This study examined selection effects in newspaper reports about civil disorders in the late 1960s. A comprehensive set of events recorded in newspapers across the United States was compared with the subsets of these events recorded in two national newspapers often used to construct collective event data bases-the New York Times and the Washington Post. The results demonstrate that fewer than half of all disorders are covered in these two newspapers combined, and that those reported are selected on the basis of event intensity, distance, event density, city population size, type of actor, and day of the week. To demonstrate the effects of these selection patterns on substantive analysis of civil disorder, the authors replicated earlier studies using all reported events, and then repeated the analyses using only the events reported in the Times and the Post. This procedure showed some substantial differences in results. The implications of these findings for event analyses and for substantive understandings of media selection are discussed.

This piece explores the emergent themes and subthemes represented within the recent contemporary discourse on Native American food security. Analysis revealed traditional foods as the most common theme present within the sampled literature. We offer a review of this theme (and related subthemes such as food access and human and environmental health) to illuminate the primary concerns, opportunities, preferences, and barriers associated with Native American food security. Our assessments also provide a nuanced understanding of existing literature related to food security and sovereignty, as well as key dimensions of environmental and social equality.

Urban areas are hot spots of complex and dynamic interactions between society and ecosystems. Studies on such areas, however, have partially captured the coupled socio-ecological nature of urban environments. To address this gap, we examine the ways natural and social scientists have defined, developed and implemented research on urban environments. We discuss how these literatures set the foundation and explicitly advance urban studies through the lens of urban socio-ecological systems. By bringing these literatures together we forge a common ground between scholarly communities and foster cross-fertilization between researchers working on cities. A better understanding of the commonalities and differences of these disciplines in approaching urban environments is the first step toward opening corridors for new lines of discussions that better encompass the role played by urban socio-ecological systems in shaping changes and long-term sustainability.

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This essay examines research on social movement organizations (SMOs) within each of the three major schools of social movement theory: resource mobilization, political process, and cultural-cognitive approaches. We map the general terrain of these perspectives and demonstrate how they have established enduring and emerging trends in SMO scholarship. By briefly revisiting some of the central findings and theoretical arguments of SMO research, we provide a background for future research in social movement organizational processes and a foundation for the articles contained in this special issue.