Abstract
The correspondence between trends in the mass media and trends in public opinion has important practical, theoretical, and methodological implications—even if we cannot untangle the causal relationships involved. The present study attempts to clarify empirically the aggregate-level mass media—public opinion connection for one major political issue, the Arab-Israeli conflict. Mass media data came from a content analysis of 867 elite newspaper editorials on the dispute (1972–1982); public opinion data came from the frequently asked Middle East “sympathy” question. Favorability measures for editorials, mass public opinion, and college-educated public opinion were highly intercorrelated, in part as a result of a common time trend. When this time trend was partialled out, significant relationships remained between editorial opinion and public opinion. In addition, events heavily covered in mass media tended to crystallize opinion among the college educated but not among the mass public.
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