Presidential Campaigns and American Self Images by Arthur H. Miller & Bruce E. Gronbeck

Author:Arthur H. Miller & Bruce E. Gronbeck [Miller, Arthur H. & Gronbeck, Bruce E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Political Science, General, Gender Studies
ISBN: 9781000272116
Google: R02fDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 52927851
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-06-26T00:00:00+00:00

Direct Effects of Polls Reported by the Media

During the 1992 presidential campaign it was hard to escape the constant barrage of media poll reports and discussions about what they meant. The most recent campaign is a vivid reminder of how the number of polls reported by the news media has dramatically increased in the past two decades. Research has identified three main trends at the heart of the proliferation of polls in the media. First, most large media organizations, and many smaller ones, now sponsor or conduct their own polls (Ladd & Benson 1992; Holley 1991; Demers 1987; Rippey 1980). This clearly wasn't the case, for example, in 1972. Second, not only are more media organizations conducting polls, but the number of polls conducted by each organization has increased tremendously (Ladd & Benson 1992; Lewis 1991; Gollin 1987). Finally, there has been a trend toward more prominent placement of poll stories in the media (Keenan 1986; Broh 1983). This is not surprising; as media organizations spend more money on their own polls, it is in their self-interest to highlight the results more (Ladd & Benson 1992).

The widespread reporting of opinion polls by the news media underscores the importance of considering the impact of these polls on the public. If polls do have direct effects on individuals, then these effects become more important as the number of polls reported in the media increases. We can think of polls affecting people in various ways. First, polls can influence people's perceptions of the opinion climate. These perceptions are then thought to influence people's attitudes and behaviors, a notion we explore in a review of research on bandwagon versus underdog effects and on the spiral of silence.

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