The explosive growth of public opinion polling in recent years has produced a variety of significant consequences for the American news media. Poll information has become a newsworthy staple, particularly during election campaigns when survey findings are one of the leading categories of news. Polling has a distinct impact on the nature of political news coverage, shaping the allocation of coverage, the horse-race focus in campaigns, and election-day reporting. Findings from opinion surveys also play a role in editorial commentary and endorsements and provide an important resource for journalists in their adversarial relationship with government leaders. As a key component of precision journalism, polling has introduced a quantitative element into the traditionally qualitative news profession.
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3.
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6. Paletz, “Polls in the Media.”
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17. Kovach, “A User's View of the Polls.”
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18. Cantril, “The Press and the Pollster.”
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19. Crespi, “Polls as Journalism.”
20.
20. Patterson, Mass Media Election.
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21. Anthony C. Broh, “Horse-Race Journalism: Reporting the Polls in the 1976 Presidential Election,”Public Opinion Quarterly, 44:514-529 (Winter 1980).
22.
22. Mark Levy, “The Methodology and Performance of Election Day Polls,”Public Opinion Quarterly, 47:54-57 (Spring 1983).
23.
23. Charles K. Atkin, “Political Campaigns: Mass Communication and Persuasion,” in Persuasion: New Directions in Theory and Research, ed. M. E. Roloff and G. R. Miller (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1980), pp. 285-308.
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24. James Gregg, “Newspaper Editorial Endorsements and California Elections,”Journalism Quarterly, 42:532-538 (Autumn 1965); Jack McClenghan, “Effect of Endorsements in Texas Local Elections,”Journalism Quarterly, 50:363-366 (Summer 1973).
25.
25. Everett Carl Ladd, “Polling and the Press: The Clash of Institutional Imperatives,”Public Opinion Quarterly, 44:574-584 (Winter 1980).
26.
26. Albert Gollin, “Exploring the Liaison Between Polling and the Press,”Public Opinion Quarterly, 44:445-461 (Winter 1980).
27.
27. David Paletz and Robert Entman, Media Power Politics (New York: Free Press, 1981).
28.
28. Charles K. Atkin, Judee K. Burgoon, and Michael Burgoon, “Journalists' Reactions to Readership Research,”Journalism Quarterly (in press).
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29. Von Hoffman, “Public Opinion Polls.”
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30. Burns Roper, “The Impact of Journalism on Polling,” in Polling on the Issues, ed. Cantril.
31.
31. Mark M. Miller and Robert Hurd, “Conformity to AAPOR Standards in Newspaper Reporting of Public Opinion Polls,”Public Opinion Quarterly, 46:243-249 (Summer 1982).
32.
32. Paletz, “Polls in the Media.”
33.
33. Irving Crespi, “The Case of Presidential Popularity,” in Polling on the Issues, ed. Cantril.
