“Motion pictures are not understood by the present generation of adults. They are new; they make an enormous appeal to children; and they present ideas and situations which parents may not like.”
MOTION PICTURES AND THE SOCIAL ATTITUDES OF CHILDREN: A PAYNE FUND STUDY, 1933
Researchers soon went beyond the study of war propaganda and began to focus on more general concerns about how the mass media filtered information and shaped public attitudes. In the face of growing media influence, Walter Lippmann distrusted the public’s ability to function as knowledgeable citizens as well as journalism’s ability to help the public separate truth from lies. In promoting the place of the expert in modern life, Lippmann celebrated the social scientist as part of a new expert class that could best make “unseen facts intelligible to those who have to make decisions.”7
Today, social scientists conduct public opinion research or citizen surveys; these have become especially influential during political elections. On the upside, public opinion research on diverse populations has provided insights into citizen behavior and social differences, especially during election periods or following major national events. For example, a 2013 Washington Post–ABC News poll confirmed what several other reputable polls reported: A majority of Americans favor same-sex marriage. Since 1988, when more than 70 percent of Americans opposed same-sex marriage, the balance has been gradually shifting toward support. This shift has accelerated since 2009.8
On the downside, journalism has become increasingly dependent on polls, particularly for political insight. Some critics argue that this heavy reliance on measured public opinion has begun to adversely affect the active political involvement of American citizens. Many people do not vote because they have seen or read poll projections and have decided that their votes will not make a difference. Furthermore, some critics of incessant polling argue that the public is just passively responding to surveys that mainly measure opinions on topics of interest to business, government, academics, and the mainstream news media. A final problem is the pervasive use of unreliable pseudo-polls, typically call-in, online, or person-in-the-street polls that the news media use to address a “question of the day.” The National Council of Public Opinion Polls notes that “unscientific pseudo-polls are widespread and sometimes entertaining, if always quite meaningless,” and discourages news media from conducting them.9