Shaping Public Views

Political Parties and Interest Groups use a variety of means to influence public opinion, especially in the lead up to an election

Opinion Polls:

Opinion does range:

Source: http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6831-morgan-poll-federal-voting-intention-may-30-2016-201605300615

Influence of voter dissatisfaction with Federal Government on WA State Election

View: Current Polling: http://www.essentialvision.com.au/category/essentialreport

Debates:

Advertising

2016 Federal Election Political Advertising Campaigns:
http://www.adnews.com.au/news/election-2016-here-s-how-each-political-party-ad-campaign-rated

Social Media

Blogs & Vlogs

MP's:
Malcolm Turnbull: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOYUOwClHjweriDcsHX6mTQ
Bill Shorten:
Richard Di Natale: http://richard-di-natale.greensmps.org.au/

Parties:
The Liberal Party: https://www.youtube.com/user/LiberalPartyTV
Australian Labor Party: https://www.youtube.com/user/australianlabor
The Greens: https://www.youtube.com/user/AustralianGreens

Facebook

News, information and opinion is shared and shaped on Facebook.
Read: http://www.journalism.org/2016/05/26/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2016/

Twitter (#auspol) https://twitter.com/hashtag/auspol?lang=en

Read: http://mashable.com/2016/03/21/twitter-australia-auspol/#mtu5q9oBQEqs

Twitter is a platform for people to comment on political and social issues, and allow politicians to communicate with the public, and have the public respond directly.

Q: Do you think use of twitter makes politicians more relatable?

News

All media is biased. It is near impossible to present all perspectives in a fair and balanced manner, and there is debate on whether all views have a right to be given attention when they are factually incorrect. This website fact checks media and places on a scale based on factual and correct reporting, and low use of loaded words:
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/

Q: Do you think it is an obligation for news organisations to be unbiased reporting of facts? Or is their role also for social and political commentary or entertainment?

Q: Give an example of a debate which gives equal weight to a viewpoint based on incorrect information.

Q: How/Why do you think certain news organisations are able to continue to have an audience despite heavy bias?

Q: How do you feel when watching a news source which is politically opposed to your views? How does this compare to how you feel when watching news which aligns with your views?

Political Cartoons

National Museum of Australia: Behind the Lines Cartoons

Other:
First Dog on The Moon: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/first-dog-on-the-moon
Bill Leak: Cartoonist for The Australian newspaper: http://www.billleak.com.au/by-popular-demand.html
The West Australian (Dean Alston) http://www.westpix.com.au/images-of-cartoon%20political.html

Q: What is the 'story' or view behind a selection of cartoons. See if you can find some covering the same topic, with different perspectives.
Q: These cartoonists contribute to different papers, what does the view presented in the cartoon tell you about that newspaper audience?

Commentary & Editorials

Political Commentary and Editorials are often used in News Media, however they are the views of the speaker and are not expected to be fair or balanced. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell the difference between opinion and fact.

What is said in Parliament

Parliamentary Privilege means politicians are immune from answering to anything said in Parliament in any court or tribunal outside of Parliament. This means that laws which apply to prevent speech which may be discriminatory, false, seditious or defamatory do not necessarily apply to things Members of Parliament say in Parliament.
While this gives politicians the freedom to argue or discuss things in parliament without fear of criminal offense, it can also mislead the public observers into thinking these things are right and true.
http://www.findlaw.com.au/articles/4285/parliamentary-privilege-the-law-that-allows-politi.aspx

Setting a Bad Example

Watch the following links to Parliamentary Question Time highlights.

Q: What do you see as the role of the Speaker
Q: What rules are being enforced?

Special Interest and Lobby Groups

GetUp! https://www.getup.org.au/