to, how they interpret the messages when they receive them, and
how important these messages are in moulding political behaviour.
Evidence derived from research on party political broadcasts and
newspaper circulation patterns suggests that people tend to attend to
political messages which confirm their existing ways of thinking and
to interpret ambivalent political messages in the same ways. There is
little to suggest that people are very influenced by party political
broadcasts or newspaper editorials, and much to suggest that people
are influenced by face-to-face conversations with people they know.
Research suggests that political events are interpreted in terms of
the recipients’ own images of themselves (working class, black,
housewife, etc.) and of the parties (caring, profligate, responsible,
united, etc.). These must surely be continually subtly influenced by
messages conveyed in the mass media (including advertising) often
on a ‘subliminal’ (unconscious) level.
The popular press, in particular, is often keen to portray itself as
the champion of its readers to the elite. To some extent this is clearly
arrant nonsense – neither millionaire newspaper proprietors nor
sophisticated metropolitan journalists are necessarily particularly
well qualified to interpret the views of millions of provincial voters.
However, letters columns and the very important modern innovation
of the opinion poll – which is now a staple source of ‘news’ – do help
to give politicians some clues on mass opinion. Still it is probable that
‘informed’ comment in the broadsheet newspapers and magazines is
frequently misinterpreted by politicians as ‘public opinion’.The Internet
The Internet uses electronic digital technology and enables ordinary
users to transmit as well as receive information. Potentially every
home becomes a broadcasting studio able to transmit its own political
messages as well as to respond interactively to broadcasts by others.
Thus flows can be described as ‘multiplex’ with complex networks
being developed.
The Internet has been used extensively to campaign by political
parties and candidates, especially through websites. It is widely
believed to have helped the former professional wrestler Jesse
Ventura win the governorship of Minnesota in 1998, and Roh Moo-
hyun the South Korean presidential election in 2002. Early in the202 DEMOCRACY