U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS, SPRING 2011
POLLING & MEDIA: WRAPPING UP
Wednesday, April 20
1. As we discussed Monday, Auletta argues that the media’s “dominant bias” is “not pro-liberal or pro-conservative but pro-conflict.” With that in mind, if you found any stories for News Summary #4 on media coverage of politics, discuss these stories with one another. What is the general viewpoint of media coverage of politics that is expressed in the stories you found?
2. Discuss the subject matter of the public opinion polls you found for today’s news summary assignment, particularly findings from the polls that surprised you.
2A. Also discuss whether the organizations conducting these polls presented enough information for readers (you, and others) to allow readers to evaluate the methods and have confidence the results represent a reasonably accurate ‘snapshot’ of public opinion.
3. Why do you think the American media and public opinion organizations like Gallup and Roper spend so much money on conducting polls like the ones you read about? Should they spend so much resources on polling? How does their focus on polling – there are A LOT of polls out there – relate to our discussions of how the media covers U.S. politics?