Abstract
ABSTRACT Reporting on public opinion is an important task of journalists in democracies. There are several ways in which journalists can portray public opinion: (1) opinion polls (2) inferences to public opinion (3) vox pops (4) covering protest and (5) social media references. These public opinion displays vary in how explicitly they refer to public opinion, how representative they are of the larger population and how active the role of citizens is. Based on an extensive content analysis of all public opinion displays in Flemish print and television news, this paper analyzes when and how public opinion is represented in the news and under which circumstances which representations are more likely to be used. Our results show that in routine news, journalists most often turn to general inferences to public opinion in print news and vox pops in television news. Elections strongly influence how public opinion is portrayed in the news, with a large increase in the reporting of polls. However, more implicit public opinion displays based on journalists’ own interpretation of news events still comprise a significant part of public opinion coverage.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
