THE PETITVILLE STUDY: A TRI-DIMENSIONAL VIEW OF THE FUNCTION OF A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER.
Abstract
The 'Independent' of Petitville, Mass., was studied in order to learn how the editor of the weekly newspaper, its readers, and the leaders of the community regard the position of the newspaper with respect to local matters. The editor of the 'Independent' and the school board of Petitville had tried to convince the townspeople in late 1964 to build a new junior high school and to approve an increase in taxes for that purpose. The townspeople defeated the measure in spite of the fact that they would be losing between $70,000 and $75,000 in state aid. The editor is regarded as having no conception of her audience, nor of the power structure in the community, and if writing at too high a level for the readers of such a paper as the 'Independent'. The school board members recognized the partisanship of the editor in the high school case and that this may have damaged the cause. The readers recognized the stand the newspaper took and possibly downgraded her credibility because of her lack of fairness.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0620351
Entities
People
- Francis Joseph Brown
Organizations
- Boston University