Transcript Interest Groups and the Mass Media

Public Opinion,
Interest Groups
and the Mass
Media
Chapter 10
Interest Groups
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Interest groups are private organizations that
try to persuade public officials to respond to
the shared attitudes of their members
Interest groups have been viewed with
suspicion
Interest groups raise awareness in public
affairs and allow members to achieve a
common goal
Represent their members
Provide information to government
Types of Interest Groups
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Economic Interest Groups – business groups,
trade associations, labor groups, agricultural
groups, professional groups
Groups that promote causes – ACLU, National
Right to Life Committee, National Rifle
Association, Sierra Club
Groups that promote the welfare of certain
groups – AARP, NAACP, Christian Coalition
Public Interest Groups – League of Women
Voters, Common Cause, MADD
Techniques of Interest Groups
 Influencing
public opinion
 Propaganda
 Lobbying
 Influencing elections – campaigning and
contributing money through PACs
The Media
 Print
– magazines, newspapers; early
newspapers were often financed by
political groups
 Electronic
– cable, satellite, network
(“free”), radio, internet
 Mass
Media v. Group Media
Roles of the Media
 Reporting
the news
 Interpreting the news
 Influencing public opinion
 Setting the political agenda
 Providing a link between citizens and
government
Who Controls the Media?
 Media
is driven by the “profit motive” and
audience ratings – What benefits them!
 Protected by the First Amendment HOW?
 News departments can be affected by
who owns the media – HOW?
Use of the Media
 Use
of the media by the President in news
conferences and speeches
 Free media coverage for making news
 Use of “leaks”
 Love/Hate relationship between the press
and politicians
Media Influence
 News
filtering (accidental and
intentional): time slots, lead stories, story
lines
 Media
as Gatekeeper, Scorekeeper,
Watchdog
Print Media
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less and less affect – more than 50%
of the population gets 100% of their news
from TV; internet based news continues to
grow in influence
TV News
 Cuts
across age groups, social groups,
economic groups
 Captive audiences
 Vivid, emotion, dramatic
 Has contributed to distrust of all institutions
including the media itself through
investigative reports
 Political Satire IS SATIRE?
Rules Governing the Media
 The
Federal Communications Commission
was established in 1934
 Rules relating to ownership, equal access
air time, libel, slander
 First Amendment protects freedom of the
press
 Under
FCC?
what branch of government is the
POLLS - Assignment
 Pros
and Cons of Polls
 PRO: broken down clear opinions
 CONS: People can lie, not everyone
answers, etc.
 Pick
3 topics
 Neutral, and biased questioning.
 3 questions on each side: against, neutral
and in favor.
PROJECT
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You will work individually and organize information
about an issue of your choosing from the following
options
Crime rate
 Pollution
 Bullying
 Violence in the media
Write neutral questions to learn about public opinion
on that issue (conducting this poll on 5-10 people)
You must include peoples age group, and gender.
Create a media piece(newspaper, television
commercial, webpage, advertisement to influence
public opinion on the issue.
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