1. The Political Attitudes of Oklahoma Newspaper Editors: The Prohibition Issue.
- Author
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Patterson, Samuel C. and Walker, Robert S.
- Subjects
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NEWSPAPER editors , *POLITICAL attitudes , *MASS media , *PERIODICALS , *COMMUNITY newspapers - Abstract
The article discusses the political attitudes of Oklahoma newspaper editors. Newspapers and newspapermen have always constituted a significant factor in Oklahoma politics. As a part of a larger field of investigation of the re- peal campaign, we gathered data on the attitudes and editorial positions of editors through the technique of the mail questionnaire. There are 122 daily and weekly newspapers in Oklahoma with circulations of over 1,500. A short questionnaire was mailed to the editor of each newspaper, with two follow-ups to non-respondents. In terms of our general assumption that community newspaper editors tend to reflect their own perception of the attitudes of the community on issues, a relatively high relationship was found between the position Oklahoma editors took on the prohibition issue and their perception of the position taken by their clientele. More than half of those editors who favored repeal edited daily newspapers, while nearly two-thirds of those who took no position in their editorials edited weekly newspapers and nearly three-fourths of those editors who opposed repeal edited weeklies.
- Published
- 1961