Chapter 8---
MASS MEDIA
&
PUBLIC OPINION
Section 1- The Formation of Public Opinion
Public Opinion: a complex collection of the opinions
of many different people
“ Attitudes held by a significant number of people on matters
of government and politics”
To be a public opinion --- an issue must be something of general concern
to most Americans
Examples: Taxes, War, Employment, National Debt
Public Opinion: the attitudes held by a
significant number of people on matters
of government and politics.
• there must be an expressed view and
it is therefore made up of expressed
group attitudes
• Expressed opinions can be
• written
• oral
• electronic (email)
• demonstration
• film
• billboard
• voting
Thoughts are expressed PUBLICLY
A point of view must be expressed
in order to be an opinion in the public
sense.
We can see Public Opinion in many forms:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Protests
Films
Billboards
Election results
5. Advertisements in TV or newspapers
1. The Family:
• Children first see politics from inside the family
• they listen to parents opinions, formed by values
• watch TV with family
• Listen t the stories and ideas of older siblings
• In the family, most get FUNDAMENTAL attitudes which influence future
opinions
• rules of behavior
• property
• neighbors
• race
• religion
• These basic influences mold
their later view of politics
• If one is raised by Democrats…
they too will likely become
Democrats. If Republicans, they
will likely be Republicans.
Who helps shape your Opinions?
# 1--- FAMILY
others: School, Mass Media,
Peer Groups, Historic Events
Opinion Leaders—Glenn Beck
2. The Schools:
• One of the purposes of school is to
indoctrinate
• Basic American values are taught
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Loyalty to the USA
• Patriotic songs
• National heroes (G. Washington,
A. Lincoln, ML King, etc.)
• Requirement to take Civics and
Government classes
• Children often have profound
learning experiences in school
• They just don’t hear from parents,
but they witness new ideas,
relationships, belief systems, etc.
Other factors:
occupation, race,
socioeconomic class
3. Mass Media:
Known as the “new
Parent” of socialization.
TV, radio, the internet,
newspapers, magazines,
etc… all influence public
opinion.
There is at least 1
television in 98% of all
homes in the US… most
are on for
7 hours per day!
4. Peer Groups: Includes our
friends, classmates, coworkers, neighbors, etc.
• Most peer groups reinforce
beliefs
• We trust views of peers
• Birds of a feather… (we
often share experiences
and values
• Most want to be liked, and
do not stray far from what
peers think and how they
behave
5. Opinion Leaders: These
are people who have an
unusually strong influence
on the views of others
(minority of people)
• Reporters
• Editors
• Celebrities
• Business and
Professional leaders
• Members of the clergy
• heads of state
• Local political leaders
• Radio talk show hosts
6. Historical Events:
Events we experience
mold us greatly!
• Great Depression
• World War II
• Vietnam War
• Women’s Lib
(Sexual Revolution)
• Civil Rights
Movement
• Watergate
• September 11, 2001
Public opinion can be found in
a variety of venues: books,
letters to the editor, editorials,
articles, radio and television,
etc.
But, the things above tell us
little about the size of the
group that hold those
opinions. Therefore, we have
made efforts to measure public
opinion.
Section 2 –
Measuring Public Opinion
How is Public Opinion Measured?
1. Election Results —votes cast are evidence
of “the people” speaking
sometimes seen as Mandates
by politicians—to carry out campaign promises
Elections:
• Democracies express opinions through ballot box
• They are taken as approval of stands of candidates and
parties
• Parties claim to have received a “mandate” to carry out ideas.
• These claims usually go overboard-votes often have little
to do with party or candidate positions (which are often
vague anyway)
• Elections are useful indicators of public opinion….
Should not be taken as clear desire of national feeling.
The Incredible Shrinking Sound Bite
How is Public Opinion Measured?
2. Interest Groupsprivate organizations
whose members share
certain views and objectives
“Pressure Groups”
NRA- National Rifle Association
AARP-American Association
of Retired Persons
ACLU-American Civil Liberties Union
NEA-National Education Association
UAW- United Auto Workers
How is Public Opinion Measured?
3. The Media-- TV, Newspapers, Radio,
Magazines, Internet
4. Personal Contactsthe people back home in a
representative’s district
The Media: The media can be a gauge in
assessing public opinion
• described as “mirrors” and “molders” of
opinion
• expressed through newspaper editorials.
Columns, news magazines, TV commentaries.
• but generally, they are not mirrors of opinion…
just reflect views of a vocal minority.
•Personal Contacts: Public officials try to be the
“voice of the people”.
• Members of Congress get hundreds of letters,
emails, and phone calls each day
• many go back to their district to speak about
their concerns and listen to their constituents
• Governors, State Legislators, mayors, etc.
listen to people in their offices, during public
meetings, and social gatherings
• Often politicians only hear what they want to
hear
POLLS— The Best Measure of Public Opinion
Public Opinion is best measured by public opinion
polls (particularly when they are based on scientific
polling techniques:
Most famous example:
• Literary Digest 1936, sent postcard ballots to 10
million homes and got back 2,376,000
• Confidently predict Alfred Landon would beat FDR…
• Roosevelt got 60% of vote and won all but 2 states
• Literary Digest relied on auto registration and
phone directories
• This left out LOTS of people in 1936
Straw Votes—
polls of large groups of people—
highly unreliable!
Straw Votes:
* not scientific
* asking the same question of large numbers of people
* still common (newspapers run mail-in polls, TV and radio
show hosts ask viewers to vote on their website or phone
* nothing ensures those that are asked will represent
cross-section of total population
(quantity, not quality is emphasized).
Example --Internet polls ----CNN and Fox News
• Scientific Polling- since mid 1930’s—
Gallup and Roper
• Today there are more than 1,000 national and
regional polling organizations
Most deal with commercial work…
about 200 also poll political preferences.
• POLLS try to measure people's attitudes.
• Most of the national polls today are relatively
reliable.
Two of the best known are the
Gallup Organization and Harris and Associates
• Polls have a tough time measuring
Intensity, stability and relevance of an
issue to a person.
• Polls do stimulate discussion which is
needed in a Democracy.
Evaluating Polls:
•
The Majority of national polls are
reliable, but not perfect
•
Efforts still continue to refine the
polling process
•
Pollsters have always had difficulty
measuring 3 things:
1. Intensity: the strength of
feeling which opinion is held
2. Stability (fluidity): permanence
and changeableness of opinion
3. Relevance: how important is
the opinion to the person
• Critics suggest polls can themselves
influence opinion through
“bandwagon” effect
• If polls show someone ahead, some
people will side with candidate to be
part of the “winning side”
• Regardless of criticism, scientific polls
are the best way to gear public opinion
Strong Dem (44)
Weak Dem (4)
Barely Dem (2)
Exactly tied (1)
Barely GOP (1)
Weak GOP (0)
Strong GOP (48)
No Senate race
The Polling Process• Random Samples-- where each person contacted has the same
mathematical chance of being included
in the poll
1,500 is really all you need in order to have an
accurate poll within +3 or -3 points
• Valid Questions--- wording can affect the
validity of a poll
• Interviewing—can also produce
unreliable poll outcomes
DOES THE MEDIA
INFLUENCE YOU????
Section 3 – Mass Media
• Medium= transmits some kind of information
• Media is the plural of Medium
• MASS MEDIA
-- includes those means of communication
that can reach a large widely
dispersed audience.
• Ranked in terms of Impact on Americans:
1. Television
2. Newspapers
3. Radio
4. Magazines
Newspapers in America:
• First regularly published newspaper began in 1704 (Boston
News-Letter)
•The first daily paper was the Pennsylvania Evening Post and
daily Advertiser (1783)
• They became carriers of important police information,
and many published the text of the
Declaration of Independence
•Today there are 10,000
• 1500 dailies, 7200 weeklies, 550 semi-weeklies)
• Numbers of newspapers have declined
(2000 in 1920- 1745 in 1980- less than 1500 today)
• Radio, internet, and TV have caused downfall
• There are also fewer competing newspapers in
cities with less than 50
• Newspapers give greater detail than TV and
provide opinions
• Most papers are local
• Many papers like the NY Times, Washington Post,
USA Today are available on day of print around the US
Radio in America:
• Existed since 1920 when KDKA in Pittsburg,
PA gave presidential election returns … then
became popular
• By 1927, there were 733 commercial stations
and Americans owned 7 million radio sets
• NBC (1926) and CBS (1927) were founded
along with others and ran advertisements and
programming
• By the 1930’s, people planned days around
their favorite programs and national events
were learned about immediately
• FDR was the first president to use the radio
with his fireside chats
• Radio has survived despite TV due to its
convenience
• Most radio programming is local, but often
affiliate with networks
• There are 700 public radio stations (NPR)
Magazines in America:
• Several magazines published in colonial
days including Ben Franklins
General Magazine in 1741
• Up to the 1900’s most were literary or
discussed social graces
• Harper’s Weekly and Atlantic Monthly were
political appearing in mid-1800’s
• The progressive reform period in the
early 1900’s spawned journals of opinion
•Highest sellers are Modern Maturity,
TV Guide, and Readers Digest.
• Time, Newsweek, and US News & World
Report are top news magazines
• Vehicles of opinion are The Nation,
The National Review, The New Republic,
and the Weekly Standard
• Besides providing Entertainment, Mass
Media provides political information.
• Check out your books charts on pages
212, 225 and 226
The Media and Politics
• The Media play a significant role in
American Politics
• CNN, Fox, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Cobert Report,
Daily Show, US News & World, Time, Newsweek,
USA Today, CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, Wall St. Journal,
Washington Post, NY Times
• The Media shapes the public agenda by reporting on
issues that they believe are worthy of attention
• people talk about what they see and hear… and if it is
important enough to them, public policy makers
hear about it
• They emphasize some things, and downplay others
• The big TV, newspaper, and magazines all form an
“inner ring” in Washington, DC
• Presidents receives daily dose of
news reports each day
•
Television has made candidates far less
reliant on political parties
• The media is so important, politicians
spend a great deal of time working
on their public “image”
•
They plan event that will attract media
attention and even consider
technical issues such as timing,
location, lighting, & camera angles
Good campaign managers know
(1) take no more than 2 minutes of air time
(2) show people something interesting and exciting
Newscasts are usually short and focus on “sound bites”
(30-40 second reports).
• Candidates for political office try to get
as much FREE Press as possible.
=NAME RECOGNITION
• Sound Bites of 30 to 45 seconds rule
on TV.
• Can you really learn about a candidate
from a commercial or a news
sound bite????
Many studies show most Americans who vote
are not well informed about the candidates.
Only about 10-15% are well informed.
We tend to be SELECTIVE about what we
watch or read.
Mrs. Smith watches CNN more than any other news program.
Mr. Smith watches Fox more than any other news program.
• Radio and Television mostly "skim" the
news. They report only on the most
interesting stories of the day.
• In contrast NEWSPAPERS and
Magazines give more in depth stories.