Media’s impact on public opinion & policy:

implications for

journalists

by: Guy Berger,Rhodes Journalism & Media Studies

Public opinion sets the bounds of the possible – especially as

regards the shape of policy and the exercise of power.

Qtn: how do orthodoxies change – cf. women’s role, privatisation and

liberalisation?

Qtn: where does media fit in?

That’s why understanding media’s impact is important.

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Contents:

• THE ACTORS AND DYNAMICS 5 models of action in media-policy Other issues in media-policy

• HOW MEDIA INFLUENCE WORKS 3 theories of media impact

• CONCLUSION

THE ACTORS:

•the media

•the public

•policy people

public opinion

Specific players:• media: different platforms, premier outlets, media

stars (Oprah) public: general public, civil society groups incl NGOs,

business, global forces, individuals. policy people: the makers and the implementers.

Qtn: who drives the process?

Five models of how the relationship works:

1. Liberal democratic

2. Muckraker model

3. Bypassing civil society

4. Manipulation model

5. Propaganda picture

1. Liberal democratic modelMEDIA COVERAGE

PUBLIC + OPINION

GOVTRESPONDS

i.e. The public is the active source of public opinion

eg. Aids activists win coverage, affect govt

1

2

3

2. Muckraker modelPUBLIC + OPINION

MEDIA COVERAGE

GOVTRESPONDS

i.e. Media coverage is active source of public opinion

eg. Exposure of child abuse

1

2

3

3. Bypassing Civil Society

GOVTRESPONDS

MEDIA COVERAGE

= “PUBLIC OPINION”

i.e. Media impacts on govt, irrespectv of real public opinion

eg. Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky

1

2

4. Manipulation model

MEDIA COVERAGE

GOVTINITIATES

PUBLIC +OPINION

i.e. Government is the originator of public opinion

eg. Iraq war in US, Info scandal, discredit leader’s rivals

1

2

3

5. Propaganda picture

MEDIA COVERAGE

i.e. Government is the originator, circuit incomplete

eg. media coverage pleases govt, ignores public

GOVTINITIATES

1

2

Summing up (a):

• Policy people infer Public Opinion from media,

• and they use media to promote their policies.

• Often it is interaction of media & politicians (not the public) that affects govt policy & practice.

Summing up (b):

• But civil society also has a real role to play as in the first model.

• In practice, many situations combine aspects of all five models.

• Media is assumed to be a factor in all five

Other issues 1:• Enthusiastic, one-sided & simplistic treatment in the

media = rapid policy change; – Eg. anti-retrovirals

• Complexity & debate = slower policy action.– Eg. genetically modified crops

• Effect on politicians & policy is a transition: mobilisation -> action -> maintenance -> fade

(as the media intensity declines).

Other issues 2:• Some media more influential than others: eg.

TV greater on dramatic & short-term events. • But often TV takes its cue from print.

• Intermedia agenda-setting power. For example, some titles set “the story” for others.

• Note: power of international media and cultural imperialism.

HOW MEDIA INFLUENCE

WORKS

The making of “public opinion”

• What is public “opinion”?

• Theory 1: indirect effects

• Theory 2: direct effects

• Theory 3: deeper effects

Defining Public Opinion

             Knowledge and information             Beliefs (about reality)             Values (about goodness)             Norms (about behaviour)  => attitudes, which in turn => contextualise and

colour specific opinions on specific issues.  

• Public Opinion = a set of shared attitudes based on: knowledge, beliefs, values, norms.

• i.e heart-and-head on an aggregated scale

  Influence: Theory 1 1. Very Indirect effects (“Tertiary-level

effects”):

Media creates new publics, causes changes in politics, alters people’s time allocation.

A “media dense” environment will have greater effect in this area, even on identities

Much less the case in most of Africa.

Influence: Theory 2a2. Most Direct effects (“Primary effects”): Works on short-term attitudes and opinions  A. Stimulus-response (S-R) theory: Overly-powerful view. But true that S-R exists in affective responses: fear,

tears, identification, anger, laughter, arousal. Suicides, fashions, riots.

Less-powerful view: S-R is modified by psycho variables, socio variables, 2 step diffusion.

Influence: Theory 2b2. Most Direct effects (“Primary effects”) cntd:  B. Uses & gratifications theory: Audiences act on media; they make the effects. But: People do change through media exposure, Messages are not open-ended, There are unobvious effects (= consumerism), Reinforcement, rather than change, effect.

Still: U&G valid ‘cos audiences not purely passive

Influence: Theory 3

3. Direct, but deeper, effects or influence (“Secondary effects”):

 Works on beliefs, values, norms, worldviews

(foundation of attitudes & opinions)

More longterm, & relatively powerful: Agenda-setting effects Paradigmatic effects.

Influence: Theory 3a

3. Direct, but deeper, effects or influence (“Secondary effects”):

 A. Agenda-setting effects: Defines what is NB. Affects not what you think,

but what you think about.

Plays to advantage of specific forces.

Influence: Theory 3b

3. Direct, but deeper, effects or influence (“Secondary effects”):

B. Paradigmatic effects: How you think about the agenda: i.e. “framing” what has been “primed”.                                                            This effect defines reality & norms. Defines what is wise, normal, praiseworthy,

acceptable, right. And what is: deviant, disgusting, outdated, unacceptable.

Influence: summing up

What theories we’ve covered: Stimulus-response effects Modified S-R Uses and gratifications Agenda-setting Paradigms

There is value in all of them. Media impacts on public opinion and policy in all these ways

CONCLUSION

• Audience role and “decoding”

• Public Opinion – fact or fiction?

• Summing up impact

Audience roleMedia effects are subject to receiver decoding: (a) hegemonic, (b) negotiated, (c) oppositional

a. “Hegemonic decoding”:

Reinforcing influence operates at 2ndary level.

You accept the media’s agenda, the paradigm & the attitude-opinion effects.

Audience role cntdb. “Negotiated decoding”:

You accept the paradigm, maybe even agenda, you stop at the attitudinal stuff.

Question: Why?

Ans: Situated & Mediated meaning levels

c. “Oppositional decoding”: a “weak effects” approach. Implies a resistance orientation.

  Public opinion: fact or fiction?

Very notion itself of Public Opinion can be argued to be an effect of media coverage.

A construct that masks real power – that of media, their owners and their sources (such as govt or PR companies).

 Self-fulfilling: policy people – who influence so much

media coverage – gain their own understanding of Public Opinion from the self-same media.

  Policy impact: But even fictions have impacts: Affect the circuit of policy making,

via media & bypassing media, and upon media (affecting its interests & operations).

Influence the decoding by audiences: the setting of media agendas and framing

Influence audience decoding via effect on knowledge, attitudes, and practices.

  Summing up

Media, public, policy people

= a dynamic & powerful triangle!

that is sometimes not a triangle!

and that works at diff levels, issues, times!

  Understanding Journalists need to grasp the complexities and

the nuances about actors, PO, influence.

In this way, strategise & heighten our impact

The continent needs optimum relationships.

Think about it. Act upon it.Be a conscious player in public opinion