Vox populi or vox media? : opinion polls and the Swedish media, 1998-2006

Strömbäck, Jesper (author)

While the histories of opinion polling and the news media have been closely intertwined ever since the invention of polling, the question as to whether the media's reporting on opinion polls should be considered as detrimental or beneficial from a democratic perspective is still open and contested. The purpose of this paper is thus to investigate the publication of opinion polls in the Swedish media during the last three election campaigns, with a focus on how the media used opinion polls and whether or not the media, at the end of the day, mainly used opinion polls to give voice to the people - or to the media and the journalists themselves. Among other things, the results suggest that more often than not, polls serve as vox media rather than vox populi.

• Language: English
• Work type: Not categorized
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Year: 2009
• Number of pages: Str. 55-70
• Numbering: Vol. 16, no. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-76389
• UDC: 32.019.52(485)
• ISSN on article: 1318-3222
• COBISS.SI-ID: 29034077
• Publication date in RUL: 21.12.2015

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Javnost = The public
• Shortened title: Javnost
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis, European Institute for Communication and Culture
• ISSN: 1318-3222
• COBISS.SI-ID: 40119808

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Vox populi ali vox media? Mnenjske poizvedbe in švedski mediji, 1998-2006

Abstract

Zgodovini mnenjskih poizvedb in medijev se tesno prepletata vse od začetkov poizvedb, vendar na vprašanje, ali je medijsko poročanje o poizvedbah koristno ali škodljivo za demokracijo, še ni jasnega odgovora. Članek obravnava objavo mnenjskih poizvedb v švedskih medijih v času zadnjih treh volilnih kampanj s poudarkom na načinu uporabe poizvedb in na vprašanju, ali so mediji uporabljali mnenjske poizvedbe predvsem za to, da so dali glas ljudstvu ali samim sebi. Rezultati analize med drugim kažejo, da so mnenjske poizvedbe pogosteje vox media kot vox populi.