What is Vox Pop?
'Vox Pop' stands for 'The voice of the people' and it is a tool used in many forms of Media to provide a snapshot of public opinion. Random subjects are asked to give their views on a particular topic and their responses are presented to the viewer/reader as a popular opinion. There are many useful sources of news and one useful source is a Vox Pop which is what Journalists use when they out in the public to ask people for the views and opinions about current issues.
The media use Vox Pops for many reasons, but here are the main reasons on why they use it:
- to test public opinion and reaction
- to influence decision-makers
- to forecast results of events
- to stimulate public debate
- to promote the newspaper, radio or television station, and make it more popular
If the purpose of the Vox Pop is to foretell the results of future events, the results must be published or they have to broadcast before the event takes place. However, if you publish it after the results are known, it will be meaningless as people will already be aware that the event is taking place. If the purpose is to get the public involved and debate to influence decision-makers, the results need to be published while people are still deciding what they think. It is easier to influence someone before they take a decision than it is to persuade them to change a decision which they have already taken. If the purpose of the Vox Pop is to test public opinion and reaction, or to boost sales or audience, then the results have to be published or you have to broadcast while the issue is still talked about and if people are still concerned about it. Overall, you have to plan a Vox Pop in advance, or you have to move extremely fast once you have decided to do it. Otherwise, you will end up publishing a report of what people used to think about an old issue which people are no longer interested in anymore.
Different Types of Vox Pops
There are three type of Vox Pops which are the full public opinion survey, the limited survey and the simple street poll and they all have a role in the Media.
Public opinion survey
This includes a survey such as a General Election in the UK and US which needs to be conducted scientifically by a company which specialises in surveys. The data they gather from carefully prepared questions is statistically analysed by computer which costs a lot of money, therefore it is very expensive.
Limited survey
This can be carried out by Journalists, using a structured questionnaire and statistical conclusions may be drawn from it. Its accuracy is limited, however, the information they find should be treated with caution.
Street poll
This does not attempt to gather statistical information; unlike the other surveys. It is looking for good quotes. Members of the public are picked randomly and are asked for their opinions on a given topic, and the best ones quoted. It is good to photograph them and publish their quote with their picture, or record their voices for broadcast.
Vox Pops which are published on Radio and Television tend to concentrate only on the third type of vox pop: the street poll. There would only one or two questions, and very few interviews would be used. No attempt is made to say that this is what society generally thinks about the issue. It is just what these few ordinary people said when they were asked. Newspapers can also operate in the same way, asking one or two questions which will get a few lively quotes on an issue. This can make a bright and interesting item in the newspaper. However, newspapers can also use the other two kinds of survey. If they can afford it, they may employ a market research company or a university to do a proper public opinion survey or, for much less money, they can do their own limited survey. Many newspapers do a combination of the limited survey and the street poll. This can give a story with reasonable statistical evidence about the way people think and feel; but which also has some lively quotes to stop it becoming dull.
It is never a journalist's job to twist or misrepresent the news. You must try to report fairly and honestly what is being done and said and thought.
It is especially easy to give a false impression of what the public are thinking, through a vox pop which is carried out in a careless or deliberately biased way. Special care is therefore needed to make a vox pop fair and honest.
Fair questions
There are questions which are designed to get a particular answer. These are called loaded questions. If you ask people: "Do you think young people should have the opportunity to have education to the best of their ability?", the answer is likely to be "yes". If you ask the same people: "Should young people be forced to go to school?" the answer is likely to be "no".
The words "have the opportunity" in the first question suggested that they should be grateful they are able to get an education. The word "forced" in the second question suggested that it is something which they do not want. It is not fair to ask loaded questions in a Vox Pop so journalists should try to make their questions neutral, such as: "Do you think there young people should get an education?" There are also hard questions, to which there is no answer that cannot be twisted. If you ask a man: "Have you stopped abusing your wife?", If he says "yes", he is admitting that he used to abuse her; if he says "no", it appears that he is still abusing her. It is also unfair to ask hard questions in a Vox Pop. Therefore, they should keep them simple and make all questions so that they can be answered in a way which truly represents the views of the people you are interviewing.
Representative sample
In a proper public opinion survey, the company will have develop ways to make sure that the sample interviewed is a fair way to the society. For a limited survey or a street poll you cannot be so precise, but you should still try. Do not just ask your friends; do not just ask supporters of one political party; do not just ask people from one province; do not ask only men or only women.
Accurate answers
Journalists should record accurately and precisely what their interviewees say. Ideally, they should take an accurate shorthand note as they speak. They can record each interview with a tape recorder, but they will still need a notebook for the spelling of the person's name, and to note any information they may want about them, such as their sex and age group. It is worth remembering and it is much more difficult to analyse results which are on tape than to analyse results which are on paper.
Fair reporting
