Answering the Political Question Liberal or Conservative

1
Answering the Political Question- Liberal or
Conservative?

• Team 4 The Pollsters
• J333 Presentation
• May 7, 2003

2
Objective

• Understand the position community newspapers hold
  within a community
• Evaluate the communitys views on newspapers
  political coverage and editorial content
• Determine the perceived political image of the
  Missourian
• Assess public opinion relating to the previously
  mentioned topics

3
Research Question

• Does the perceived political attitude of a
• newspaper affect its ability to attract a
• particular group of readers?

4
Hypothesis

• Community newspaper readers will be more
• likely to read a newspaper that he or she feels
  aligns with his or her own political views.

5
Methodology

• Class think tank developed topics
• Research team selected topic at random
• Assignment Politics and Opinion
• Survey questions drafted, totaling 20

6
Methodology (continued)

• Research question and Hypothesis created
• Research questions revised
• Copy of standard readership and demographic
  questions obtained
• Team members randomly called Columbia citizens

7
Review of Survey Results

• Survey questions were split into two distinct
  sections.
• For the first section of each question addressed
• Part 1 Readers view of community newspapers
• Part 2 Readers view toward the Missourian
• The second section asked readers to rank
  themselves, the community, and the Missourian on
  a scale between conservative and liberal.

8
Review of Survey Results (continued)

• There were a larger number of no comment
  answers on the questions pertaining specifically
  to the Missourian.
• Some people could not respond to questions
  relating to the Missourian due to unfamiliarity
  with the product.

9
Political coverage in most newspapers meet my
expectations.
10
Political coverage in the Missourian meets my
expectations
11
I would prefer more editorial comment in
newspapers.
12
I would prefer more editorial comments in the
Missourian.
13
I prefer using media that agrees with my personal
political views.
.
14
Political Ideology
15
Recommendations

• The Missourian should devote more time, space,
  and attention to political coverage.
• Research data show that the community and the
  Missourian are viewed as somewhat liberal.
• A proper balance of conservative and liberal
  views needs to be reached in order to retain
  readers.