Chapter 6

1.  Is American news media too dependent upon polls?  Is it appropriate for news agencies to create polls and then report on them?  Why or why not?

Polls are a great way to find out what people are thinking and what percentage they are swinging from one end of an idea to the other. The problem with a lot of  media polls is they truly aren't random, they are voluntary polls, and normally the only people what will reply to them are people with strong feelings. Not giving a true accurate percentage. Polls can sometimes influence people's own feelings about a certain subject, so when viewing a poll make sure you know how they are asking the question, and who is behind the question.

2.  How important is political party identification to you (e.g. as a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, etc.)?  Was it more or less important to your parents & grandparents?  Does it seem more or less important to your friends?  Why or why not?

Not very important but I do tend to determine or generalize a person when they say they represent a certain party just because of the different stances those parties take on issues. My father was never really for one party or the other, he had more of a feeling of hoping the president was going to make things run right for him. Politics where never much of a discussion in my family. My friends aren't much into politics either, I find myself watching CNN, or John Stewart, or Fox to get a different perspective of different political issues and characters.

3.  Do you feel that you opinion of politics is more influenced by economic issues or by social issues?  Why?

My feeling on politics comes more from the social issues. Economic issues are important to me, but I find myself more intrigued with other countries behavior and our feeling about it. I also listen to how one party plays the angles against the other parties.