Page 117 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

106
the
time,
was
major finding of the study, which seemed surprising at the PERSIAN GULF WAR
that
mass media had little influence on voting decisions. Voter choice could be best
predicted by party affiliation, socioeconomic status, place of residence (rural or
urban), and religion (Catholic or Protestant). The media, mainly newspapers,
radio, and magazines, played a secondary role, activating latent predispositions
and reinforcing prior decisions. More than half the respondents indicated during
their first interview that they had already made up their minds. The ones who
made up their minds later often were under some type of political cross-pressure.
Differences in candidate choice among family members, friends, or coworkers
or differences in voter characteristics, such as being poor (a characteristic of
many Democratic voters) or Protestant (a characteristic of many Republican
voters), had the effect of delaying the voting decision. Lazarsfeld, Berelson, and
Gaudet identified three types of persons who delayed their voting decision: crys-
tallizers, who simply waited until the last minute to decide; waverers, who
started out with their minds made up, became more indecisive as the campaign
progressed, then returned to their initial choice; and party changers, who
switched candidates. The latter group consisted of 8 percent of the voters.
Another major finding had to do with personal influence. The researchers
found that the majority of voters relied on other people, people who followed
the campaign more closely, to provide them with information about the cam-
paign and, in some cases, to influence their voting decision. Lazarsfeld, Berel-
son, and Gaudet called this process the two-step flow of information. The media
furnished information to the most interested voters, and these individuals, whom
the researchers called opinion leaders, passed along information to, and presum-
ably influenced, the rest of the elecorate.

SOURCE: Paul F. Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet, The People's
Choice: How the Voter Makes Up His Mind in a Presidential Election, 1948.
Churchill L. Roberts

PERSIAN GULF WAR generated charges of government censorship from
journalists covering Operation Desert Shield (initial military buildup), Operation
Desert Storm (aerial bombardment), and Operation Desert Sabre (ground offen-
sive). The war was triggered when Iraq's Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion
of Kuwait on August 12, 1990. On August 12, a U.S. Defense Department
National Media Pool was established, but by August 26, the pool had been
dissolved after media protests, and individual pools of reporters were assigned
to various units. The Pentagon's official policy on reporting was outlined in a
10-page August 14, 1990, memorandum entitled "Annex Foxtrot" issued from
the U.S. Central Command headquarters. The memo said the news media would
be escorted at all times, which was a clear departure from the policy of the
Vietnam War, when reporters wandered at will. Of course, they were largely
dependent on the military for transportation. A January 7, 1991, memo from
Pete Williams, assistant secretary of defense, outlined specific Pentagon Press