Mass Media & Public Opinion

8.1 The Formation of Public Opinion

What is ‘public opinion’? What influences it?

What role does it play in the election process?

What are some of the more influential outlets for public opinion?

Focus Your Thoughts . . .

Public Opinion is a complex collection of the opinions of many different people; it is the sum of all of their views . . . it is not the

single and undivided view of some mass mind.

What is Public Opinion?

Many publics exist in the United States, each public is made up of all those individuals who hold the same view on some particular public issue.

Most public issues attract the interest of some people; few of them attract the interests of all people.◦ Taxes, unemployment, welfare, national defense,

etc.

Different Publics

No one is born with a set of attitudes about government and politics; instead, each of us learns our political opinions

◦ Family – The strong influence the family has on the development of political opinions is largely a result of the near monopoly the family has on the child in his or her earliest, most impressionable years.

◦ Schools – Both formal and informal learning in schools contribute a great

deal to the formation of political thought Formal: Students are taught about the political process from a very early

age (i.e., singing the Pledge of Allegiance and learning about the Founding Fathers through Constitution Day)

Informal: The importance/necessity of compromise

Family & Education

Mass Media – Those means of communication that reach large, widely dispersed audiences simultaneously.◦ Newspaper, radio, the internet, television, etc.

The Census Bureau reports that there is at least one television set in 98% of the nation’s 110 million households . . . most of which are turned on for seven hours a day.

Mass Media

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Radio

Inte

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Newsp

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Mag

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200400600800

100012001400160018002000

Hours Per Person

Yearly Mass Media Use - 2007

Peer groups are made up of the people with whom one regularly associates, including friends, classmates, neighbors, and co-workers.

Being part of a peer group often reinforces what a person has already come to believe; most people trust the opinions of their friends.

Often members of the same peer group have shared the same or similar socializing experiences.

Most people want to be liked by their friends and are often reluctant to stray too far from what their peers think.

Peer Groups

Opinion leader – Any person who, for any reason, has an unusually strong influence on the views of others.◦ Politicians, journalists, t.v. personalities,celebrities

Rush Limbaugh Oprah Winfrey Sean Hannity Jesse Jackson Al Sharpton Sean Penn

Opinion Leaders

Historic events can have a major impact on the views of large numbers of people – and so have a major impact on the content and direction of public policy.◦ The Great Depression ◦ The Civil Rights Movement◦ September 11th

Historic Events

1. What is public opinion and what factors shape it?2. Give three examples of an opinion leader.3. Describe the political socialization of a young

child.4. What is mass media? What evidence can you

give that the mass media influence public opinion?

5. Is it likely that interaction with one’s peer group would prompt one to switch his or her allegiance from one party to the other? Why or why not.

6. Why is it so difficult to define public opinion?

Assignment (Pg. 213)