ABSTRACT
Regular viewing of network television news increases with the strength of the civic beliefs. Close empirical scrutiny of the newspaper and television audiences, has rebutted the arguments that television is the culprit behind declining newspaper readership and circulation. With the decline in newspaper circulation and readership, editors and publishers cast about for explanations-and for culprits. But the correlations with other news media underscore the importance of national-international news in the relationship, suggesting the cosmopolitan character of the civic-inspired media exposure in contemporary life. Although the amount of public affairs knowledge possessed by individual citizens sometimes is less than fully impressive, nevertheless there is widespread belief in a civic duty to keep informed. Unfortunately, a study of social trends across the past half century reports that the young audience has buoyed the popularity of the new, lighter media forms, such as People magazine and TV's "A Current Affair".
