PUBLIC OPINION IN COLONIAL AMERICA: CONTENT ANALYZING THE COLONIAL PRESS

In: Public opinion quarterly: journal of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Band 27, Heft 3, S. 356-371

Abstract

Students of colonial Amer PO are often less interested in the att's of the average colonist or the colonial elite than in those of the pol'ly relevant strata of colonial society. Since we cannot apply modern techniques of sample surveys to the colonial pop, it is impossible to ascertain the opinions of the 18th-cent 'man in the street.' Moreover, elite att's, expressed in the plethora of published & unpublished papers of such leaders as S. Adams or T. Jefferson, tell us little about the motivations & images of those who were willing to be led, & who ultimately fought &, in some cases, died,for US independence. More appropriate for this purpose would be a systematic & quantitative content analysis of one of the more important & enduring media of colonial COMM's, the newspapers, published at regular weekly intervals as early as 1704. Though other media of COMM, such as pamphlets & speeches, may have had a more immediate impact leading occasionally, to direct action, the cumulative effect of the newspapers in reflecting & helping to shape colonial perceptions, att's, & interests was without doubt greater. The importance of the newspapers to the colonists themselves may be gauged by their growing number & the increasing amount of advertising space in their columns. They also played a signif role in intercolonial COMM by printing news items from, & soliciting subscriptions in,other colonies. 2 other qualities make the newspapers esp suitable for the study of developing att's & COMM patterns in 18th-cent America: their publication in every major pop center gives us an opportunity to examine the modal att's of diff colonies; & their pol'al biases enable us to examine the bi-modal distribution of Tory & Patriot perspectives. AA.