Mass Media and Public Opinion

Chapter 8

The Formation of Public Opinion

What is Public Opinion?• Definition: those attitudes held can be described this way;

those attitudes held by a significant number of people on matters of

government and politics.

• Different types of public opinion!

• Newspaper, Internet, Twitter, magazines.

Family and Education

• How do we learn our political

opinion?• We have many different teachers.• Teachers and our

Family members can help us decide

where we stand political opinion.

Other Factors

• Mass Media• Include those means

of communication that reach large, widely spread audiences.

• Peer Groups• Are made up of the

people with whom one regularly associates, including friends, classmates, neighbors, and co-workers.

• Opinion Leaders• Bears heavily on

public opinion. Leader has strong views of others.

• Historic Events• This has a major

impact on the content and direction of public policy.

Measuring Public Opinion

Measuring Public Opinion• Elections• Voice of the people is suppose to express itself through

elections.

• Interest Groups• Are private organizations whose members share certain

views and work to shape certain views and work to shape the making and the content public policy.

• The Media• They are described as the mirrors as well as the molders

of opinion.

• Personal Contacts• These personal contacts try and read the public’s mind.

Their jobs demand that they do so.

Polls- The Best Measure• Straw Polls

• These are polls to read the public’s mind and simply by asking the

same question of a large number of people.

• Scientific Polling• Techniques have advanced since the mid

1930’s. They tap everything from

toothpastes to television shows.

The Polling Process• Defining the Universe

• The whole population that the poll will seek to discover.

• Constructing a Sample• Not possible to poll everyone. So they will sample a slice of

the whole universe.

• Preparing Valid Questions• Pollsters have to phase their questions very carefully and

are precise.

• Interviewing• Most polls are face to face. Sometimes they have to be by

mail or by telephone.

• Analyze and Report Findings• They just try and measure people’s attitudes.

Evaluating Polls

• How Good are Polls?

• Sometimes they shape the

opinion??• Do they shape

how people really feel?

Limits on the Impact of Public Opinion• Democracy is more

than a simple measurement of opinion.

• Democracy is about making careful choices among leaders and their positions on issues, and among the governmental actions that may follow.

The Mass Media

The Role of Mass Media

•Television•Newspapers•Twitter•Radio

•Magazines

The Media and Politics

• How does the Media play a role in public opinion?

• Do they play a role in the election process?• Play a role in two areas public agenda, and

electoral politics.• Public Agenda- the societal problems that

need attention.• Electoral Politics- television has taken the

place of parties in American Politics.

Limits on Media Influence

• Radio and Television skim

the news.• There are other

assets that people can go

and seek if they want more coverage.