Influence on Public Opinion

As early as 5 years old, young people start to assimilate and have affective feelings on political subjects provided by their interactions with their parents and family. This process continues until they form their own political worldview.

The term "Yellow Journalism" refers to a type of reporting that presents sensationalized (and often inaccurate) accounts of events in order to attract readers and sell more papers. The sensationalized and potentially inaccurate accounts of the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in newspapers published by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer helped to lead to the Spanish-American War at the end of the 19th Century.

Since its invention, the television has become the easiest and most widely available means of acquiring political news and commentary.

The correct answer is “opinion leader.” Classic examples would be Piers Morgan, Sean Hannity, or anyone similar. Both of these men are widely known individuals who have quite a large effect on public opinion on political matters. Although teacher or community leader may have been tempting, those are technically examples of (possible) opinion leaders—but are not individually the definition.

News outlets often choose which stories get the headline or 1st position as well as, how much time is devoted to a subject. This is agenda setting and is the media's most used tool to influence viewers.

Coverage of political candidates on the "big three" networks has been broken up into shorter pieces and as a result is much less in-depth. The average sound bite dropped from 42 seconds in 1968 to 7.3 seconds in 2000. As a result, politicians often turn to cable TV, early morning news shows, prime time "news magazine shows," and other sources to get more extensive coverage.

News corporations, like any business, want to make profit. The best way to do that is to ensure you have a large viewing audience that attracts advertisers to sell on their network.

In strong contrast to many other countries, American newspapers are primarily oriented to the local market and the local audience, and there is typically more local than national news inside. There are a few widely read national newspapers, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, but these are the exception rather than the norm.

The most important impact of television is the agenda setting. News networks can choose what stories get the top of the hour and how much time to spend on them.

"Yellow journalism" is the name given to the practice of reporting shocking or abhorrent news stories for the sake of attracting new readers and selling more newspapers. Yellow journalism is generally considered manipulative and bad journalistic practice, but that has not stopped various forms of media throughout American history from participating in it. Yellow journalism is most closely associated with the newspapers of William Randolph Hearst who (some argue) single-handedly dragged the United States into war with Spain by reporting on various news stories inaccurately to characterize the Spanish as violent and barbaric. Partisan journalism is the name given to a media source that serves the interests of a political party above the interests of the general public.