American Government and Politics Today, Brief Edition, 2014-2015

CHAPTER SIx • PublIC OPInIOn, POlITICAl SOCIAlIzATIOn, And THE MEdIA 131

even given a choice of trade-offs in their policy opinions. Moreover, to make an informed

policy choice requires an understanding not only of the policy area but also of the con-

sequences of any given choice. Public opinion polls rarely ensure that those polled have

such information.

Finally, government decisions cannot be made simply by adding up individual desires.

Politicians engage in “horse trading” with each other. Politicians also know that they

cannot satisfy every desire of every constituent. Therefore, each politician attempts to

maximize the net benefits to his or her constituents, while keeping within the limits of

whatever the politician believes the government can afford.

The Roles of the Media

The Roles of the Media

The study of people and politics must take into account the role played by the media.

Historically, the print media played the most important role in informing public debate.

The print media developed, for the most part, our understanding of how news is to be

reported. Today, however, 69 percent of Americans use television news as their primary

source of information.

In addition, the Internet has become a major source for news, political communica-

tion, and fund- raising. The Internet is now the second most widely used source of informa-

tion—34 percent of all persons consider it their primary source of news. Only 22 percent

of the public now relies on newspapers as a primary news source. The system of gathering

and sharing news and information is changing from one in which the media have a pri-

mary role to one in which the individual citizen may play a greater part.

The Roles of the Media

The mass media perform a number of different functions in any country. In the United

States, we can list at least six media functions. Almost all of them can have political impli-

cations, and some are essential to the democratic process. These functions are as follows:

(1) entertainment, (2) reporting the news, (3) identifying public problems, (4) socializing

new generations, (5) providing a political forum, and (6) making profits.

TAblE 6–2: Most Important Problem Trend, 1990 to Present

Each year, one or two major issues are most on people’s minds. Here you can see that some issues

recur years later.

1990 War in Middle East

1991 Economy

1992 Unemployment, budget deficit

1993 Health care, budget deficit

1994 Crime, violence, health care

1995 Crime, violence

1996 Budget deficit

1997 Crime, violence

1998 Crime, violence

1999 Crime, violence

2000 Morals, family decline

2001 Economy, education

2002 Terrorism, economy

2003 Terrorism, economy

2004 War in Iraq, economy

2005 War in Iraq

2006 War in Iraq, terrorism

2007 War in Iraq, health care

2008 Economy, war in Iraq

2009 Economy

2010 Economy, unemployment

2011 Unemployment, economy

2012 Economy, unemployment

2013 Economy, unemployment

Sources: New York Times/CBS News poll, January 1996; Gallup polls, 1997 through 2013.

LO5: Describe the different

types of media and the changing

roles that they play in American

society.

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