Suchergebnisse

'The United Nations in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific' by Roderic Alley is reviewed.

The results of a detailed content analysis of TV news coverage of election opinion polls is provided, with focus on TV evening news coverage of election polls in the state of Victoria during the 1980 Australian federal election campaign. Five major findings are reported: (1) coverage of election polls was extensive -- almost 33.34% of all election items included substantial discussion; (2) the most common focus of the coverage was actual or supposed effects of the polls, followed closely by reporting of poll results; (3) coverage was superficial in the sense that basic methodological details, required by various press guidelines, were typically omitted; (4) coverage was highly inaccurate, as measured by the incidence of 9 clear errors of fact & interpretation; & (5) coverage was balanced, but only in the sense that journalists tended to support the validity of the poll findings, politicians to oppose them. Neither group discussed serious potential poll shortcomings. The findings are best understood as the result of a fundamental conflict between the nature of opinion polls & the constraints of TV news. Polls are inherently complex, somewhat dated, & tentative in their conclusions; TV news strives to be simple, timely, & interesting. The result is a pattern of systematic distortion in reports of poll data. Because these constraints are shared by most Western newsmen, this pattern can be expected to be widespread, &, based on the Australian experience, damaging both to the electoral process & the institution of polling. A partial solution is to develop & disseminate guidelines that specify the minimum information needed in "secondary" reports of poll results, & that clarify the range of valid inferences that can be drawn from them. 4 Tables, 28 References. Modified AA.

Victoria, Australia Victorian television news coverage of election opinion polls during the 1980 Australian federal election campaign.