Public opinion is shaped by various environmental and social factors. Family, friends, social groups, and mass media like newspapers, television and the internet influence the formation of public attitudes and opinions on issues. Interest groups and opinion leaders also play a role in cultivating and spreading public opinion on certain issues. Governments are influenced by public opinion in democratic systems, where citizens form views on political topics. Polling is used to measure public opinion through surveys, but has limitations in identifying influential opinion leaders. The accuracy of public opinion polls can be affected if respondents do not take the surveys seriously or give socially desirable answers rather than their true views.

1. PUBLIC OPINION AND
MEDIA POLITICS
Presented by:
MICHELLE I. HERRERA
M.P.S .– P.A.

2. PUBLIC OPINION – an aggregate of the
individual views, attitudes and beliefs
about a particular topic, expressed by
significant proportion of a community.
citizens view on politics or
government

3. FACTORS INFLUENCING PUBLIC OPINION
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS– plays a critical part
in the development of opinions and attitudes.
Most pervasive is the influence of the social
environment: FAMILY, FRIENDS, NEIGBOURHOOD,
PLACE OF WORK, CHURCH OR SCHOOL.

4. MASS MEDIA - Newspapers, radio, television, and the
Internet—including e-mail and blogs—are usually less
influential than the social environment, but they are still
significant, especially in affirming attitudes and opinions
that are already established.

7. INTEREST GROUP - Interest groups, nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), religious groups, and labour unions
(trade unions) cultivate the formation and spread of
public opinion on issues of concern to their constituencies

8. OPINION LEADERS - any person to whom
others look for guidance in a certain
subject.

9. PUBLIC OPINION AND GOVERNMENT - By its very
nature, the democratic process spurs citizens to form
opinions on a number of issues.

10. PUBLIC OPINION POLLING - a poll taken by sampling a cross
section of the public in an effort to predict election results or to
estimate public attitudes on issues. However, survey findings do
not provide much information about the opinion leaders who
may have played an important part in developing the opinion.

12. OPINION RESEARCH - Opinion research developed
from market research. Early market researchers picked
small samples of the population and used them to
obtain information on such questions as how many
people read a given magazine or listen to the radio and
what the public likes and dislikes in regard to various
consumer goods.
WORLD OPINION - The increasing importance of
global telecommunication, trade, and transportation
have contributed to interest in a new concept of world
public opinion, or “world opinion.”

13. THE MEDIA IN ELECTIONS - The media has become a
decisive factor in electoral politics in democracies in all
parts of the world. .The classical role of the media in a
democracy is to inform the citizens and to control those
with power.
-The power of the media is, however, not limited to the
control over what is published and what is not.
- In most parts of the world television plays the dominant
role in political campaigns - followed by radio and the
press.

14. SOURCES OF OPINIONS
1. Socialization: Families and Communities
-Theories of political socialization show that
many people’s political opinions and
partisanship start with what they learned
from their parents and surrounding
environment.

15. 2. Events
People can revise their opinions in response to what
happens to them and in the world around them. Some events
have a greater impact than others, and some people are
more likely to change their opinion in response to an event
than others.

16. MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION
Most information about public opinion generally comes
from mass surveys, with the goal of measuring the attitudes of
a particular population or group of people.
Problems in Measuring Public Opinion
-is that people are sometimes reluctant to reveal their opinions
and instead choose to give socially acceptable answers or
answers that they think the interviewer wants to hear
(called social desirability bias).

17. The Accuracy of Public Opinion
Inaccurate results are due to the fact that people do not take
surveys seriously.
How the Mass Media Influence Public Opinion
Media can have an important affect on public opinion in
several ways.
Setting the news agenda, which shapes the public's views on
what is newsworthy and important
Framing the details of a story
Communicating the social desirability of certain kinds of ideas

18. A wise man makes his own
decisions, an ignorant man
follows public
opinion ~Chinese Proverb