Visuals for unit on Mass Media - Public Opinion - Interest Groups in America

1. Mass Public Interest
Media Opinion Groups

2. • Definition:
• Public opinion is a complex collection of
the opinions of many different people – it
is the sum of all of their views.

3. • Manypublics exist in the United States:
How is each one made up?
• Thoseindividuals who hold the same view
on some particular public issue.
• Noticethis important point: NOT many
issues capture the attention of all; or nearly
all Americans.

4. • Public opinion includes
only those views that
relate to public affairs.
• DEFINE public affairs:
• Includespolitics, public
issues and the making
of public policy.

5. • Public opinion is so
complex that it cannot
readily be defined.
• Public opinion can be
expressed in a variety of
ways:
• Newspaper, email, vote,
billboard, a film, a
protest demonstration.

6. • Each of us learns our
political opinions and we
do so in a lifelong
“classroom” and from
many different
“teachers”.
• Public opinion is formed
out of a very complex
process and the factors
involved in it are almost
infinite.

7. • Most parents (and family
members) do not think of
themselves as agents of
political socialization, however
they are very important in this
process.
• How can children learn
politics from their family?
• Hear what their parents say,
watch same TV news and
shows, etc.

8. • The start of formal schooling
marks the initial break in the
influence of the family.
• Schools teach children the values
of the American political system.
• What is an important part of the
educational system?
• Help students understand the
importance of good citizenship.

9. • DEFINE: Means of
communication that
reaches a widely
dispersed audience.
• Television is the best
example of mass
media.

10. • Peer groups are made up of the
people with whom one regularly
associates. (friends, classmates,
neighbors, co-workers)
• How can peer groups influence
opinions?
• People trust the views of
their friends.
• Peer groups share many of the
same socializing experiences.

11. • DEFINE: any person who has
an unusually strong
influence on the views of
others.
• Many hold public office, some
write for newspapers or
magazines, or broadcast their
views on radio or TV.
• Opinion leaders also come from
occupations or religious
organizations.

12. • Can have a major impact on
the views of large numbers
of people and also on the
content and direction of
public policy.
• Example = Great Depression
• Persuaded a large majority of
Americans to support a much
larger role for government in the
nation’s economic and social life.

13. • Inthe late 1960s
and early 1970s,
Vietnam and
Watergate produced
a dramatic decline
in the American
people’s trust in
their government.

14. • Someeffort must be made to measure
public opinion; the following provide some
degree of means of measurement:

15. MEASURE PROBLEM WITH
• When a party or • Voters choose a
candidate claims a candidate for any of
mandate, this refers to
the instructions or several reasons – not
commands a constituency just on stances for
gives to its elected public issues/questions.
officials.

16. MEASURE PROBLEM WITH
• Private organizations • How many people do
whose members share they actually represent?
certain views and work to • How strongly do they
shape the making and the
hold their views?
content of public policy.

17. MEASURE PROBLEM WITH
• Themedia are • Reflect
the views of a
frequently described vocal minority.
as “mirrors” as well as
“molders” of opinion.

18. MEASURE PROBLEM WITH
• Members of Congress • Can public officials
receive bags of mail, find the “voice” of the
100s of phone calls and
emails everyday. people in all of those
contacts.
• They also conduct
public meetings.

19. • Public
opinion is best
measured by public
opinion polls:
• Devicesthat
attempt to collect
information by
asking people
questions.

20. • Asking the same question of
a large number of people to
read the public’s mind - these
are still fairly common today,
however, not to reliable.
• What is the problem with
the straw vote?
• Not a good cross-section
of the total population.

21. • Serious efforts to take the public’s pulse on a
scientific basis date from the mid-1930s.
• Most of the more than 1000 scientific polls deal
with commercial work, but 200 deal with politics
• What are among the best known?
• Gallup - Rasmussen - Harris

22. • Scientific poll-taking is an
extremely complex process
that can best be described
in (5) basic steps:
1. Define the Universe
2. Constructing a Sample
3. Preparing Valid
Questions
4. Interviewing
5. Analyze and Report
Findings

23. • Defining the Universe:
• The‘Universe’ is a
term that means the
whole population that
the poll aims to
measure.

24. • Constructing a Sample:
• In most cases, it is not possible to interview a
complete universe, so the pollster must select a
sample – representative slice of total universe.
• Most professional pollsters draw a random sample
• How does this work?
• Random
people who live in a certain number of
randomly selected places are selected.

25. • 1500 is the number of
people usually
interviewed for a
national poll.
• What is the margin of
error in these polls?
• +/- 3

26. • Preparing Valid Questions:
• The way in which questions are worded is very
important because the wording can affect the
reliability of any poll.
• How do reliable pollsters attempt to make valid
questions?
1. Do not use loaded, emotionally charged words
2. Avoid questions that tend to shape the answers
that are given.

27. Interviewing:
• Most polls are taken face to face, but
there is an increase in the amount of
telephone and mail polls.
• What is the important element in
whatever method is used?
• Same method or technique is used
with all respondents.

28. • Analyze and Report Findings:
• Scientific polling organizations collect huge
amounts of data and use technology to tabulate,
interpret, and eventually publish the findings.

29. • Most responsible pollsters are aware that their polls
are far from perfect and acknowledge that fact.
• Pollsters have a difficult time measuring the following:
Intensity – strength or feeling with which opinion is held
Stability – the relative permanence/stableness of an opinion
Relevance – how important a particular opinion is to the
person who holds it.

31. • DEFINE medium:
• Means
of
communication
• Thefour major mass
media (ranked in
terms of impact) are:
Television,
newspapers, radio and
magazines.

32. • Themass media are NOT
part of the government:
• However - they are an
important force in politics
because people acquire
most of the information
about the government
from the various forms of
media.

33. • Replaced newspapers as
the principal source of
American political
information in the early
1960s.
• The major networks have
dominated TV from its
infancy: CBS, ABC, and
NBC.

34. • Themajor network’s audience share has been
declining in recent years and the challenge has
come form (3) sources:
1. Independent broadcast groups = Fox News
2. Cable broadcasts = CNN
3. Public Broadcasting Service

35. • Rank second as the
public’s primary source
of information about
government and politics.
• What advantage does a
newspaper have over
TV?
• Stories
are covered in
greater depth and with
various points of view.

36. • Mostpapers are local
ones, covering local
stories, but
technology is
changing this with on-
line versions of major
newspapers available.

37. • By the 1930s, the radio was a
major entertainment medium
and millions of people planned
their day around their favorite
programs.
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt
was the first major public
figure to use radio effectively.
(Fireside chats during the
Depression).

38. • Many people felt that the
arrival of TV would bring to
an end the radio as a major
medium, but why has radio
survived?
• Radiois very “convenient”
and “available”

39. • The Progressive Reform era in the early 1900s spawned
several journals of opinion, including articles by many
leading muckrakers.
• 3 news magazines Time, Newsweek, and US News and World
Report have a combined circulation of 10 million copies a
week.

40. • Clearly the media play a
significant role in
American politics, but just
how significant that role
is, is the subject of long,
still unsettled debate.
• The media’s influence can
be seen most visibly in (2)
areas:

41. • The media play a large role in shaping the public
agenda:
• DEFINE: societal problems that the nation’s public
leaders and the general public agree need government
attention
• The media determine to a vary large extent what
public issues the people will think and talk about.
• They have power to focus peoples attention on a
particular issue.

42. • TV has made candidates for
office less dependent on
political parties because
with TV, they can appeal
directly to the people.
• Candidates regularly try to
manipulate media coverage
to their advantage (most
people learn about a
candidate from TV).

43. • What are sound bites ?
• snappy 30 – 45 seconds reports
• How do good campaign
managers use them?
• Show candidates doing
something exciting in a
short period of time
(News does not want
long)

44. •Anumber of built in factors
work to limit the media’s
impact on the behavior of
the American voting public:
1. Few people follow national
or local political events
closely, so few people
understand what the media
has to say about public
affairs

45. 2. Most people who pay attention are selective
about the media the watch or read
• What does this mean?
• They watch what they agree with.

46. 3. Most TV programs have little
or nothing to do with public
affairs, more people are
interested in being entertained
than being informed.
4. Radio and TV mostly ‘skim’
the news – What does this
mean?
• Not really in depth
coverage – just short
stories.

48. • Definition: private organization that tries to
persuade public officials to respond to the shared
attitudes of its members.
• Also known as Special Interest or Pressure Groups

49. • Organized efforts to protect group interests are a
fundamental part of the democratic process.
• Whatever the call themselves, the interests seek to
influence the making and the content of public
policy.
• Where do these groups operate?
• Wherever policies are made or can be influenced
(basically at every level of government)

50. • Political parties and Interest
groups differ from each
other in 3 striking respects:
1. In the making of
nominations
2. In their primary focus
3. In the scope of their
interests

51. • The parties nominate candidates for public office.
• What would happen if an interest group nominated a
candidate?
• They would become a political party.
• Interests groups try to affect the outcomes of
primaries and other nominating contests by openly
supporting a candidate.

52. • Political parties want to win
elections and control the
government.
• What are interest groups
concerned with?
• Influencing or controlling
the policies of government
• Parties focus on candidates
Interest Groups on issues.

53. • Political parties are
concerned with the whole
range of public affairs,
with everything of
concern to voters.
• Interest groups always
concentrate only on those
issues that most directly
affect the interests of
their members.

54. • What about access to interest groups?
• Theyare private organizations and are not
accountable to the public.

55. • Do interest groups pose a threat to the well being of the
political system…
• Or are they a valuable part of the American political
system?
James Madison warned against the dangers of
“factions”, but why did he feel that none would become
a dominating influence?
• They would counter-balance each other
Alex de Tocqueville was impressed by the vast
number of organizations he found in the
United States.

56. VALUABLE FUNCTION CRITICISMS
• Help to stimulate public • Interest groups have
affairs – those issues influence far out of
and events that concern proportion with their
the people at large. size or
Interest groups raise importance/contribution
awareness of the public good.
• of public policy affairs.

57. VALUABLE FUNCTION CRITICISMS
• Represent their • Hard to tell just who or
members on the basis how many people a
of shared attitudes group really represents.
rather than on the basis
of geography.

58. VALUABLE FUNCTION CRITICISMS
• Provide useful, • Do not represent the
specialized and detailed views of all the people
information on the whom they claim to
government. speak for.

59. VALUABLE FUNCTION CRITICISMS
• Interestgroups are • Some groups use tactics
vehicles for political that could undermine
participation. the political system:
• Bribery
• Revenge

60. VALUABLE FUNCTION
• They add another
element to the checks-
and-balances feature of
the political process.
• They compete with one
another in the political
arena.

61. • The United States has often
been called a nation of
joiners and no one really
knows how many
associations exist in the US
today.
• Interests groups are founded on
a variety of ideas: economic
(the most), geographic, political,
ideological or groups that
promote its own welfare.

62. • Most interest groups
are formed on the
basis of economic
interests or the
manner in which
people make their
living.

63. • Whatis the oldest organized interest group still
at work today?
• US Brewers Association
• Most segments of the business community also have
their own interest groups called trade associations.
• How come these business groups are not always
together on issues?
• They often disagree and fight over what the
government gives out.

64. •A labor union is an organization of workers who
share the same type of job or who work in the
same industry.
• They press the government for policies that will
benefit its members.
• What has happened to the labor recently?
• Membership has been declining in recent years.

66. • Organized labor generally
speaks with one voice on such
matters as Social Security
programs, minimum wages, and
unemployment.
• When does labor oppose labor?
• White Collar vs Blue Collar
• Section vs Section
• Product vs Transportation

67. • Farmer’sinfluence on the government’s
agricultural policies is and has been enormous.

68. • Defined as those occupations that require
extensive and specialized training.
• How do they compare to the business, labor and farm
groups?
• Not nearly as large, well organized, well financed or
effective

69. • (3) groups are, however, an exception to the rule:
• American Medical Association (AMA) – physicians
• American Bar Association (ABA) - lawyers
• National Education Association (NEA) - teachers
• Each of these organizations has a very real impact
on public policies, and at every level of government.

70. • Groups that formed for
reasons other than
economic concerns also
have a great deal of
political clout.
• A large number of groups
exist to promote a cause
or an idea; here are some
of the major ones:

71. American Civil Liberties Union
• Fights in court for civil and political rights
The Sierra Club
• Focus on conservation and environment
National Rifle Association
• Fights for the rights of gun owners.

72. • A number of interest groups seek to promote the
welfare of a certain segment of the population. (Their
name usually indicates whom!)
• VFW (war veterans)
• NAACP (African Americans
• AARP (senior citizens)

73. • Religious organizations
also try to influence
public policy in several
important areas.

74. • Definition:
• Interest group that seeks to institute certain public
policies of benefit to most or all people.
• Among the best known and most active are Common
Cause and several organizations that make up Ralph
Nader’s Public Citizen Inc.

75. • Interest groups regularly reach out to the public to
accomplish one or all of (3) major goals:
1. Supply the public with information an organization
thinks the people should have.
2. To build a positive image for the group.
3. To promote a particular public policy

76. • Interest groups try to create the public attitudes they
want by using propaganda.
• DEFINE propaganda:
• Technique of persuading aimed at influencing
individual or group behavior.

77. • To be successful, propaganda
must be presented in simple,
interesting, and credible
terms.
• How do talented
propagandists attack a policy
they oppose?
• Attack with name calling or
presenting only one side of
the issue.

78. • Using symbols (flags, Uncle Sam) and testimonials from
TV stars or athletes are often used.
• The bandwagon approach (follow the crowd) or the
plain folks approach (pretend to be with common
people) are favorite techniques.
• How is propaganda spread?
• Newspapers, radio, television, Internet, movies, etc.

79. • Leaders of interest groups know that political parties play
a central role in selecting those people who make public-
policy decisions.
• How do interest groups attempt to influence the behavior
of political parties?
• Be active in party affairs or take leadership positions in
a party.

80. • An interest group’s election tactics often have to
involve some very finely tuned decisions.
• If they support a candidate and that candidate loses,
will there be backlash?
• How can interest groups help a candidate?
• Donate money through Political Action Committee’s

81. • Single-Interest Groups have
grown rapidly in the past 20
years.
• These are PACs that
communicate one issue
(abortion, gun control, etc)
• What is the single-interest
group’s focus?
• Organized or concentrate on
ONE ISSUE

82. • Lobbying is usually defined as those activities by which
group pressures are brought to bear on legislators and the
legislative process.
• Realistically, lobbying includes all of the methods by
which group pressures are brought to bear on all aspects
of the public policy-making process.
• Nearly all of the important organized interests have
lobbyists in Washington DC.

83. • What is the major task for a
lobbyist?
• Work for those matters that
benefit their clients + against
those that may harm them.
• A lobbyist’s effectiveness
depends in large part on
his/her knowledge of the
political system – many are
former legislatures or lawyers.

84. • Most lobbyists know
how to bring “grass-
roots” pressure to bear.
• What are Grassroots?
• Term meaning “of or
from the people”

85. • Several interests groups publish ratings of members of
Congress.
• These rankings are based on votes cast on measures
crucial to their interests.
• Use the mass media to publicize these ratings.
• Why do lobbyists want to be as accurate and honest as
possible?
• Do not want to damage or destroy their credibility and
effectiveness.

86. • Lobbying abusesdo occur
now and then, false or
misleading testimony, bribery
and other unethical pressures
do happen from time to time.