Political diversify is alive in TV and newspaper rooms

Journalists and broadcasters at small, medium, and large newspapers and television stations were compared on their political views, using a 45‐card Q‐deck containing liberal, conservative, and pragmatic statements. Results indicate widespread political diversity among reporters with broadcasters exhibiting more conservative viewpoints.     

Broadcasting

Jay Hoffer's Organization and Operation of Broadcast Stations (Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., TAB Books, $12.95)

Neil Terrell's The Power Technique of Radio-TV Copywriting (same source, $9.95)

Lincoln Diamant's Television's Classic Commercials: The Golden Years, 1948-1958 (Hastings House, $14.50)

Schools and Cable Television (National Education Association, Division of Educational Technology—Sales Section, 1201 Sixteenth St., N.W, Washington D.C. 20036, $2.25)

Television: The Business Behind the Box (Harcourt, Brace Javonovich, $8.95)

Ron Lackmann's Remember Television (Putnam, $7.95)

Don R. Le Duc and Thomas A. McCain's The F.R.C. in Federal Court: A Guide to Original Source Decisions (University of Wisconsin Department of Communication Arts, free on request)

Hal Kanter's Snake in the Grass (Delacorte, $6.95)

The Video Cassette: Looking for a Home (Quantum Science Corporation, $275.00)     

Music and Music People

Jay Caress Hank Willimns: Country Musics Tragic King (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.; Stein & Day, 1979—S10.95)

Dave Marsh Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen. Story (Garden City r. N.Y.: Doubleday/Dolphin Books, l979—$7.75,paper.)

The Music Makera (New York: Harry N. Abrams, l979-$35.00)

Yehudi Menuhin and Curtis W. Davis. The Music of Man (Toronto and New York: Methuen, 1979 —$24,95)

Gregory Allen Munford Munford's Simple Guide to Classical Music (Chicago: Chicago Review Press (215 Ohio St., 60610), . 1979– - $4.95, paper)

John Storm Roberts The Latin Tinge: The Impact of Latin America Music on the United States (New York: Oxford University Press,.1979–$12.95)     

Rush,Rachel, and Rx: Modeling Partisan Media's Influence on Structural Knowledge of Healthcare Policy

Examining the impact of various media sources on knowledge has a long tradition in political communication. Although much of the extant research focuses on the impact of traditional media on factual knowledge, research is expanding to include a variety of media sources and multiple dimensions of knowledge, in addition to understanding processes that better explain these relationships. Using a nationwide, opt-in online survey (n = 993), we examine the relationship between partisan media and structural knowledge, which assess how interconnected people see political concepts. Utilizing understanding of the Affordable Care Act as the content area of interest, we examine whether exposure to partisan media has differential effects on attitudinal ambivalence—holding both positive and negative attitudes toward an object—based on the political ideology of the respondent, and whether this impact of ambivalence influenced structural knowledge. Our results show that exposure to attitude-consistent media decreased attitudinal ambivalence. This exposure to attitude-consistent media results in a positive indirect effect on structural knowledge through this decrease in ambivalence. We find the reverse effect for use of attitude-inconsistent media.     

Name Authority Work in Public Libraries

Random samples of U.S. public libraries were surveyed in summer 2010 to ascertain their name authority cataloging practices. Comparisons of authority work processes and types of authority work done were made among public libraries of different sizes. Results were compared to previous studies of public and academic libraries.     

JISC's Academic Database Assessment Tool as a Collection Development and Management Tool for Bibliographic Databases

The Academic Database Assessment Tool (ADAT) from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) enables users to compile and compare journal title lists from many different suppliers. The makers claim that this tool can help identify overlap of coverage among comparable databases and platforms. This article provides an overview of the tool's major features, including limitations, and how it can be used in academic libraries to make informed collection development and management decisions regarding electronic databases.     

Combining Cultural Analytics and Networks Analysis: Studying a Social Network Site with User-Generated Content

Humanities and social sciences require new research approaches to deal with and to benefit from the explosion of digital media. Thanks to large scale data storage and processing, close reading of individual items can be supplemented with analysis of broader trends from massive amounts of data. Cultural Analytics (CA) is a recently developed methodology for the exploration of content and visual form in large image and video collections. It has already been applied to a variety of media types, including TV programs, feature films, newspapers, and video games. However, until now these applications did not take into account the social context of media. In many cases, media artifacts under scrutiny are generated or used by people in a social setting, either in forms of (digital) communities, or in terms of social relations, which can be also analyzed as a valuable source of information. Social network analysis (SNA) is a set of methods for the analysis of human networks, including massive online social networks. In this article, we argue that CA and SNA can be combined synergistically, using data and images from deviantArt, the leading online network of user-created art, as a case study.     

An Exploratory Study of Undergraduates’ Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action Policies for Asian Americans in College

This exploratory study examined white undergraduate students’ (a) racial attitudes towards Asian Americans, (b) principled policy attitudes toward affirmative action, and (c) self-interest in relation to their support for college-based affirmative action policies for Asian Americans at a Midwestern university. A sample (n = 264, 28% male, 72% female) of white undergraduate students from a mid-sized public university in the Midwest was surveyed. The findings indicate that white undergraduate women have significantly more favorable principled policy attitudes toward affirmative action in general and for an affirmative action college policy for Asians, in particular, than do undergraduate males. Implications for issues of equity and social justice are shared.     

The Theory of Planned Behavior Within the Stages of the Transtheoretical Model: Latent Structural Modeling of Stage-Specific Prediction Patterns in Physical Activity

This is the first study to test whether the stages of change of the transtheoretical model are qualitatively different through exploring discontinuity patterns in theory of planned behavior (TPB) variables using latent multigroup structural equation modeling (MSEM) with AMOS. Discontinuity patterns in terms of latent means and prediction patterns for the different stage groups were examined. Adults (n = 3,462) were assessed on their physical activity stages of change and TPB variables. The TPB was separately examined within the five stage groups. The TPB measurement model fit was acceptable. Latent mean analyses with post-hoc contrast and MSEM indicated discontinuity patterns. Results underscore the qualitative differences between the stages that may guide further research and the design of interventions integrating the approaches.     

Contributions of Cooperative Education in Preparing At-Risk Students for Post-High School Transition

Work-based learning interventions, particularly cooperative education, are a viable way to support the post-high school transition process, enhance work-related cognitive development, and increase the occupational engagement of at-risk youth. Using propensity score matching to analyze data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), the impact of participation in cooperative education on two indicators of postsecondary transition readiness, including postsecondary education plans right after high school and importance placed on work, were examined for students deemed at risk of high school failure. Participation in cooperative education had a significant positive effect on at-risk students' postsecondary education plans right after high school. However, no significant effect was detected for the importance students placed on work.