A content analysis of opinion editorial (Op-Ed) articles published in the Washington Post and The New York Times between 1999 and 2003 was used to assess source and issue stand diversity on three salient issues. The study revealed that editors in both newspapers allowed only limited diversity in its source selection and issue stand on the discussion of gay marriages, affirmative action and the death penalty. The authors identify the lack of diversity as inconsistent with the original stated purpose of the Op-Ed as a forum for the articulation of diverse viewpoints on salient issues and call upon future studies to further examine diversity of sources and issue stands in Op-Ed pages.

The perceived effect of the media on the self when compared to others has been adequately established over the last 25 five years. Rather than a third-person effect where individuals perceive a greater effect for self than others, first-person effect perceptions, where individuals perceive a greater effect for self than others, have been considered by scholars recently. Findings indicate support for first-person perceptions. However, research is limited and the behavioral consequences of first-person perceptions are almost nonexistent. The current analysis discusses the evolution of the first-person perception and details the findings of each study as well as the psychological mechanisms used to explain first-person perceptions.

The current study brought together two important areas of scholarship in mass communications: media credibility, and religion and the media. Although both areas have been widely investigated by scholars, there have not been many empirical investigations that examine the potential impact of religion on individual perceptions of media credibility. The authors' data analysis revealed mixed evidence for an association between religiosity and perceived media credibility. Although the study did not find consistent and overwhelming evidence of a significant single association between religiosity and media credibility, the authors did find strong evidence of a significant association between some form of media credibility and the Internet. Although these associations were multidirectional, they were nevertheless numerous and significant.

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