Media and Public Opinion

1. Media and Public Opinion

2. What is the Mass Media? • The mass media are ways that information can be sent to a large audience. • Mass media includes newspapers, tv, radio, the internet, magazines, pop music, movies, etc. • Mass media is usually targeted to a specific audience to give a specific message.

3. What is Public Opinion? • The public opinion is the ideas felt by the population en masse or in a specific group of people. • “The public” holds different opinions on things depending on how an issue is framed up. • Public opinion can be charted in polls, party membership, voter turnouts, protests, meetings, etc. • Can be multiple “publics”…even within a public.

4. The Political Spectrum Radical—Liberal—Moderate—Conservative—Reactionary • People who are called radicals or liberals are said to be on the “left”. They believe the government should be the focal point of change in this country. • The “middle”, called moderate, holds views and opinions from both sides. • Conservatives and reactionaries are on the “right”. They favor to keep things the same or restore things to a “better time”.

5. Family and Education • Attitudes are shaped while we are younger from those around us. • Our parents and our teachers help to shape many of our political thoughts. • Our political opinions and ideals, however, do evolve over our lifetime. • From parents, we learn right from wrong. • From schools, we learn about fitting in and the greater world around us.

6. Peer Groups • Are people we normally associate with, be it at school, in the neighborhood, or at work. • Belonging to a group reinforces many of the things we believe. • Many people tailor their political beliefs to match that of the group or seek out like minded groups.

7. Question Time • 1. Define mass media. • 2. Define public opinion. • 3. Where on the political spectrum do you think you lie on? Why? • 4. Why do parents and peer groups have so much influence on a person’s political outlook?

8. Opinion Leaders • Opinion leaders help to shape the political landscape. • They are a distinct minority of the population, but shape the greater flow of politics because they are a loud voice and cause controversy. • Many of the modern political influences come from these leaders. • Other leaders can be politicians.

9. Historic Events • Sometimes historic events can help to shape public opinion: Great Depression, Watergate. • Wars can be divisive or uniting: Civil War, World War II, Vietnam, War on Terror. • Some leaders can be inspirational: JFK, FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan. • Others can be detrimental: George W. Bush, Newt Gingrich, Nancy Pelosi.

10. Measuring Public Opinion • There are various ways to measure public opinion. • Voter turnout can either show support or opposition to a political leader/party. • Protests and demonstrations are good factors. • Polls can show, generally, how the public’s mood tends to be.

11. What is an Interest Group? • An interest group is a private organization that is united for a common purpose or cause. • These groups help to shape public policy and push certain issues to the forefront. • They can help generate public support/opposite, command lots of money, or garner lots of media attention. • Special interest groups help form public opinion on key issues.

12. Question Time • 5. How can historic events change someone’s political views? • 6. Who are opinion leaders and why do they matter? • 7. What is a public interest group?

13. Polls • Public opinion is often studied with polls, a random sampling of the population. • Some polls are more scientific and accurate than others. • Straw votes are a type of poll that ask the same question to a wide audience. However, it is unreliable because it can be shaped only by the audience that the questioner reaches. • Scientific polls, like Gallup, take a random sampling of a population.

14. How to Conduct a Poll • First define your population (all Americans, Phillies Phans, Republicans, residents of Hancock, NY, etc.) • Take a small part of that universe (like 150 people out of a town of 1500. This is called a sample. • A random sample is just that, a randomly selected group of people. • Another sample is a quota sample. If Asians are 15% of the population, you will interview 15% of the total number sampled as Asians. • Prepare valid questions. • How to interview: in person, door to door, on the phone, through a mailing.

15. Evaluating Polls • Are they reliable? Are they scientific? Are they fair? • Were the questions loaded or objective? • Do polls really tell how the population is thinking and feeling? • Poll crashing. • Exit poll accuracy.

16. Effects of Polls on Public Opinion • Some people will vote based on who is winning in the polls. Nobody likes a loser. • Some politicians will tailor their campaigns to meet the poll numbers. • Too much emphasis placed in polls? • Too much reliance placed on them by news sources.

17. The Role Mass Media Has on Society • Yellow Journalism and the muckrakers • FDR and the Fireside Chats. • JFK and Nixon on TV. • Ronald Reagan and Clinton on TV. • Role of Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN.

18. The Role Mass Media Has on Society • Mass media has helped to start wars (Spanish American, War in Iraq) and turn public against it (Vietnam, War in Iraq). • Mass media has built up politicians and then broken them apart. • Mass media has uncovered many scandals by politicians. • Mass media helps to force issues on the public (gay rights, child labor, civil rights, the Progressive Era, etc.)

19. The Role Mass Media Has on Politics • Mass media serves as a watchdog against politicians and parties. • As newspapers fall away, internet blogs and newssites have picked up the slack. • Mass media only works if people believe it. • Mass media also needs facts to back it up. • Media bias can hinder how people see it. • Sounds bites don’t tell the whole story. • Mass media is also limited to its targeted audience

20. Question Time • 8. How does the media affect political thought? • 9. How are polls conducted? • 10. What affect do polls have on the public?