PRECISION JOURNALISM AND THE 1988 US ELECTIONS

Democratic government has always assumed the need for an informedcitizenry, but modern polling methodology is giving citizensin the United States more information than they sometimes wantor expect. Contrary to popular opinion, this unexpected abundanceof information about the voters does not threaten the systemand may even help it work better. The need for information isespecially acute in the American two-party system where coalitionbuilding takes place in partisan activity before the electionrather than after as in the case of European multi-party systems.The weakening of the parties and the shift of some of theirfunctions to direct popular control only increases the needfor all kinds of information, ranging in scope from candidatesexual behaviour to public opinion data, and forces a new andnot always wanted role upon the mass media.     

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE: NOTES ON THE ISRAEL ELECTIONS OF 1988

The Israeli elections of 1988 split the Jewish vote evenly betweenthe two major parties (almost 80% of the electorate), thus reinforcingthe pattern established in the mid-70's when the Likud overcamethe entrenched Labour lead of the '50s and '60s. Survey resultsshow that both parties strongly depend on ethnic support: morethan two-thirds of those of European origin vote Labour, andmore than two thirds of those of African/Asian origin vote Likud.That the campaign ignored these pluralistic interests in favorof issues of peace and security helps explain the surprisingshow of strength (15%) by the ethnic-religious parties. Thatthe crass demands of these fundamentalist parties proved unacceptableboth to Likud and Labour helps explain the reconstitution ofa national-unity coalition. During the election, a majorityof the electorate disapproved of the prospect of another Governmentof the two parties, but became reconciled, apparently, followingthe post-election bargaining.     

THE STATUS OF REFERENCE LIBRARIANS

No abstract available for this article.     

MEDIA COVERAGE AND THE FLOW OF VOTERS IN MULTIPARTY SYSTEMS: THE 1994 NATIONAL ELECTIONS IN HOLLAND AND GERMANY

Positive news is advantageous for a party, but the effects ofnegative news are less obvious, especially in a multiparty system.One possibility is an indecisionmodel in which negative informationwould push voters to the undecided category. An alternativeis a proportional model in which voters would move to otherparties in proportion to their share of the vote. A third scenariowould correspond to a proximity model in which the shift wouldbe to parties holding viewpoints similar to those of the criticizedparty. The three models were tested using the ideodynamic modelor the 1994 elections in the Netherlands and Germany. The explanatoryvariables were content analysis data obtained daily for majorprint and electronic news media. The dependent variable wasweekly survey data of party preferences of voters. The analysisshowed the proportional model to be the least plausible withthe proximity model being promising. Campaign strategists startingfrom the proximity model will both promote negative news aboutother parties and adopt their issue positions.     

A STATUS REPORT ON THE MONTHLY CATALOG AND SERIALS SUPPLEMENT

No abstract available for this article.     

PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL, PARTISANSHIP AND THE ECONOMY: EVIDENCE FROM THE 1984 CONTINUOUS MONITORING SURVEY IN THE US

This paper examines several key debates in the literature onthe effects of economic performance on political support, usingthe Continuous Monitoring Survey of the 1984 CPS American nationalelection study. Box-Jenkins time-series analyses show that theelectorate operates in terms of a reward-punishment model whichis asymmetrical and sociotropic in its effects. In the modelsdeveloped party identification and economic evaluations Granger–causepresidential approval, the effects of the former being strongerthan those of the latter. Partisanship and economic evaluationsform two independent streams of influence on presidential approval,casting doubt on some revisionist interpretations in the votingliterature, i.e., that party identification is simply a runningtally of voters' judgments about party performance on economicand other issues. In addition, the results suggest that popularityfunctions which omit party identification are theoreticallymisspecified.     

MEDIA INFLUENCES ON SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES IN PRIMARY ELECTIONS: THEORY, METHOD, AND EVIDENCE

In this article the authors argue that studies of the influenceof the mass media on public support for presidential candidatesin primary elections should return to the social pyschologicalmodel of attitude change. This model should take into account,however, that in the real world, unlike laboratory settings,randomization and complete controls of variables are not possible,and rational and strategic choice considerations come into play,along with the cumulative effects of new information on aggregateopinion. The variables found to be relevant to attitude change,especially the characteristics of the communicator and the communication,have not been studied systematically in natural settings. Littleis known about how new information unrelated to electoral ‘momentum’affects the public's evaluations and support for candidates.A fuller explanation is needed of what are complex media influenceson candidate support in primary elections—including especiallythose messages conveyed through the media which tend to be distinctiveand most accessible to memory: information about the viabiltiyof candidates; positive messages and images conveyed directlyfrom the candidates themselves and (to a lesser extent) fromother major party leaders who support or oppose them; and, ofspecial theoretical importance, the ostensibly credible newscommentary about the candidates.     

PARTY ATTACHMENT AND PARTY CHOICE IN THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS OF JUNE 1989: A cross-national comparative analysis of the post-electoral surveys of the European Voters Study 1989

The level of electoral mobilization, which is generally lowerin European elections as compared to first-order national elections,has been found to be lower among party adherents as well. Variationin the capability of political parties to mobilize their adherentsis mainly explained by the coincidence or not of European and(first-order) national elections (and of compulsory voting).Parties in government do not, as could have been expected onthe basis of earlier research, considerably worse in mobilizingtheir support, they did significantly better in the 1989 Europeanelections. And big parties were not found to be disadvantagedin getting their adherents to the European ballots—theydid equally well or even better than their smaller competitors.However, it is to be observed that big parties competing inEuropean elections cannot profit from the tremendous mobilizationaladvantages they have in first-order national elections. Andtheir adherents are, in European elections and in relative terms,more vulnerable to mobilizing appeals of competing parties thanthose of smaller parties.     

现代传播背景中的电影评论现状问题剖析

现代传播环境造就了不同于以往的电影评论状况.当下的电影评论不同于以往以艺术批评为主导的评价,而是卷入市场需求、艺术把持和社会意识形态纠葛的境地中.电影评论的时评价值意义降低,与史评感召力不足不能不关注,理论性评论的和者渐寡的现实令人忧虑.目前的电影理论与评论大致构成了四种批评状态:质疑的批判者、建设的批评者、鉴赏的分析者、恭维的宣传者等,得失的复杂性显示了传播背景的影响.由此,在现代传播背景中的电影评论形成明显的差异性分工:传统媒体的掌控指向,大众喜好的没有标准;学者游移的市场与艺术尺度;网络板砖的肆无忌惮.     

美国主流媒体新闻价值天平失衡?

一条是激烈抨击国防部长的政治性专稿《拉姆斯菲尔德是否应该因伊拉克战争下台?》,一条是地区橄榄球队比赛胜负的消息,以政治新闻为特色的《华盛顿邮报》,竟然把社会新闻类的球赛消息摆上头版头条醒目的位置,而将抨击国防部长的政治性专稿拉到头版的下半部!这就是2006年10月2日出版的《华盛顿邮报》精心安排的体现编前会意图的一次排版。     

"失语"与"失忆"——美国媒体的战争报道分析

本研究以2003年伊拉克战争爆发前美国媒体的表现为主要个案,结合近20年内美国历次对外战争背景下媒体的表现,概括出了美国媒体习惯性“失语”与“反思”的报道模式与“失忆”的症状。研究进一步探讨了导致这一症状产生的深层次原因,提出除了内在压力,即“爱国主义”与“国家利益”的驱使,和外在压力,即政府的权力与政治公关,这两个显而易见的原因之外,真正核心的原因在于新闻传媒的经济结构所导致的利润原则,并依此对日后类似战争背景下美国媒体的可能表现做出了预判。     

美国对数字出版中侵权现象的应对措施

美国现有的版权法律条文不能有效地应对数字出版商们的忧虑.尽管数字作品可以享受和印刷作品同等的版权保护,我们似乎仍然需要新的法律条文和理论来应对数字作品和技术的特殊性质.在面对与数字侵权有关的问题上,美国通过立法、改进美国版权署的职能以及签订国际条约或协定,缓慢开始颁布一些关于数字侵权的条文.数字侵权虽然在庭审中得以应对,但法庭运用的是传统版权概念中的"合理使用"来分析数字侵权.目前,人们只能通过诉讼的方式迫使美国法庭建立一套能充分解决电子侵权的法律体系.     

美国图书馆界数字化建设调查

对美国当前的数字图书馆实践进行了调查研究.建设优质的数字化资源是美国各类型图书馆共同的任务,所面临的挑战是将什么资源数字化、应遵循什么标准规范、技术方法有哪些.     

协商规范--美国媒介批评与新闻专业规范之建构和解构

从美国现代新闻史来看,媒介批评与新闻专业规范的建构与解构密切相关。用马尔佐夫的话说,“新闻业的每次重大变革都会导致批评的繁荣。事实上,我们可     

新闻构架、符码与制造同意的艺术——美国媒体“十六大”报道综合分析

本文运用西方新闻学研究的框架和符码理论对美国媒体有关中共“十六大”的报道进行定性和定量分析 ,旨在揭示美国媒体与主流意识形态间的互动关系 ,加深我们对美国媒体国际新闻报道运作规律的认识     

THE MUSE IN THE STACKS:

Twelve years ago, in a nationwide survey of public libraries it was found that modern American poetry collections were generally meager, unevenly developed, and of low priority to public libraries.' The nature of poetry publication in the United States present3 unique problems for the library trying to develop a collection of modem American poetry, and for the evaluator of such a collection.