"This publication consists of short accounts of seven studies carried out in seven different countries on the part played by the media in the development of "social consciousness" in two widely different social groups in each of the countries concerned. The research on which the accounts are based had its beginnings in 1969. In June of that year, following a Unesco General Conference decision authorizing a long-term programme of research and the promotion of "the study of the role and effects of the media of mass communication in modern society", Unesco organized a meeting of experts in Montreal on Mass Communication and Society and, as may be seen from the main working paper and the official Report of the meeting, research co-operation at both national and international levels figured prominently on the formal agenda and in the wide-ranging discussions." (Introduction)