Larry Gross

Television Viewing, IQ, and Academic Achievement.

(1980). Television viewing, IQ and academic achievement. Journal of Broadcasting: Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 117-133.

Television Violence, Victimization, and Power

In the 30 years that we have lived with television, public concern with the medium’~g predilection for violence has been reflected in at least eight separate congressional hearings, a special report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence in 1969, and a massive study of television and social behavior commissioned by the Surgeon General. In the years since 1972, the flow of research and debate has continued. While scientific caution requires us to proceed carefully, some conclusions can be drawn from the wealth of data and evidence that has been accumulated. First, violence is a frequent and consistent feature of television drama. In our research violence is defined as the overt expression of physical force compelling action against one’s will on pain of being hurt or killed, or actually hurting or killing. Using this definition we have been analyzing a sample of prime time and weekend morning network dramatic television programs annual-

The contested closet: The ethics and politics of outing

Western culture proclaims an ethic of honesty according to which we are urged to present our authentic selves to the world. Western journalism proclaims standards of objectivity and truth telling that do not permit deliberate falsehood. Yet gay people are frequently at risk of discrimination and attack if their sexual identity is visible, and the media generally collude in efforts to maintain a misleading facade of heterosexuality. Gay activists’ controversial tactic of “outing”; closeted homosexuals represents a challenge to journalistic practice and individual privacy in the name of community accountability.

Trazando la corriente dominante: contribuciones de la televisión a las orientaciones políticas

(1990). Trazando la corriente dominante: Contribuciones de la television a las orientaciones politicas. International Journal of Social Psychology: Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 71-97.

Editorial Response A Reply to Newcomb's "Humanistic Critique"

Newcomb’s essay on &dquo;Assessing the Violence Profile Studies of Gerbner and Gross: A Humanistic Critique and Suggestion&dquo; (1978) is a welcome contribution to the dialogue of the &dquo;two cultures,&dquo; although perhaps the contrast is a bit overdrawn. After noting that our social scientific approach to the study of television as an &dquo;environment of symbols&dquo; is &dquo;thoroughly congenial to the humanistic perspective&dquo; (p. 267), Newcomb questions our emphasis on the similarities among television plays in preference to the differences in style, format, and nuances of plot, and so on. Our reason for this