BACKGROUND A law making all indoor workplaces including bars and restaurants smokefree became operational in New Zealand in December 2004. New Zealand has a national free-phone Quitline Service which has been operational since 1999. Previous work has shown that the number of calls to the Quitline are influenced by marketing of the service through media campaigns. We set out to investigate if th...

In an article entitled Mediasaurus, Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park, compares contemporary mass media with the dinosaurs (Crichton 1993). The mass media, he writes, have become gigantic, clumsy creatures, ill suited and unable to adapt to the demands of the new environment of information technology with its flexible mini-media and computer networks. Consequently, they are obsolete, in...

OBJECTIVE: US parents were surveyed to determine the amount of background television that their children are exposed to as well as to isolate demographic factors associated with increased exposure to background television. After this, we ask how certain home media practices are linked to children’s background television exposure. METHODS: US parents/caregivers (N = 1454) with 1 child between th...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Public awareness of the warning signs of stroke is important. As part of an educational campaign using mass media, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario conducted public opinion polling in 4 communities to track the level of awareness of the warning signs of stroke and to determine the impact of different media strategies. METHODS Telephone surveys were conducted a...

Advances in recombinant DNA technology during the 1990’s have modified crops to produce traits not possible with traditional breeding techniques. These genetically modified (GM) foods can be modified to generate higher nutrient and yield levels, and to produce their own pesticides, fertilizers, and vaccines. This technology has caused considerable consumer debate, with opponents stressing healt...

BACKGROUND In recent years in Japan, electronic games, home computers, and the internet have assumed an important place in people's lives, even for elementary school children. Subjective health complaints have also become a problem among children. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between media use and health status in elementary school children in Japan. METHODS A cross-...

This report focuses on the possibilities of convergence regarding video games and digital television. The report consist roughly of four parts: First, there is a brief discussion about media studies on television viewing. These observations will be related to research on gaming as a form of media use. Second, the interactive digital television (iDTV) peripherals (set-top box and remote controll...

The TV oak (Television Oak) conflict concerned felling an old tree in a wealthy area of Stockholm. The case received great public attention in different media formats with different scopes (e.g., newspapers, television, internet). The TV Oak issue involved actors with different, partly conflicting perceptions. Assuming that the relevance of urban tree management issues in particular leads to in...

The influence of magazines on consumer behavior, particularly that of women, has been widely recognized. In his study of American magazines, Wood [9] declared that the magazine is one of four major forces affecting and controlling national public opinion. Magazines, together with newspapers, radio and television, provide consumers with information about goods and services. Since consumer educat...

OBJECTIVE: US parents were surveyed to determine the amount of background television that their children are exposed to as well as to isolate demographic factors associated with increased exposure to background television. After this, we ask how certain home media practices are linked to children’s background television exposure. METHODS: US parents/caregivers (N = 1454) with 1 child between th...