Can the media create public opinion? A social-identity approach

The media remains a powerful presence in U.S. culture. It gives people news of world and local events, it entertains, and it may even function as a co mpanion to children. Because it functions as a window to the outside world, what appears across its landscape actually may become people's reality. Th us, the potential for distorting their view of that world is high if the pi cture provided is unrepresentative of actual. events. For example, the prev alence of violent acts on television has been linked to increased aggressio n and escalating impressions of a dangerous world, and the overrepresentati on of youth and beauty may be a causal factor of eating disorders. In this article, we explore the possibility that the media may also serve as a powe rful creator of the very public opinions it seeks to reflect in its news. S ubtle nonverbal cues of newscasters have been shown to influence voting beh avior, and the media's overrepresentation of the proportion of blacks in po verty may decrease whites' support of welfare. By portraying a world in whi ch people's opinions are based on their ethnic or demographic group members hip, the media may also subtly but powerfully create the very opinions they seek to reflect.