven such chains were developed with six subjects in each of two versions of the experiment. In one the information was presented as a newspaper story. In the other, the (same) story was presented via television. Those in the newspaper chains remembered more details overall than those involved in the television version. However, a clear pattern of “leveling” was characteristic of all the chains. An analysis of the salient details that survived through the six subjects in each of the chains (regardless of medium) showed a coherent and more or less logical organization of the central ideas and not a random jumble of distorted facts. Thus, word‐of‐mouth transmission of news can convey meaningful, if greatly abbreviated, versions of stories to a secondary audience. However, the data suggest that audiences recall more complete information from a newspaper presentation of a story than from a television exposure.
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