{"id":{"repo_id":"sdstate","oai_identifier":"oai:openprairie.sdstate.edu:etd-2590"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/sdstate/oai:openprairie.sdstate.edu:etd-2590","repository":{"repo_id":"sdstate","name":"South Dakota State University","base_url":"https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"The Impact of Newspaper Opinion Writing on South Dakota Legislators","abstract":"<p>This exploratory study examines the impact of newspaper writing on members of the South Dakota State House of Representatives and State Senate. Throughout the history of the United States, political opinions written in newspapers championed causes to affect change. This study examines how South Dakota state legislators react to opinions written in South Dakota’s 11 daily newspapers and if they take those opinions into consideration when making policy decisions. Thirty-four of the state’s 105 legislators completed an online questionnaire, which included multiple choice, a five-point Likert-type rating scale and an open-ended question. Legislators who indicated that they frequently or always read opinions in at least one South Dakota daily newspaper came in at 68.7 percent – showing that they are reading the political opinion writing of South Dakota’s daily newspapers. The findings indicate that legislators do not view their own values, the values of their constituents and newspapers as being the same. This could explain why legislators do not follow the recommendations laid out by newspapers. This exploratory study raises questions about the influence of newspapers to achieve follow-through from legislators. Further research would reveal more information about how credibly newspapers are viewed in the state.</p>","abstract_html":"&lt;p&gt;This exploratory study examines the impact of newspaper writing on members of the South Dakota State House of Representatives and State Senate. Throughout the history of the United States, political opinions written in newspapers championed causes to affect change. This study examines how South Dakota state legislators react to opinions written in South Dakota’s 11 daily newspapers and if they take those opinions into consideration when making policy decisions. Thirty-four of the state’s 105 legislators completed an online questionnaire, which included multiple choice, a five-point Likert-type rating scale and an open-ended question. Legislators who indicated that they frequently or always read opinions in at least one South Dakota daily newspaper came in at 68.7 percent – showing that they are reading the political opinion writing of South Dakota’s daily newspapers. The findings indicate that legislators do not view their own values, the values of their constituents and newspapers as being the same. This could explain why legislators do not follow the recommendations laid out by newspapers. This exploratory study raises questions about the influence of newspapers to achieve follow-through from legislators. Further research would reveal more information about how credibly newspapers are viewed in the state.&lt;/p&gt;","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Reiss, Elizabeth A."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis - University Access Only","degree_discipline":"Journalism and Mass Communications","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Lyle Olson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:29:15Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":["<p>In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted<br /><a href=\"http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/\">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/</a></p>"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1587","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Lyle Olson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Reiss, Elizabeth A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-08-16T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Journalism and Mass Communications"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - University Access Only"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["<p>In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted<br /><a href=\"http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/\">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/</a></p>"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1587"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["<p>This exploratory study examines the impact of newspaper writing on members of the South Dakota State House of Representatives and State Senate. Throughout the history of the United States, political opinions written in newspapers championed causes to affect change. This study examines how South Dakota state legislators react to opinions written in South Dakota’s 11 daily newspapers and if they take those opinions into consideration when making policy decisions. Thirty-four of the state’s 105 legislators completed an online questionnaire, which included multiple choice, a five-point Likert-type rating scale and an open-ended question. Legislators who indicated that they frequently or always read opinions in at least one South Dakota daily newspaper came in at 68.7 percent – showing that they are reading the political opinion writing of South Dakota’s daily newspapers. The findings indicate that legislators do not view their own values, the values of their constituents and newspapers as being the same. This could explain why legislators do not follow the recommendations laid out by newspapers. This exploratory study raises questions about the influence of newspapers to achieve follow-through from legislators. Further research would reveal more information about how credibly newspapers are viewed in the state.</p>"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Impact of Newspaper Opinion Writing on South Dakota Legislators"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Lyle Olson"],"dc:creator":["Reiss, Elizabeth A."],"dc:date.available":["2017-08-16T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["<p>This exploratory study examines the impact of newspaper writing on members of the South Dakota State House of Representatives and State Senate. Throughout the history of the United States, political opinions written in newspapers championed causes to affect change. This study examines how South Dakota state legislators react to opinions written in South Dakota’s 11 daily newspapers and if they take those opinions into consideration when making policy decisions. Thirty-four of the state’s 105 legislators completed an online questionnaire, which included multiple choice, a five-point Likert-type rating scale and an open-ended question. Legislators who indicated that they frequently or always read opinions in at least one South Dakota daily newspaper came in at 68.7 percent – showing that they are reading the political opinion writing of South Dakota’s daily newspapers. The findings indicate that legislators do not view their own values, the values of their constituents and newspapers as being the same. This could explain why legislators do not follow the recommendations laid out by newspapers. This exploratory study raises questions about the influence of newspapers to achieve follow-through from legislators. Further research would reveal more information about how credibly newspapers are viewed in the state.</p>"],"dc:identifier":["https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1587"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["<p>In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted<br /><a href=\"http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/\">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/</a></p>"],"dc:title":["The Impact of Newspaper Opinion Writing on South Dakota Legislators"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Journalism and Mass Communications"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - University Access Only"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:29:15Z"}