The impact of ownership rules and the telecommunications act of 1996 on a small radio market

The change in radio ownership rules in 1992 had the greatest effect in markets ranked above 100. The Telecommunications Act could have similar effects. One such market was investigated for this study. A proposed station purchase in this market would give an ownership group four of seven stations in the market, depending on how a market is defined. Petitions to deny were filed. These statements and replies by station owners were analyzed and related to radio in a small market. The ultimate impact was found on the negotiation of advertising rates. Other effects could emerge over time.     

The ethics of the library crisis and the first amendment

Analysis of the circumstances surrounding Gordon & Breach vs. American Institute of Physics. Albert Henderson has worked in publishing for over thirty-five years. He has provided consulting services to many commercial and nonprofit publishers, including Gordon & Breach, and has been following this case for nearly ten years. He has edited Publishing Research Quarterly since 1994.     

The eye of the sandstorm: The erosion of first amendment principles in wartime

The conflict between the military's desire to keep secrets and the media's mission to report the news inevitably leads to clashes during wartime. These opposing forces have been held in an uneasy balance by the U.S. Constitution during most of modern history. But, recent policy has allowed the unprecedented exclusion of the press from the battlefield, with increased government control over the flow of information to the public as the result. Press restrictions during the Persian Gulf War led to a threatened constitutional crisis, ending in an uneasy truce which leaves fundamental issues still unresolved.     

The first amendment,freedom of the press,and the issue of “harm”: A conundrum for publishers

Does strict adherence to the principles of the First Amendment and opposition to any forms of censorship inflict “harm” on women and American society? In this article, the author surveys the published literature, U.S. Supreme Court decisions, and substantive issues raised by “tabsolutist” defenders of the First Amendment as well as by feminists opposed to pornography. He argues that the “Mill-Paul hypothesis” should be adopted by society to confront the censorship morass that has deeply divided American society. Namely, if an image or a printed work causes harm to anyone, it should be prosecuted under existing legal codes.     

The administration and operation of the freedom of information act: A retrospective

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been administered by Federal departments and agencies for almost 30 years. Aspects of that administrative experience are discussed here. Never held in high regard or enthusiastically implemented by the Executive Branch, the FOIA and its effective operation owe much to Congress, which, after creating the statute, nurtured it through diligent oversight and legislative amendment. However, the FOIA has not received comprehensive congressional examination and evaluation for a decade. Not only might its existing procedures benefit from reassessment and upgrading, but also its capacity to contend with electronic formats is in question. Furthermore, the prospect of the statute being extended to cover Congress or possibly the entire Legislative Branch grows stronger, suggesting a need to begin discussions concerning the scope of the FOIA's application to congressional or Legislative Branch records and such new arrangements as may be necessary to facilitate effective operation of the law should this application be approved.     

From the memory of the act to the act itself.The evolution of written records as proof of jural acts in England, 11th to 17th century

This article traces the trajectory from distrust to trust in written records as proof of the conveyance of land in England between the eleventh and seventeenth centuries. During that period of time, such records were transformed from an aide-memoire of an essentially oral act, to the indisputable proof of the act they recorded and, finally, to the very embodiment of the act itself. The article focuses specifically on one particular class of conveyance, i.e., transfers of freehold interests in land held by free tenure, on one particular form of conveyance, i.e., feoffments with livery of seisin, and on one particular type of record, i.e., the charters that recorded such conveyances. The article concludes that the ascension of written proof by the end of the 17th century is attributable to a number of factors, among them, the growth of royal jurisdiction over land, the rise of literacy, the growth of commerce, and an increasing distrust on the part of the judiciary in the capacity of a lay jury to properly assess written records.     

The establishment of an enterprise information service: The case of the ECI telecom company

The steps and methods used in establishing and developing scientific information activity under market economy conditions are presented based on the experience of the information service at a large Israeli telecommunication company.     

Information access company: The evolution of InfoTrac multi-source databases and their importance to library end-users

Throughout the last twenty years, Information Access Company has partnered with libraries to develop a wide range of electronic databases for patron reference needs. The multi-source database, one which incorporates several different source types, has emerged as the premiere reference tool in assisting patrons with research projects from start to finish, from the general idea to precise detail. Information Access Company is organized into three separate divisions, serving library, corporate, and home users. This article will focus on Information Access Company’s multi-source databases for libraries, and includes coverage on the rationale behind development to production and usage in the library setting.     

Responding to the Americans with disabilities act: Contributions of interpersonal communication research and training

The enactment of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), has resulted in considerable misinformation and resistance, especially when ablebodied individuals and persons with disabilities interact. This essay reviews contributions of interpersonal communication researchers who address the challenges persons with disabilities face when communicating with ablebodied others, suggesting ways to mitigate communication discomfort and to reduce problems in helping situations. The authors suggest foci for future research and training which can contribute to the acceptance and effectiveness of ADA and to facilitate communication between ablebodied persons and persons with disabilities.     

Examining the first,second and third-person effects of Internet pornography on Taiwanese adolescents: implications for the restriction of pornography

To explore the impact of Internet pornography on users as compared with traditional forms of pornography, a total of 1688 adolescents in Taiwan were surveyed. Results show that respondents estimated the harms of Internet pornography to exceed that of pornographic materials in print and broadcast media. More importantly, findings show that exposure to Internet pornography resulted in desensitizing effects in that users tended to perceive the harms of Internet pornography as less on self and others. In addition, exposure was found to be negatively related to support for restrictions of Internet pornography, but the perceived harm on self was found to be positively related to support for restrictions. Finally, the joint effects of the first and third-person effect (the second-person effect) were shown as a more reliable predictor of behavioral intention than the third-person perception. Findings help resolve the contradiction in past research that reported the third-person perception as both a significant and non-significant predictor of support for restrictions on pornography.     

The expression of localism: Local TV news coverage in the new video marketplace

The emergence of a new video marketplace raises questions about the commitment of local TV news organizations to the FCC localism doctrine. Local news coverage at ten Pennsylvania stations in 1992 was content analyzed and compared with 1976 data collected by Adams (1980). Results indicate that stations devoted more coverage to outlying market areas in 1992 than in 1976, but emphasized sensationalism/human interest stories at the expense of local public affairs issues.     

The significance of an impact factor: implications for the publishing community

The journal impact factor, as a metric developed in the mid‐1960s by Dr Eugene Garfield and Dr Irving Sher, represents the influence that an ‘average article’ published in a specific journal has on the scholarly discipline and audience that it serves. Originally intended to serve as an equalizer for use by the Institute for Scientific Information® (ISI®) in making comparative evaluations of large and small journals in a particular discipline, the impact factor now has numerous applications for publishers, librarians, and researchers. Ideally, the journal impact factor should be seen by publishers as a useful tool in gauging the effectiveness of their publication product in serving the needs of a particular scholarly community. The significance of a journal impact factor, its appropriate usage by the scholarly publishing community and its extension into the electronic environment are discussed.