As mentioned in the limitations, access to free archives, or a convenient method of paying for them is paramount.  Use of Lexis-Nexis clips, while convenient, certainly renders serious scientific research as suspect.  Future endeavors should either accept this drawback from the beginning, or be prepared with a plan to absorb the cost of translated archives.

            Proving the spiral of silence is not just a change in opinion or attitude is a future challenge for social researchers of the war in Iraq.  Polls indicate changes in opinion throughout the three-week period in both coalition and non-coalition countries.  The reason for the change could be actual attitude change based on the discovery of new information as the war progressed, but we believe it was due more to the changes in media portrayal of the war and the rapid progress of the coalition in eliminating the regime.  These elements would convince people their attitudes and opinions were enough of a majority to acknowledge them.

            The non-linear press in the Middle-East is an item for future research in itself.  The library has publications, and there are generally two weeks of non-translated archives on each publication’s Web site.  The researcher would either need to be fluent in Arabic or have a translator, as the computer-based translation programs are unreliable and cumbersome.  The uniqueness of a categorical news media platform, however, is a journalistic paradox worthy of intercultural communication research.