On Television Viewing and Citizens' Political Attitudes, Activity and Knowledge: Another Look at the Impact of Media on Politics

T HE NATURE of American society is such that most us lead relatively secluded lives. Housewives, machinists, doctors, and especially academicians personally experience very little of the mainstream of problems in society. Most of us have few direct experiences with political corruption, or trade deficits, or corporate tax laws. Yet, as citizens who occasionally vote, or participate in some other ways in the body politic, we usually develop a broad range of attitudes about social and political life; we also develop images however hazy of political figures who cross through the political system, without ever having personally met any of those individuals.