This content analysis of the pictures in three major magazines for an entire year for each of 11 sampled years in the 1937 through 1988 period shows that African Americans increased visibility from a low of 1.1% to a high of 8.8% of all photographs. This included the presence of African Americans on covers, in advertisements, sports, everyday life, and in other areas. The authors found the African-American photos could be grouped into periods of stereotyping (1937–1952), civil rights (1957–1972), and working within the system (1978–1988).

Impact of Unnamed Sources On Credibility Not Certain by Ron F. Smith Although editors contend that anonymous sourcing damages credibility, this study finds that respondents gave similar credibility ratings to named and unnamed versions of a whistle-blowing story. __________________________________________ A "longtime reliable source, a senior U.S. government official who was knowledgeable about the matter" told Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff that U.S. military investigators would include in their written report that American guards at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had flushed a Quran down a toilet in an effort to get detainees to talk. Isikoff wrote a 12-sentence brief for the magazine's "Periscope" section. Another Newsweek reporter, John Barry, ran the brief by one of his Pentagon sources. The source suggested a minor correction but made no comments about the gist of the article. After the report appeared in the magazine, the reaction, as reported by Newsweek, was immediate: By the end of the week, the rioting had spread from Afghanistan throughout much of the Muslim world, from Gaza to Indonesia. Mobs shouting 'Protect our Holy Book!' burned down government buildings and ransacked the offices of relief organizations in several Afghan provinces. The violence cost at least 15 lives, injured scores of people and sent a shudder through Washington, where officials worried about the stability of moderate regimes in the region. 1 Shortly after the brief appeared, Pentagon officials told Newsweek that none of the reports by its investigators had included any reference to what Newsweek had reported. Isikoff decided to check again with the person who had given him Smith is a professor in the Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida.

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A study of design and color effects on newspaper credibility indicates that earlier notions that readers equate modern color and layout with lack of professionalism may be faulty. The present study finds that readers judge color and design charactistics less harshly than previously thought and that characteristics other than design considerations “color” readers' views of newspaper value.

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