Civics 101           

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Political Information

• Public Opinion
  • Public opinion = ideas, beliefs, and attitudes held by many people
  • It represents what a large number of people think, not what all people think
  • It influences what issues politicians focus on, what they do, how they vote
    • Politicians may pursue policies that public opinion favors and avoid policies public opinion opposes
  • Public opinion is influenced by people’s long-lasting beliefs and focus as well as events that influence or change people’s beliefs and focus
  • Three key elements of public opinion:
    • Direction = public opinion on an issue is positive of negative
      • Ex: for or against more education funding
    • Intensity = public opinion on an issue is strong or weak
      • Ex: parents with kids in school may feel more passionate about education funding and the elderly may be more indifferent to school budget cuts
    • Stability = how much public opinion changes over time
      • Ex: people may see how school budget cuts lessen the quality of education students receive and, therefore, start to change their attitude about education funding

• The Media
  • Democracy requires citizens to be well informed so the media is an important source of information
  • The media includes format like newspapers, websites, magazines, books, radio, tv, podcasts
  • Functions:
    • Provides information about the news: issues, people, and events
    • Influences what the government focuses on and does
    • Influences what people think is important and/or how people feel about the news
    • Acts as a “watchdog” for government activities (ex: exposing corruption)
  • Media bias = reporting news in a non-objective way
    • Reasons for bias:
      • Most media outlets are for-profit businesses:
        • Seek to report news in a way that attracts customers
        • Seek to satisfy advertisers
      • Want to support an ideology
      • Want to support a particular group, party, etc.
    • Types of media bias:
      • Bias by story selection = focusing on a news story or not reporting the story
      • Bias by story placement = putting a news story on the top of a website, front page of a newspaper, start of a broadcast, etc. implies more importance than other stories
      • Bias by spin = adding subjective comments to a news story to express a particular ideology or perspective
      • Bias by omission = leaving out facts or multiple points of view
      • Bias by labeling = describing a person/event with terms that influence the perception of that person/event (to be positive or negative)
        • Could also be that some people are identified with labels and others are not
        • Ex: calling someone “a right-winger,” “well-respected,” “far left,” etc.
      • Bias by selection of sources = choosing sources for a news story that match a particular ideology or perspective and ignoring other sources
  • Journalists have different types of sources
    •  On the record = information given by a source that the journalist can publish and use the name of the sources
    • Unattributable = information given by a source that the journalist can publish, but cannot use the name of the source
    • Off the record = information given by a source that the journalist cannot publish – the information serves as “background” information for the journalist
    • Anonymous = information given by a source without the journalist knowing the identity of the source
  • Government and the media
    • The relationship between government officials/candidates and the media is interdependent
      • Government officials/candidates need the media’s help to get their message out
      • The media needs access to government officials/candidates to report news stories
    • Methods of government communication with the media:
      • Press release = announcement given to the media by government officials/candidates
      • News briefing = when a government official/campaign official passes on information to the media and may answer questions from reporters
        • Often conducted by a press secretary
      • Press conference = event in which a senior government official/candidate answers questions from journalists
      • Leak = when a government official/candidate secretly passes on information to the media
        • The leaker could have permission to do so or could be acting alone to expose something
  • Legal rights of the media in the U.S.
    • The First Amendment provides for freedom of the press
      • This protects the media against prior restraint
        • Prior restraint = government censorship of information before it is published
    • Shield laws = laws that protect reporters from revealing their sources
      • Privacy Protection Act (1980) = federal law preventing government (federal, state, and local) from seizing source information from a journalist
      • States have their own shield laws
    • Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) = federal law that requires the government to release files to the public (unless the files compromise national security)
      • States have similar laws
    • Limitations:
      • The media cannot publish false information that will harm the reputation of a person
        • Slander = spoken
        • Libel = printed/published
          • This is difficult for a government official to prove
      • A media outlet may share information with the government prior to publication to determine if publishing the information could harm national security
  • The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates who receives a license to broadcast over the airwaves
    • The federal government owns the airwaves (tv, radio, internet)
    • FCC manages decisions related to content and ownership
      • Content:
        • FCC can require stations to devote some time to covering public affairs, but cannot censor information
        • Previously, FCC upheld the “fairness doctrine” – media broadcasters were required to cover a range of issues with a range of viewpoints
        • FCC can give fines or revoke broadcast licenses for obscene content
      • Ownership:
        • FCC can limit the number of stations (tv, radio) that one owner controls
        • Telecommunications Act (1996) = removed or loosened restrictions on media ownership
          • Has led to greater concentration of ownership and reduced competition
          • Allows a few owners to control the content presented to many more people

 

• Polls
  • Poll = a survey that provides information about what people think about an issue, government official, candidate, policy, etc.
  • Conducted by news organizations, colleges, politicians
  • Provide information about public opinion
  • Pollster = a person conducting a poll
  • Types of polls:
    • Scientific poll = use of representatives samples and fairly worded questions
      • Representative sample = a small group of people that represent a larger group being studied; achieved through random sampling
        • Random sampling = a technique that chooses a representative sample indiscriminately so the sample includes people of different ages, incomes, races, etc.
    • Push poll = use of questions worded to encourage a specific answer
    • Straw poll = unscientific and often rely on people to volunteer to participate, making the sample biased
    • Exit poll = questioning voters as they leave a polling place
  • Value of polls:
    • Help government officials/candidates get an understanding of public opinion
      • Election results also convey public opinion, but occur once every few years
      • Can lead to a change in strategy, focus, emphasis based on polling information
    • Specific demographic groups can be targeted by polling to provide detailed information about what the public at large thinks or what a specific demographic group thinks
  • Concerns:
    • Government officials/candidates will only do what is popular and not what they truly believe is right
    • Polls can discourage voting if polls show voters that one candidate is far ahead
    • The media’s focus on polling detracts from focusing on issues
    • Polls may be inaccurate
      • Sampling error = the people chosen to participate in the poll may not actually be representative of the larger group
        • This risk increases when the sample is very small compared with the larger group

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