I’ve just read “The People’s Choice” by Lazarsfeld et al. which was published in 1948. It’s about the US presidential election of 1944 – really old and a social

I’ve just read “The People’s Choice” by Lazarsfeld et al. which was published in 1948. It’s about the US presidential election of 1944 – really old and a social science classic. By repeatedly interviewing 600 people in Erie County, Ohio, they wanted to find out how and why opinions change (and don’t) during a presidential campaign. What they found out was surprising: mass media had very little influence and generally didn’t change opinions. It activated voters (with predispositions). It reinforced them (after they made up their mind). If anything changed votes then it was interpersonal communication. If such a old study already looked at whether people pick media according to their views I find it very hard to imagine that this is really news.