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Does Media Shape Public Opinion?
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10215 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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8 / 1986 |
1,420 Words |
| Author
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William Livingstone
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Since the Sandinista victory over General Anastasio Somoza in July 1979, the media have actively charted Daniel Ortega's rise to power and the growing military threat Nicaragua poses to neighboring democracies. The question arises naturally as to what influence the media have exercised in the debate on Nicaragua. Have daily editorials that have pilloried President Reagan's policy of containment in the Western Hemisphere swayed public opinion? What has been the impact, if any, of television newscasts showing Nicaraguan soldiers mobilizing for war, images which are reminiscent of Vietnam?
The rules of foreign policy debate have been altered by technology. In the past, discussions of our relations with foreign governments were conducted primarily by officials in the Department of State and the White House, with only minimal public discourse. Few members of Congress had the necessary expertise or inclination to contribute to the making of foreign policy. The media reported on the announcements of the president and secretary of state, often voicing dissent, but with minimal influence compared to the power they wield today.
From the moment Reagan entered office, the eye of the camera has doggedly traced the growing conflict in Central America. The advent of minicameras and portable satellite uplink stations now makes it as easy to broadcast live pictures from downtown Managua or the jungles in El Salvador as it is to receive a video picture from across town.
It is no wonder, given the recent developments in broadcasting, that the polemics of American foreign policy are hotly debated daily on television. When high U.S. government officials articulate policy decisions, foreign leaders such as Daniel Ortega and Jose Napoleon Duarte are immediately given the opportunity to respond on live broadcasts. Every facet and statement receives close scrutiny and editorial judgment.
Television has become so much a part of our culture that it is the primary means of communication between countries. Instead of sending a carefully written demarche to a foreign government, an official merely walks into a studio and makes a statement on a morning television news program. Instantly, the world is appraised of a new policy decision.
There are no formulas for measuring concisely the impact of media on public opinion and its subsequent effect on the evolution of American foreign policy. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 million Americans daily watch the network evening newscasts. More than two-thirds of the adult population read a part of some newspaper every day. Still, the influence of any single medium can be overestimated. According to recent data, the average household watches Dan Rather's CBS News program only five times in the course of a month. Only 1 percent of about 78.3 million American TV households watch his program as often as four or five times a week. Occasional reports by the major networks on the troubles in Nicaragua are thus viewed in total by only a relatively small number of people. And these stories are offset or balanced by additional information in newspapers, magazines, and radio broadcasts.
A tabulation of the total number of stories concerning Nicaragua published by various papers over the past several years yields the following
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