Media & Society

Email has become an increasingly popular and potent tool for political communication in America.

How aware is the American public of the debate currently taking place about changing the rules over media ownership in the United States?

Without much notice, the federal government is moving toward the most sweeping change ever in the rules that govern ownership of the American news media.

This shift could reduce the independence of the news media and the ability of Americans to take part in public debate. Yet because of mea ...

More Americans used the Internet to get campaign information in 2002 than during the last midterm election four years ago.

Introduction and Summary More Americans used the Internet to get campaign information in 2002 than during the last midterm election four years ago. While much of this increase has come from the overall growth in the online population, a higher proportion of Internet users sought election news than did so four years ago (22% now, […]

Covers our basic findings related to how people use government Web sites.

Four months into the war, a review of news coverage reveals that over time Americans are getting fewer facts and more opinion -- a narrow range of opinion, at that -- from newspapers, magazines and television. At the same time, polls show the press losing a measure of the respect it had gained in ...

This report examines how institutions in five cities (Austin, Texas; Cleveland, Ohio; Nashville, Tennessee; Portland, Oregon and Washington, D.C.) are adapting to the Internet as an economic development and community-building tool. The experiences in these communities suggests that the Internet is best used to encourage bottom-up initiatives, encourage and nurture catalytic individuals in communities, encourage public funding for technology programs, encourage “bridging” among groups, and encourage experimentation.

This paper looks at five U.S. cities (Austin, Cleveland, Nashville, Portland, and Washington, DC) and explores strategies being employed by community activists and local governments to create and sustain community networking projects.

A review of the early press coverage of George W. Bush's administration reveals some unexpected and troubling features of contemporary political journalism: even the most serious newspapers in the country have pulled back dramatically on covering the presidency.