8. Mass Media and Public Opinion.
The Formation of Public Opinion.
Measuring Public Opinion.
The Mass Media.
public affairs
public affairspolitics, public issues, and the making of public
policies – those events and issues that concern the people at large
public opinion
public opinionattitudes held by a significant number of people on
matters of government and politics
mass media
mass mediameans of communication that reach large, widely
dispersed audiences (masses of people) simultaneously
peer group
peer groupthe people with whom one regularly associates,
including friends, classmates, neighbors, and co-workers
opinion leader
opinion leaderany person who, for any reason, has an unusually
strong influence on the views of others
mandate
mandateinstructions or commands a constituency gives to
its elected officials
interest groupprivate organizations whose members share certain
views and objectives, and work to shape the making and the content of public policy
public opinion poll
public opinion poll
devices that attempt to collect information by asking people question
straw vote
straw votepolls that sought to read the public’s mind simply
by asking the same question of a larger group
sample
samplea representative slice of the total universe
random sample
random sampleprobability sample; pollster interviews a certain
number of randomly selected people
quota sample
quota sampleconstructed to reflect several of the major
characteristics of a given universe
medium
mediuma means of communication
public agenda
public agendathe societal problems that the nation’s political
leaders and the general public agree need government attention
sound bite
sound bitesnappy reports that can be aired in 30 to 45
seconds or so
The Political Spectrum
Interpreting Political Cartoons.
Government Programs.
Mass Media Use, 2007.
The Great Depression.
The Latino Media Story.
AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Senator Barbara Boxer.
Scientific Polling.
Interpreting Political Cartoons.
Effect of Poll Wording on Reliability.
A Famous Polling Failure.
Interpreting Political Cartoons.
The Gallup Poll.
The “Wireless Web”
Shaping Public Opinion.
Americans with Internet Access.
The Media.
Power of the Press.
Voices on Government.
News or Entertainment.
Analyzing Political Cartoons.
