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Mass Media / Public Opinions and Political Campaigns
What is “public opinion”?
What factors determine public opinion?
How does public opinion effect a political campaign?
What is “public opinion”? • Public Opinion is the
attitudes of voters towards a specific candidate or political leader – Spoken – Written – Private Thought
• During a campaign, public opinion is important to get a feel for “public mood”
How is public opinion formed?
• Public Opinion is formed through a number of actions called “political socialization” – Family – Education – Occupation – Race / Ethnicity – “Peer Groups”
How do political candidates use public opinion in their campaigns?
• Political candidates often will study public opinion – How do voters view me
as a politician or future leaders?
• Often, candidates will appeal to certain aspects that generate “good” public opinion – Avoid “bad” public
opinion
How do politicians measure public opinion?
• Campaigns will conduct public opinion polls – “Door to door”
– “Over the Phone”
– Online surveys
• The point? – Get a feel for how voters
view them
– Work the results into their political campaign
What is the “mass media”?
• The mass media also helps to create public opinion through communicating with large audiences at one time – Newspapers / Magazines
– Radio
– Television
– Internet
How does the mass media helped to influence public opinion?
• Because mass media can attract large audiences, people will often look to media for political guidance – Political Ads – Political Commentators – News Networks – Political humor?
• Sociologists often call these commentators “opinion leaders”