Abstract
The mass media act as the major channel of information to the general public and to decision-makers as well. Although society and government have changed in many important respects since Jefferson’s time, his observation that a free press is the foundation of a democratic system is still appropriate. To the extent that government officials rely only on private or restricted-use channels to communicate selectively among one another, the general public becomes an irrelevant participant in the policy-making process, left only with the alternatives to approve or disapprove the actions of officials in toto at election time. When the mass media reports an event, they do not bestow on every citizen who follows the news the same power or information as the President or Senators. They give the individual information which may stimulate his interests and activity for or against a policy. In concert with other citizens, he may effectively set the appropriate boundary for a decision-maker.
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References
V.O. Key, Public Opinion and American Democracy ( New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1961 ), p. 405.
Ibid., and Bernard Cohen, The Press and Foreign Policy ( Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963 ), pp. 139–140.
John W. Riley and Matilda W. Riley, “Mass Communication and the Social System,” in Robert Merton, et. al., eds. Sociology Today: Problems and Prospects ( New York: Basic Books, 1959 ), p. 544.
Bruce Westley and Werner Severin, “Some Correlates of Media Credibility,” Journalism Quarterly, 41 (Summer, 1964), pp. 328–29.
Carl I. Hovland, “Reconciling Conflicting Results Derived from Experimental and Survey Studies of Attitude Change,” American Psychologist XIV (January, 1959), pp. 12–13.
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Carl I. Hovland and W. Weiss “The Influence of Source Credibility on Communication Effectiveness,” Public Opinion Quarterly, XV (Winter, 1951 ), pp. 635–650.
Bernard Berelson, “Communications and Public Opinion,” in Wilbur Schram (ed.), Mass Communications ( Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1949 ), p. 500.
For the effectiveness of the different types of media, see Sidney Kraus, et al.,“Mass Media and the Fallout Controversy,” Public Opinion Quarterly,Vol. XXVII (Summer, 1963), p. 197.
Carl I. Hovland, “Assimilation and Contrast Effects in Reactions to Communication and Attitude Change,” Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, XIV (January, 1959 ), pp. 12–13.
Combined news judgments of editors responding to a survey as reported in the Columbia Journalism Review (Winter, 1964), p. 41.
See Alfred Hero for the relationship between opinions about civil rights and foreign affairs in the South in The Southerner and World Affairs (Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University Press, 1965), pp. 409–10; 418.
H. S. Foster, “POS List of ‘Representative’ Newspapers vs. ’More Comprehensive Coverage,’ ” Public Opinion Studies Staff, Department of State, January 28, 1964 (Mimeographed), p. 3.
Eugene J. Rosi, “How 50 Periodicals and the Times Interpreted the Test Ban Controversy,” Journalism Quarterly, XLI (Autumn, 1964 ), p. 547.
Snell Putney and Russell Middleton, “Some Factors Associated with Student Acceptance or Rejection of War,” American Sociological Review, XXVII (October, 1962), p. 666.
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Cf. Key, op. cit.,pp. 364–366; and The Audiences of 5 Magazines,a survey sponsored by Newsweek and conducted by Audits and Surveys Company, 1962, p. 23.
Quoted in Americans for National Security and the Liberty Lobby, The Moscow Treaty ( Washington: Liberty Lobby, 1963 ), pp. 21–24.
Inserted by Senator Thurmond in the Congressional Record,September 10, 1963, pp. 15777–15778.
Federal Communications Commission, Report No. 4800, Public Notice B, September 19, 1963.
Committee on Foreign Relations, Hearings, The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,87th Cong., 1st Sess., 1963, p. 772.
Material for this section is based on interviews conducted in Washington, D.C. March and April, 1964.
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© 1970 Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
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Terchek, R.J. (1970). The Media and the Treaty. In: The Making of the Test Ban Treaty. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9502-7_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9502-7_4
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