Suchergebnisse

Explores the various images of publics in democratic theory & identifies the ideological uses of the leading definitions of public opinion. The argument shows why sweeping theories of the consciousness of publics inevitably fail to explain patterns of opinion formation, yet do support competing ideologies of power in society & government. An alternative analytical framework is suggested, based on the symbolic construction of public opinion following the work of Murray Edelman. 32 References. AA

Analyzes the effect of extensive television coverage on public opinion in the Gulf war; 6 articles; US, chiefly.

Examines how the news media portrayed the 1990/91 Persian Gulf conflict to the US population, & the degree to which this portrayal facilitated or impeded timely & meaningful public debate about policy responses to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Content analysis of stories in the New York Times suggests that: the range of media coverage was established at each stage of the crisis by the range of "official" debate; like that debate, the range of in-depth views presented was quite narrow; & media cues throughout the crisis reflected those propounded by the administration & its allies. It is concluded that the public did not have reasonable access to a sufficiently broad range of information & opinion to make independent judgments about the wisdom of administration policy. 8 Figures, 16 References. Adapted from the source document.