Transcript mass media and public opinion

MASS MEDIA
AND
PUBLIC OPINION
Public Opinionthose attitudes held by a significant # of people on matters
of government and politics.
1. Public opinion is COMPLEX.
2. Complex because “the public” holds many
different viewpoints on nearly every issue.
3. This is because there are many different
“publics.”
4. EXAMPLES:
Factors that shape
public opinion…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Family
Education
Peer Groups
Opinion Leaders
Historic Events
Mass Media
Mass Media
(continued)
•
Types (see additional
worksheet!):
– television
– newspapers
– radio
– magazines
– Internet and… ???
• Influence- media plays a significant role in politics!
– Plays a large role in shaping PUBLIC AGENDA,
the problems the citizens and government agree
need attention.
– Has made candidates less dependant on their
party- now they can reach voters themselves!
» Often when speaking, they deliver
information in sharply focused segments that
newscasts can air as sound bites- snappy
30-45 second reports.
• Current examples sound bite usage:
"You go into these small towns in
Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in
the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now
for 25 years and nothings replaced
them…And they fell through the Clinton
administration, and the Bush administration,
and each successive administration has said
that somehow these communities are gonna
regenerate and they have not. And it's not
surprising then they get bitter, they cling to
guns or religion or antipathy to people who
aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment
or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain
their frustrations."
-Barack Obama Speech in San Francisco
April 6th.
• www.cnn.com
• http://www.cbsnews.com/
Media to INFORM
• The News Media
– Know your sources…
today many have
agendas!!!
– Examples:
– Limits
– Not everyone pays
attention or
understands media
reports.
– People often pay
attention to sources
and stories with
which they agree.
Media to PERSUADE
• Political Ads
• Watch for propaganda (review 7 techniques)
• Examples:
– Clinton attack on “bitter” comments: www.cnn.com or
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/04/14/clinton.sm
alltown.ad.cnn?iref=videosearch
– Obama response:
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/category/1208.aspx
How do we measure
public opinion?
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–
–
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Elections- Candidates who win often claim to have a
MANDATE, a command to the public to carry out their
campaign promises.
Interest Groups- these are private organizations whose
members share certain views and work to shape public policy.
They make public opinion known through the work of lobbyists
(via phone calls, letter writing, campaigning, etc.)
The Media- Sometimes stories in the news mirrors public
opinions, other times the media can mold it!!!
The Best way to measure public opinion is through PUBLIC
OPINION POLLS.
•
•
These are attempts to collect information by asking people
questions (most accurate polls are based on scientific pollingtechniques)
Examples: “Gallup Poll” or “Harris Survey”
http://www.gallup.com/
http://www.zogby.com/SOUNDBITES/ReadClips.dbm?ID=17317