The findings of the study showed that elite opinion has little influence on the formation of public opinion on the mass level. This indicates that the manipulation process elite, or other sectors of society, exercise to control …show more content…
The study 's findings does not support the assumption that elite influence public opinion towards war in the United States. The findings lends empirical support to the claim that citizens depend on news coverage of live events, especially casualty related ones, in their formation of opinions regarding war. Citizens select those events that do not confirm their own attitudes regarding war to update their attitudes. This means that news reporting is an essential source of public opinion formation. The source, coverage and framing of news content influence the ways citizens form their opinions regarding war. Can the elite create a citizenry supportive of war, as the Propaganda Model may suggest? The answer to this question is contingent on the source and objectivity of the news. If those news stories that contradict citizens ' attitudes are manufactured by the elite, or other sectors of society, then the elite may certainly influence public opinion formation. Nevertheless, if the news were objective and the elite did not influence the reporting in a biased way, then the findings of the study will stand firm, and non elite elements, news events, will be the source influence public opinion