The Mass Media in Politics

And what shapes it… Public Opinion – the attitudes held by a significant number of people on matters of government and politics Our Families What we talk about, what we watch, what we hear, where we worship, etc. A Mix of Other Factors Who we are, what our job is, where we live, what is important to us The Mass Media What we hear from television, newspapers, radio, and magazines The Opinion Leaders People who have lots of influence over us…media, politicians, etc. Our Schools What we learn in schools, what we read, what our school engrains in us

How We Measure Public Opinion Through Polling The best way…asks questions about issues to figure out what they believe Through the Media It is not necessarily accurate, but what is the media saying about issues Through Interest Groups What organizations are people joining and what views do they have Through Elections What kind of mandate was given..or instructions or commands to election officials Through Personal Contacts What are the people saying to their elected representatives

How would we create A public opinion poll? 2. Construct a sample – samples are small parts of the bigger universe, since we cannot interview everyone 3. Come up with good questions – make sure that they are not misleading questions that are going to influence or hurt the results 4. Select and control the polling process – be nice, know who you are talking to, dress the right way, etc. 1. Define the universe that we want to survey – what ages, what races, what religions, what characteristics are we going to look at 5. Report Your Findings – Analyze the results that you have in order to see what you can come to a conclusion on

What Forms of Media Influence Us? Television Newspapers Radio Magazines The Internet

It shapes the public agenda. It plays a role in elections. How the Media Impacts Politics It shapes the public agenda. What are we talking about? What do we find important? The media influences these things. It plays a role in elections. They give us the information that influences us…sometimes in sound bites that are only 30 seconds or less.