Nebraska Immigration: Deliberative Polling and Civic Engagement on Broadcast and New Media Coverage

Data were analyzed from an October 2007 deliberative poll event in Omaha, Nebraska. The focus of pre-event survey questions was on the usefulness of media sources on the coverage of the global immigration issue. The goal of the project was to promote civic engagement of citizens on an important public issue. The focus of post-event survey questions was on attention paid to media. Additionally, a post-event focus group explored public opinion on credibility of various news sources. While the deliberative poll produced some evidence of short-term effects in terms of citizens learning about the immigration issue, attitudes about media credibility appeared to be well established before the event and based on personal experiences. These beliefs may also have influenced the course of dialogue within the deliberative poll event. The method proved valuable for exploring in-depth views about controversial issues. Nebraska Immigration: Deliberative Polling and Civic Engagement on Broadcast and New Media Coverage Immigration has been a contentious issue across the United States. As undocumented workers cross the U.S./Mexico border and fill job openings, some Americans have criticized federal government policies and their impact. Analysts point out that half of immigrant workers come to the U.S. from Mexico but the public, confused by a lack of issue education and superficial media coverage, may not be able to distinguish between legal and illegal workers: People used to read newspapers and listen to the news regularly; today, headlines and the ten-second sound bite may form the depth of news knowledge.The Internet and blogosphere have contributed to negative attitudes about immigration, as they quickly and widely disseminate myths and misconceptions, as well as vitriolic commentary (Strategic Discussions for Nebraska 2008: 4). Research on how people use media and obtain gratification from content date to the 1940s and it has been found that prior motivations and selectivity impact potential influences on social issues (Baran and Davis 2000: 256). In brief, the public seeks information that reinforces goals, needs, and orientations. From a social utility perspective, we often talk about what we read, see, and hear. In the view of Dominick (2009), media use has “conversational currency” because “media provide a common ground for social conversations. ” (40). While such conversations typically happen within one’s primary groups, it is also possible to bring people together in social settings that are designed to cultivate and develop beliefs about public issues. Such conversation is one way to activate engagement of citizens on important public issues. Deliberative Polling In response to the limitations of public opinion polls to represent informed opinion in a democracy, Fishkin and his colleagues have developed a deliberative poll method that includes providing people with information on public issues before seeking their opinions (Luskin et al. 2002). Deliberative polling can be used “when policy makers or the media want citizen input on subjects as diverse as health care, immigration, or foreign policy. ” (Fishkin and Rosell 2004: 55). A daylong event may provide people with an opportunity to learn about complexities of issues. Additionally, deliberative polls often have been paired with the videotaping for a later public television broadcast. The results of deliberative polls provide researchers with information about opinion formation in “a quasi-experiment” (Fishkin and Luskin 2005: 188). Further, the discovery of informed opinion on a controversial issue, such as immigration, is designed to provide policy makers with valuable information in advance of possible legislation. From a communication perspective, deliberative polls not only address the problem of uninformed public opinion, they also may trigger democratic interest among a disinterested public (Sturgis et al. 2005: 30). Deliberative polls may be related to civic engagement movement, that seeks to broaden public discussion beyond political elites and mass media. While a deliberative poll can produce group effects by changing opinion in more than one direction, the focus on a single issue “. can translate into sizeable shifts in the distribution of collective preferences” (Sturgis 2003: 474). In the case of immigration, some of the important context for the public involves immigrants filling minimum wage or sub-minimum wage jobs in “. primarily the agricultural, construction, manufacturing, hospitality and domestic-work sectors” (Murphey 2006: 339). As such, arguments often are reduced to the problem of illegal immigration versus the need to fill jobs that are unappealing to most citizens. In Nebraska, the meatpacking industry, agriculture, and construction provide ample opportunities for legal and illegal immigrants to find work. Against this backdrop as well as a concurrent and intense national immigration debate, a 2007 deliberative poll in Omaha sought to explore the issue.