New findings of the CulturaE Zndicators research project support earlier results and lead to elaboration of the concepts of "mainstreaming" and "resonance. "Television makes specific and measurable contributions to viewers' conceptions of reality. These contributions relate both to the synthetic world television presents and to viewers' real life circumstances. These are the basic findings of our long-range research project called Cultural Indicators, and they have been supported, extended, and refined in a series of studies. Here we shall report new findings and introduce theoretical developments dealing with the dynamics of the cultivation of general concepts of social reality (which we shall call "mainstreaming") and of the amplification of issues particularly salient to certain groups of viewers (which we shall call "resonance").The design of our research consists of two interrelated parts: message system analysis and cultivation analysis. Message system analysis is the annual monitoring of samples of prime-time and weekend daytime network dramatic programming (including series, other plays, comedies, movies, and cartoons). Cultivation analysis is the investigation of viewer conceptions of social reality associated with the most recurrent features of the world of television. Our studies since 1967-68 have traced some conceptual and behavioral correlates of growing up and living with a television world in which men outnumber women three to one, young people comprise one-third and old people one-fifth of their real numbers, professionals and law-enforcers dominate the occupations, and an of methodology and results (25) and "Highlights" containing the most important tabulations are available.

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Gross under-representations lead viewers to believe that old people are a vanishing breed; men seem to age slower and enjoy life longer than women.Aging is a process that starts with birth and goes on throughout life. Life styles associated with different stages of the life cycle are roles learned in a culture. Images of old age cultivate our concept of aging and the age roles we assume.Television, as the wholesale distributor of images and the mainstream of our popular culture, presents a world of places, people, and roles. Most of us experience this world with little selectivity or deviation and do so for an average of 30

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Annual progress report sum up findings suggesting that fear and inequity may be television's most pervasive lessons; 1978 l& shows violence up in children's hours."Then," asked Socrates in Plato's Republic, "shall we simply allow our children to listen to any stories that anyone happens to make up, and so receive into their minds ideas often the very opposite of those we shall think they ought to have when they grow up?'Plato was probably not the first to articulate a concern over the effects of story-telling on young minds; he certainly was not the last. Parents have always been understandably wary of those who wish to entertain or educate their children.Traditionally, the only acceptable extra-familial storytellers were those certified by religious institutions. With the growth of educational institutions, also originally religious, a new group of storytellers interceded between children and the world.The emergence of mass media fundamentally altered the picture. Children were increasingly open to influences which parents, priests, and teachers could not monitor or control. Beginning with the widespread availability of printed materials for the literate, enlarged by the availability of movies and radio, and culminating with the omnipresence of television, the opportunities for children

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Television and its Viewers reviews 'cultivation' research, which investigates the relationship between exposure to television and beliefs about the world. James Shanahan and Michael Morgan, both distinguished researchers in this field, scrutinize cultivation through detailed theoretical and historical explication, critical assessments of methodology, and a comprehensive 'meta-analysis' of twenty years of empirical results. They present a sweeping historical view of television as a technology and as an institution. Shanahan and Morgan's study looks forward as well as back, to the development of cultivation research in a new media environment. They argue that cultivation theory offers a unique and valuable perspective on the role of television in twentieth-century social life. Television and its Viewers, the first book-length study of its type, will be of interest to students and scholars in communication, sociology, political science and psychology and contains an introduction by the seminal figure in this field, George Gerbner.

Recent findings help refine the Cultural Indicators paradigm and suggest new ways of thinking about television as well as about the formation of political perspectives.Television is part and parcel of our daily life, investing it with particular meanings. This is a report of research on the political significance of these meanings. It is part of our ongoing project called Cultural Indicators' and develops our paradigm of "mainstreaming" first published in this Journal (6).We shall first sketch the theoretical and research context in which we present our findings. Then we shall summarize our theory of television and apply our paradigm to political orientations. We shall use survey data to show television's contributions to political orientations and to attitudes on such issues as minority and civil rights, free speech, government spending, and taxes. The implications of our findings challenge conventional theories of the role of the "press" in the political process, and suggest new ways of thinking about television as well as political research.