THE ROLE OF THE MASS MEDIA IN CREATING POLITICAL ATTITUDE OF THE POPULATION

Abstract

Mass media play a central role in informing the public about what is happening, both locally and globally, especially in the areas about which consumers of media content do not have direct knowledge or experience. Recent research has shown that the mass media play an undeniable role in creating public opinion, influencing the thought, attitude and value system, as well as the lifestyle and behavior of the average user of media services. Mass media influence our perception of reality even when they are not the only source of that reality. The aim of this paper is to determine in what ways the mass media influence creation of political attitude of the population, especially in the Republic of Srpska, i.e. Bosnia and Herzegovina. The mass media role in creating political attitude of the population is multiple. Apart from selecting only a few from the multitude of events to "expose" to the public's attention, the media also influence the way we understand specific events. In the language of theory, they "frame" or interpret events and thus highlight or ignore some parts of reality. "Framing" occurs with a multitude of pressures (economic, personal, ideological and especially political) that every journalist or media outlet is under when reporting on events, which also influences what event and in what way the event will ultimately be interpreted.