MASS MEDIA AND PUBLIC OPINION

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MASS MEDIA AND PUBLIC OPINION
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Public Opinion- those attitudes held by a
significant of people on matters of government
and politics.

• Public opinion is COMPLEX.
• Complex because the public holds many different
  viewpoints on nearly every issue.
• This is because there are many different
  publics.
• EXAMPLES

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Factors that shape public opinion

1. Family
2. Education
3. Peer Groups
4. Opinion Leaders
5. Historic Events
6. Mass Media

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Mass Media(continued)

• Types (see additional worksheet!)
• television
• newspapers
• radio
• magazines
• Internet and ???

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• 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

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• "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 themAnd 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/

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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.

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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.smalltown.ad.cnn?irefvideosearch
• Obama response http//firstread.msnbc.msn.com/arc
  hive/category/1208.aspx

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How do we measure public opinion?

• 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 polling-techniques)
• Examples Gallup Poll or Harris Survey
• http//www.gallup.com/ http//www.zogby.com/SOU
  NDBITES/ReadClips.dbm?ID17317