Miscomprehension of public affairs programming

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Abstract
The ability of individuals to comprehend accurately nine televised public affairs messages was examined. A national sample of subjects was quizzed about material contained in a message immediately following exposure to one of the nine stimuli. Results indicated a high rate of miscomprehension. Miscomprehension rates for individual stimuli ranged from 26% to 50%. Results also indicated a trend for miscomprehension to be lowest in the 25 to 40‐year‐old groups and the higher education groups. Implications of these findings were discussed.