Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 17, 1993 TAG: 9309040335
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE DUSTON ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Men outnumber women two to one.
They're the ``vocal minority,'' dominating call-in shows that deal with public affairs, says a report Thursday by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press.
The project is part of series of Times Mirror studies on how Americans are making their voices heard and the ways in which the distinctive views of the vocal minority differ from the rest of the population.
Talk show participants have many of the same national priorities as the public at large, but they feel stronger about almost everything, the survey found.
Consequently, they present a distorted and exaggerated picture of public opinion, says Times Mirror.
When asked to describe their callers, talk show hosts, too, characterized them as generally angry, anti-government, more critical of the president and Congress and more conservative than other people.
Surveyors gathered the findings after telephoning 1,507 adults between May 18-24 and 112 radio hosts from May 25 to June 11. The survey was augmented by repeat calls to 120 people who in other surveys had said they called radio talk shows.
Republicans and conservatives are more than twice as likely as Democrats and liberals to tune in for radio chat, the survey found. Angry people are the most represented and feminists the least.
Listeners say they find the shows a way to keep up with the issues and learn how other people feel. By a two-to-one margin, they say they're happiest when an opinion different from their own is being expressed.
However, those with the strongest opinions are more likely than others to think talk radio over-represents people with views opposite theirs.
Many listeners say they turn to talk radio for sheer entertainment. Only 1 percent said they listen because of the host.
Times Mirror contacted 66 hosts from the top 25 markets and 46 from smaller areas.
Notwithstanding the popularity of conservative Rush Limbaugh, more hosts lean toward the Democratic party than the Republican and they are relatively evenly split between liberal and conservative philosophies, the survey found.
Hosts tend to lead their callers, however, when it comes to a negative view of Clinton. Just 26 percent said they approved of the president.
The hosts are neither partisan nor ideological in their view of the president and, clearly, are more middle of the road and politically independent than their audiences, the survey indicated.
The hosts see themselves as shapers of opinion with an impact on public policy and politics.
They're far more likely to be concerned about the quality of public education, the economy and the federal deficit than the general public. They put less emphasis on the environment, homelessness and the abortion controversy than most of America.
Compared to their listeners, the hosts are more likely to support homosexuals in the military and abortion rights. They're more likely to oppose a constitutional amendment for school prayer and term limits for Congress.
They're more critical than the public at large when it comes to Congress, the UN, network TV news and the church. They're more positive than the public about the Supreme Court.
There's a big gap when it comes to Ross Perot. While 31 percent of the general public view Perot unfavorably, 58 percent of talk radio hosts are negative on him.
Princeton Survey Research Associates conducted the polls. The listener survey has a margin of potential sampling error of 3 percentage points. The host survey has an error margin of plus or minus 10 points.
by CNB