Two Polls Show Media and Government Out of Step with the Public

Ronald D. Smith, Buffalo State College

Abstract

It makes for an interesting and unusual image -- public opinion marching down the path of social progress; government and the news media on the other side, out of step with the people who make up the media-using citizenry.

The specifics of this report deal with taxation proposals in New York State, but close your eyes and you'll see the obvious parallels throughout ther country in dozens of situations in which states tell Indian tribes and nations what they should or should not do, or what the state would like to do to them.

Fundamentally, this report deals with the issue of Indian sovereignty. It focuses on two polls released within last year that documented the high level of public opinion for so-called Indian issues -- one by college students, the other by a professional polling organization.