The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of news commentary on the image of political candidates. Subjects were exposed to a political debate, which was followed by three experimental manipulations of a news commentary. One group saw a commentary biased toward one candidate and against the other. In a second group the bias was reversed. A third experimental group saw a neutral commentary and the control group viewed the debate but no commentary. The primary statistical analyses used were a multivariate analysis of variance, a multiple discriminant analysis and a factor analysis. The results indicated that the commentary did have some effects on the perception of the candidates' images. Furthermore, the commentaries affected the amount of the candidates' message which was recalled by the subjects, and cued the subjects to recall specific issues which were mentioned in the commentaries. Finally, the factor analysis indicated certain characteristics of the images of political candidates.

This investigation deals with a change of congressional attitude concerning violence in entertainment media, from noninterference to investigation to initiation of research. The data are primarily from official government records. This study first examines a period of congressional reluctance to interfere with the violent content of movies and radio in 1929-45. Next examined is the period 1945-68, when Congress actively investigated media violence,, focusing on television. Finally, the study examines congressional activity concerning television violence in 1968-74 and the Surgeon General's report on television violence. This report concludes that, by 1955, the pattern of congressional interest in media violence had turned from reluctance to activity, -and discusses the likelihood of future control of television program content.