Topic 1-Media, Democracy and Public Opinion

1. Reporters of objective fact (the 'mirror' model) 2. Neutral adversary 3. Public advocate 4. Profit-seeker 5. Propagandist

Journalists are messengers \"sticking to the facts\" - Do not see themselves as active participants in the public communication process - Impractical: there are thousands of events which happen each day + information not always accessible

Discover the 'truth', and act as a check on government. Watchdog role.

Play an activist role in defining the focus and nature of public debate. Have a social responsibility to engage decision-makers and the public in debates on issues of political importance.

No responsibilities except to make profits for their owners/shareholders

Support and advance the interests of those in positions of power. Related to Herman & Chomsky's model

The sum total of opinions held on a particular subject by individual members of society or a mood/emotion that suffuses a society

- Majoritarian principle: the opinions of the greatest number of people are those that matter - The denial of the existence/possibility of public opinion: 'Public opinion is based on a fragmentary, often incomplete and distorted, set of pictures' - Public opinion is not informed - Public opinion evolves through communication i.e. when there is 'free and full intercommunication' (Dewey 1927) enabled by the media - An aggregated measurable set of data found in opinion polls and surveys

1. Mass opinion 2. Activated public opinion 3. Latent public opinion 4. Perceived majorities

- The sum of individual preferences, as tabulated through opinion polls, elections & referendums. - Unstable and superficial; uninformed opinion. - Vulnerable to media influence because not everyone informed

Opinions of engaged, informed & organised citizens. The vocal minority - Media has small influence

The fundamental public preferences that underlie the more fleeting & superficial opinions obtained from polls. - What people truly feel but are unable to express.

Perceptions held by most people of where the majority of the public stands on an issue.

1. Hypodermic needle model 2. Minimal effects model 3. Contingent effects model

The media set the public agenda - the issues emphasised in news reports become the issues regarded as most important among the public. - Assumes cleverly designed stimuli will reach every citizen via the media, and lead to a more-or-less uniform response from all - Creates a disconnect between reality and public opinion

Media does not have a big impact on public, but rather reinforces public opinions - Psychological mechanisms also minimise the extent to which a message changes an individual's beliefs (e.g. selective exposure etc.)

Not everyone is equally affected by the media. - E.g. direct exposure to issue, knowledge of issue, trust of information source

Tendency to read/watch/listen to messages which are consistent with prior beliefs (e.g. conservatives read a conservative newspaper)

Tendency to interpret messages in ways that are consistent with prior beliefs

Tendency to retain messages which are consistent with their prior beliefs

-Available news (information easily available) -Discovered News (typically the result of journalistic investigation) -Practical News (serves an individuals pragmatic goals) -Entertaining News (primarily enjoyment value)

Public opinion may be ignorant and volatile when an issue first emerges but then matures and settles down as the public has a chance to learn and deliberate

Public opinion and formal policy are reciprocal in their influences. Can't definitively say one influences the other