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.

”

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 public

public opinion

•the media •policy people

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 model

MEDIA

2

COVERAGE

1

PUBLIC + OPINION GOVT RESPONDS

3

i.e. The public is the active source of public opinion eg. Aids activists win coverage, affect govt

2. Muckraker model

PUBLIC + OPINION

2 1

MEDIA COVERAGE GOVT RESPONDS

3

i.e. Media coverage is active source of public opinion eg. Exposure of child abuse

3. Bypassing Civil Society

GOVT

2

RESPONDS

1

MEDIA COVERAGE = “PUBLIC OPINION” i.e. Media impacts on govt, irrespectv of

real

public opinion eg. Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky

4. Manipulation model

MEDIA

2

COVERAGE

1

GOVT INITIATES PUBLIC + OPINION

3

i.e. Government is the originator of public opinion eg. Iraq war in US, Info scandal, discredit leader’s rivals

5. Propaganda picture

MEDIA COVERAGE

2 1

GOVT INITIATES i.e. Government is the originator, circuit incomplete eg. media coverage pleases govt, ignores public

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

on:

knowledge, beliefs, values, norms

. based • 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 2a

2. 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 2b

2. 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 role

Media 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 cntd

b. “

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 as govt or PR companies). – that of media, their owners and their sources (such Self-fulfilling: policy people – who influence so much media coverage same media. – gain their own understanding of Public Opinion from the self-

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