Attitudes toward local programming needs: A comparison of a northern and southern sample of community leaders and respective publics
Replicating salient features of a study perfomed in Michigan, it was found that the northern and southern community leaders differed in their programming requests. The two public samples were quite similar, however, in ranking their requests. The findings suggest that care should be exercised by concerned public agencies in evaluating community leaders’ opinions, since they differ from their publics’ unsystematically.
A study of broadcast station license application exhibits on ascertainment of community needs
The requirement that station licensees “ascertain the needs of their community” as part of the application for renewal of license is relatively new and, as this study plainly shows, is little understood by many broadcasters. The authors examined a large sample of applications filed in the Public Reference Room of the Federal Communications Commission to arrive at their conclusions. They particularly wish to thank William Dempsey, President and General Manager of WZZM‐TV, Grand Rapids, Michigan, who permitted experimentation in methods of ascertaining community needs in a series of studies conducted for the station. Dr. Thomas F. Baldwin is associate professor in the Departments of Television‐Radio and Communication, and Mr. Surlin is a graduate assistant in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University.
A sustainable development indicator for NGOs and international organisations
The article offers an easy-to-use indicator for measuring whether NGOs, international organisations and government policies and projects meet the criteria for sustainable development that have been established by the Rio Declaration in 1992 and that are recognised by experts in the field. Use of this indicator reveals that most of the major actors in the field of development are actually failing to promote sustainable development and points to the specific areas where they need to improve in order to fulfil sustainability criteria. We also offer a sample test of the indicator using UNICEF as a case study.