Muffled Echoes Oliver North and the Politics of Public Opinion
- List Price: $37.00
- Binding: Paperback
- Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr
- Publish date: 09/01/1997
Amy Fried looks at opinion polls, the news media, special interest groups, and interviews with congressional members, using the Iran-Contra hearings as a case study.
In this book, public opinion is more than the sum of a pollster's tally; instead, Fried defines it as a political tool, integral to the political process, where vested interests compete to legitimize their interpretation of the public voice. Fried explores the construction, interpretation, and uses of public opinion, raising important questions about the media's role in determining policy. Fried shows how North's popularity was created by a vocal minority abetted by a media all too willing to showcase him as a patriotic symbol through sensationalistic coverage of events like the Pro-North rallies and demonstrations.
Fried's insightful analysis of the business of shaping perceptions of public opinion is an invaluable addition to debates about how our political system relies on the media to "interpret" public opinion.