UNDERGROUND MEDIA:
TMPACT 0F POLTCE COVERAGE ON
ATTITUDE TOWARDS POLICE

Thesis for the Degree of M. A.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
GEORGE W. WALTON
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ABSTRACT

UNDERGROUND MEDIA: IMPACT OF
POLICE COVERAGE ON ATTITUDE TOWARDS POLICE

BY

George W. Walton

The so—called establishment mass media is opposed
by the underground press in presenting a picture of men
and events in the latter half of the 20th Century. These
two types of publications differ along certain lines:
presentation; content; and ideology. The establishment
press has a tendency to present certain news events in
certain ways as a function of the requirements of main-
taining their position vis~a-vis their readership. The
underground press, in generating a new audience is less
bound by traditional criteria of what's "Fit to Print."
The establishment media is objective and cool. The under-
ground media is subjective and provoking. Both function
in providing their readership with facts and opinions
useful in constructing a world-view; the underground though
assails the present system (of political and economic
justice) and the establishment media implicitly defends

the status quo.

George W. Walton

The underground media in attacking the 'system'
focuses on some ready targets for concentrated action.

The police are one apparent example. The question is,
what is the impact on subjects of these anti-police mes-
sages (controlling for political self-identity).

It was found that in presenting increasing amounts
of anti-police statements (selected from an underground
paper) certain groups were more susceptible to change than
others. There were four groups into which the subjects
were divided: a control group, and three experimental
groups. The subjects in the control group were required
to respond to two sets of attitude scales (one relating
to general police image and the other referring to more
concrete types of police action or behavior). In the ex-
perimental groups the subjects were first presented with
statements about the police (from the underground press)
ranging from one to four pages. They were then instructed
to respond to the two police attitude scales.

Those who characterized themselves as radicals
were the most anti-police and those who characterized
themselves as conservatives where the most pro-police.

The radicals were more anti-police on the police attitude
scale indicating specific types of police action; the
conservatives were more anti-police on the police scale

indicating a general image of the police.

George W. Walton

The moderates manifested the clearest pattern of
experimental effect (specifically for the police attitude
scale relating to specific police action and behavior).

In the process of reading more anti-police messages the
moderates became increasingly less pro-police (or more anti-
police). And it was noted that it is the grouping of
moderates who are most susceptible to increasing amount
of anti-police sentiment only if they are presented with

such messages or seek them out.

UNDERGROUND MEDIA: IMPACT OF

POLICE COVERAGE ON ATTITUDE TOWARDS POLICE

BY

George W. Walton

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Sociology

1970

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author gratefully acknowledges the help of
Dr. James McKee, without whose aid and assistance in
numerous readings of the manuscript and encouragement
this thesis would not have been completed. The advice
of Dr. Kevin Kelly, Dr. Frederick Waisanen and Harry

Webb is greatly appreciated.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENT S O O O O O O I 0 O O O O O O O O 0 i i

LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
THE UNDERGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
THE UNDERGROUND PRESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
ESTABLISHMENT VERSUS UNDERGROUND PRESS . . . . . . l6
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DYNAMICS OF MEDIA IMPACT . . 23
RESEARCH PROBLEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
METHOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
HYPOTHESIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
DISCUSSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

REFERENCES 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O I O O O O O 5 4

APPENDIX A O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 55
APPENDIX B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 60

APPENDIX C O O O O O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O 6 3

iii

Table

1.

LIST OF TABLES

The per cent of 'pro-police' responses
for the first set of statements
(twenty-one items ) o o o o o o o o o o o o

The per cent of 'pro-police' responses
for the second set of statements
(14 itemS) O O O O O O O O O O O I O I O O

The per cent of pro~police responses for the
radicals as affected by the experimental
conditions for the first set of
statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The per cent of pro police responses for the
radicals as affected by the experimental
conditions for the second set of
statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The per cent of pro police responses for the
conservatives as affected by the experi-
mental conditions for the first set of
statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The per cent of pro police responses for the
conservatives as affected by the experi-
mental conditions for the second set of
statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The per cent of pro police responses for the
moderates as affected by the experir
mental conditions for the first set of
statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The per cent of pro police responses for the
moderates as affected by the experi-
mental conditions for the second set of
statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iv

Page

42

43

43

44

44

45

45

46

INTRODUCTION

Social unrest is a popular subject for lay and
academic focus. One has only to read a newspaper, watch
the evening news on TV or check the corner bookstore:
activism, militancy, and radicalism. For various reasons
social disorder has generated much discussion, some
thoughtful and much dogmatic. This paper will treat the
subject of contemporary disorder as a developing process
of social action which has certain of its roots in the
spin-off of modern technology. Specifically the topic
relates to a type of political socialization which has
arisen out of the complex diffusion of the mass media.

The mass media is of two possible types: the
"establishment" media and the "underground" media.1 The

establishment press can be described by the following

characteristics: they relate to the middle and upper

 

1I do not mean that all that is not "underground"
is establishment. But I do make the statement that: the
establishment media can be typed within a certain bounded
range of message presentation. These two, establishment
and underground, are to be treated as ideal types for dis-
cussion only. For it is apparent to me that some of those
papers that are called underground, e.g. the L.A. Free
Press, have many elements of organization, etc. in common
with the establishment press, not the least of which being
an economic interest in profit.

1

class readership; they are 'liberal' or 'conservative'
or middle of the road; they present that 'news' which is
supportive of a particular conception of the social sys-
tem in which the readers are a part; they reinforce the
values of that segment of the society (with some slight
modification to fit the particular local perspective);
and they provide an economic service [re: advertising].
The 'establishment' press also presents their
messages as accurately as "editorial objectivity" will
allow. This claim to impartiality implies that the mes-
sages possess "truth" and are neither slanted nor biased.
[Whether or not this is true is a matter not to be
studied--but it can be pointed out that the establishment
press require a broad base of support to continue.]
Perhaps a point should be emphasized. The estab-
lishment media is an extension of the system;2 because
the 'system' is a product of a developed hier-
archy of institutions and roles [and status and power] and
the peOple who have 'made it' within this system would not
want to lose their 'privileges.‘ One could explain the
establishment media in two ways: first it provides the
kinds of messages that the people want to hear (self-

supportive); second it inculcates (re: socialization)

 

2The 'system' is a loaded term relating to that
complex of institutions and positions maintaining the
current distribution of power and privilege.

those values and beliefs which provide institutional
defense against that which may produce "insecurity" or
strain.

One could argue that the establishment media
does not "fall into line" behind the 'system' in every
case. This is only an indication that there are certain
broad limits. One could study the ways in which the es-
tablishment media skirt these 'outer limits' of support
for the system; but the major point is: The establish—
ment media accepts those "ultimate" values and beliefs
current in the system and criticizes those aspects of the
system which do not meet these "given" standards.

The establishment media must therefore combine
both the economic and editorial aspects of publication,
in producing output.VLO. Key notes:3

The development in the economic organization of the
press earlier described are conducive to the gradual
modification of the press into a common carrier of
neutral, and often meaningless political intelligence.
The monopolization of local circulation areas makes

it prudent to turn out a product whose content antago-
nizes few readers. . . . On occasion the conception
extends to editorial policy which consists of a mix-
ture of "Afghahistahisfi"and abdication. Afghanism

is the practice of speaking with great forthrightness
on matters very remote. Abdication may take the form
of delegating the job of hardhitting editorial inter-

pretation and even the rough reporting to the
columinists.

 

3V. 0. Key, Public Opinion and American Democracy,
1964, pp. 392-3.

What is the role of the establishment media in a
"free society"? If the mass media presents only those
messages which are 'neutral' or bland then the current
political crisis can be seen in terms of the failure of
the media to come to terms with the 'true' picture of the
social system. I am referring to the reasons for the in-
tensity of the social reaction. Two reasons come to
mind: first there is the "startled" reaction; the indi-
vidual is unprepared for the type of radical social action
which is ongoing and he acts in terms of fears,anguish
and uncertainty. The social system does not provide any
definition of the social situation so the action which
does occur is primarily perceived to be unstructured. In
this instance the mass media fails because it has ignored
the history of the conflict. Second, the mass media pre-
sent a picture of the social situationsin which the con—
flict is occurring, but it does so from the point of View
of the dominate social grouping. The result is a reaction
to the dissident group which is founded in the "legitimat-
ing" function of the media.

The impact of the mass media in forming opinion
should not be underestimated; it may be a major socializ-
ing force. If the only input one receives is that
constructed to give the "correct" line, than one must
wonder about the depth and scope of one's understanding

of the social system.

The rise of the "movement"4 could be a result of
this questioning and searching for 'meaning'5 noted by
H. Cantril. When the first Northern white college students
journeyed into the deep South to aid the efforts of
the Blacks, their eyes were opened to white racism. Their
cause was (as regarded by them) just; the enemy was racism.
They were beaten, arrested, and killed. The politics of
the south were viewed as corrupt. Their experiences
probably generated a sense of moral indignation. The mass
media up until the late '50's gave little indication that
such a state of life existed--at first media descriptions
of the situation was vague. The civil rights workers
would ask: How to best fight against inbred and intense
white racism? But as tactics evolved they began to for-
malize techniques to counteract white indifference and
hostility. As the students returned home they brought
back a sense of cynicism. If the politicos of the south
were corrupt, why hadn't the federal government acted?
(Aside from the Supreme Court decision of '54, much of

the South was (and is) still highly segregated with some

 

4The 'movement' relates to a nebulous aggregate
of many organizations and individuals including, for
example, the anti-war student and black power advocates.
It is an inclusive term generally relating to those who
Oppose the 'system' and all that entails.

5Hadley Cantril, The Psychology of Social Move-
ments, 1951, p. 59.

exceptions). Maybe there was a larger pattern of
racism?

Racism can be treated as a part of the larger
pattern of oppression. The connections did not appear
to go unnoticed. The Berkeley Free Speech Movement and
the Vietnam War protest were not long in coming. It ap-
pears in retrospect that the activism generated by the
'racism' issue became generalized and institutionalized.
For example the Free Speech Movement came complete with
a leader (Mario Salvo) and an enemy: administrators and
the police. It is at this point that students qua stud—
ents were part of the conflict.

Students (read: white students) of middle-class
background presented a problem for the mass media: it
is easy to shoot a "nigger," but it is not that easy to
shoot a son or a daughter of white middle-class Americans.
So the early repression was rather mild. But as the
movement developed, the stbols used by the establishment
media changed. Instead of students, one reads about mili-
tants, radicals and hippies. This transference had great
impact on both the students and activists and the "man on

the street."6

 

6One must of course take into account the role of
interpersonal communication of relevant information that
occurs within some normative framework, e.g. people
usually belong to those groups which exhibit beliefs and

First the students began to perceive of their
role as having significance for action in a realm of
activity greater than the university (i.e. the role of
militant was more inclusive than the role of student);
secondly the students were forced to assume an opposi-
tional social role (they were pictured as being Opposed
to the status quo by the mass media). The average citi-
zen on the other hand saw the student as a "minority" of
all students; e.g. he saw the protestors as participating
in conduct detrimental to the continuation of the uni-

versity. At this point, it is possible that the students

 

values similar to their own. Given this, than, it is

quite apparent that the messages communicated will prob-
ably be readily accepted as natural or logical extensions
of the pre-established position of that group. That is,
members of the SDS would probably have attitudes which

are more similar than dissimilar: this existent agree-
ment may be instrumental in 'definitions of situations'
which have not yet been defined, i.e. there are no stand-
ards of conduct for behavior, e.g. how to abolish ROTC.

The same would be the case for other groups: The police
would have certain value-belief structures about the nature
of the law and the way it must be upheld; when confronted
with an undefined situation in which they perceive the.law
is being violated they will be more likely to react in
terms of pre-existent definitions, which are in some ways
similar to the present ones, e.g. 'they' are 'human garbage
collectors' so it is possible that they (the police) define
much of the interaction in terms of 'maintaining the law
against criminal abuse' so that those who appear to violate
the 'law' or disrupt the 'peace' must be criminals. Group
norms have been established through communication of sym-
bols and when the police are faced with people who look
like criminals (i.e. police are trained to look with su -
picion at anything that is out of the ordinary, e.g. long
hair, odd dress), agt_like criminals, e.g. non-conforming
behavior such as marching in the street to support our
"enemies," it is not hard to see why they will be treated
as criminals. The establishment media may in some ways
support or reinforce these positions.

 

 

were close enough to the situation to recognize the in-
herent bias of the mass media (which compounded their
suspicion already charged by earlier coverage of the civil
rights activities). It is at this time that they were

ready for a media that would reinforce their own ideas.

THE UNDERGROUND

There are many more or less important but certainly
contributory factors which might explain the development of
the underground press. The "beat" generation of the for-
ties and fifties established the standards of the 'commun-
ity' and the need for and the use of drugs (as a means of
alleviating the pressures and/or problems and conflicts
of complex and uncomprehensible industrial society) and
an outward manifestation of that social ethos (e.g. dress).
This subculture was not directly connected with the vari-
ous college movements but there were certain intersections
between bohemian and student subcultures. As police re-
pression began (for a number of reasons, but the major
one was drug abuse) this complex (students and non-student
hippies) sought means of communication that would represent
their experience.

There are at least two explanations for the
emergence of the underground papers in the early '60's.
First the returning students (from the south) had learned
the techniques of protest and demonstration and the means
which can be employed to attempt to affect change [the
notion of change and improvement seems to be an implicit

theme running throughout the movement]. Second, as the

10

overt manifestations of discrimination began to disappear,
the importance of such student action began to decrease.
Further, the Blacks began to feel that the white students
were useful, but they (Blacks) probably had second thoughts
about the 'white' domination of Black organizations. The
term "white liberal" was coined--and it implied that such
white supporters were useful but not (any longer) essen-
tial. Blacks wanted to form their own Black organizations
which would increase Black self-consciousness and which
would not be beholding to any whites. So the young white
students began to seek areas of meaningful action that
would allow them to assert their own power and find their
own self identity.

In the early '60's the Haight-Ashbury scene was
in infancy. The LSD and hippy cults began to spring up.
It seemed that the reasons for such action can be found
in the student action of a few years earlier [it would
seem that those students returned home with tales of
brutality and repression by the local police and politi-
cians, etc.] and as their views became 'common,‘ students
and others began to question the social system and its
assumed legitimacy which would allow such behavior. Some
withdrew into themselves ("Turn on, tune in, dr0p out").

The turning point came with the Presidential
election year of 1964. It was at this time that the

socio-political system was directly called into question.

11

The assassination of J. F. Kennedy was a very emotional
crisis for this country. The two candidates for the
Presidency in '64 were not viewed as the best of all
possible candidates. Johnson did not possess the essen-
tial characteristics of a leader and B. Goldwater was an
alleged "reactionary." So when the election was completed
and Johnson won by a substantial majority (there is an
interesting question about the number of people who voted
"against" one or the other candidate or voted for neither)
many felt that the victor did not represent the 'people.‘
Johnson's legitimacy was questioned. To make
matters worse, the Vietnam War was escalated by the John-
son Administration just before the election in '64 and
the basis for his action were suspect. It would seem
that the southern experience and the Vietnam War are the

I ' O O O O O 7
baSis for the current antagonisms: raCism and imperialism.

 

7In a way, these factors contributed to produce
a kind of pattern of 'immorality' or 'un-Americanism'
(in terms of some set of ultimate values which appeared
to be violated). At this time (early '60's) it was ap-
parent that an alternate system was evolving which at
first was a negation of the contemporary political and
social system (the early hippies) withdrew from the Ameri-
can system into their own world of communal equality) but
they were soon brought back when it became apparent that
they were fighting a holding action with no chance of
success. In the early stages of the return they attempted
to work outside the traditional system by engaging in
political action in an uninStitutionalized way; but soon
they returned to the arena of legitimate political action
(e.g. forming political parties and attempting to win
elections, i.e. Peace and Freedom Party, New Democratic
Coalition).

THE UNDERGROUND PRESS

The underground press consists of between 50 and
200 papers located throughout the United States. The
reason for this large variation in estimate is that dif-
ferent people use different standards to define the under-
ground. Some include the peace oriented papers; some
include the college papers that are not controlled by the
administration. The Wall Street Journal counted 'more
than SO,‘ Newsweek "more than 150," Marshall Bloom, an
LNS executive (my note: Liberation News Service), told
the New York Times that nearly 200 underground papers
had begun publication in the last two years.8

Circulation figures also vary. According to the
Nation, estimates of readership vary from 330,000 (by the
Wall Street Journal) to 6.4 million by Marshall Bloom.9
It seems fair to estimate the readership to be much
greater than the minimum of 333,000.~ If one includes the

circulation figures of just two underground papers (The

N. Y. Village Voice and the L.A. Free Press) one finds a

 

 

circulation of over 200,000.

 

8Thomas Pepper,"Growing Rich on the Hippief'The
Nation, April 29, 1968, p. 570.

9Pepper, op cit.
12

13

There are underground papers located in all parts
of the country. New York and California seem to have
more papers than most other states. One way to explain
this is to note that it is in these two states that one
would expect to find the largest number of politically
disaffected groups (racial minorities and radical poli-
tical organizations). Also it was noted in a brief sur-
vey of twenty-four papers that with few exceptions these
papers are published in relatively large urban centers

10 The pos-

(e.g. Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York).
sibility of the greatest support (sympathetic and finan-
cial) would probably be found in large metropolitan areas.
For one reason or another, disaffected and potentially
able recruits [i.e. those to be mobilized] would and
could give support to both the underground and allied
social movements. Each urban area has unique socio-
political characteristics, and each paper must have a

somewhat specialized appeal. The underground fills this

need.

 

10In an article by Jean Strouse,"Guide To The
Underground Pressf'Eye, Feb. '69, p. 78 there are listed
twenty-five underground publications, which appear to be
representative of the underground generally. Whether or
not this is the case it seems that the best known under-
ground papers are indeed located in N.Y. and Calif. one
has only to list the following: Los Angeles Free Press,
The Berkeley Barb (Calif.) and the East Village Voice,
The Village Voice and the Rat (N.Y.).

14

One study, which has been done on the readership
of a particular underground paper "The East Village
Other" (EVO) indicates that of 1,200 readers questioned
"71% having gone to graduate school; 98% had tried mari-
juana at least once; and 77% had tried LSD. Among the
EVO subscribers there are about 500 enlisted men in the
armed forces, many of whom write for the paper."

The proliferation of underground papers during
the last five years may be accounted for by the low
start-up cost necessary to begin publication.12

In the early days of the Barb, editor-publisher
Max Scherr pasted up the layout on his kitchen
table, carted the dummies to a local print shop
and hawked the finished product himself in the
streets. In Los Angeles, anyone can run off 5,000
copies of an eight-page paper at a local off-set
print shop for about $80.
Mr. Kuhin [editor-publisher of the L.A. Free Press]
brought out his first issue in 1964 with $15 initial
investment, the cost of printing the paper and
mailing letters to advertisers.
But to maintain a paper some continuing source of revenue
is necessary. There are two sources of ad revenue and
subscription and newsstand sales account for the rest.
. . . The advertisers are responding, Ad revenue at

the Free Press, for instance, is about $5,000 a
week, two-thirds of it from display ads and one-third

 

11Richard Stone, 'Hip' Papers: The Underground
Press Succeeds by Intriguing Rebels and 'Squares.‘ Wall
Street Journal, Monday, March 4, 1968, Eastern Edition,

p. 1.

12Ibid., p. 15.

15

from classified. About a fourth of the ads come
from national advigtisers, particularly phonograph
record companies.

As for circulation figures, there seems to be a
steady trend (for at least some of the papers) of in—
creasing readership:

L.A. Free Press-—in 1966 it had 9,000 readers,
45,000 in 1967, 68,000 in 1968 and between 90,000
to 100,000 in 1969.

East Village Other--in 1966 it had 10,000 readers,
30,000 in 1967, and 40-50,000 in 1968.

The Berkeley Barb—-in 1966 it had 7,500 readers and
by 1968 it had 50,000 readers.

It seems that if these papers are representative of those
areas with large potential markets, the underground press
is an economic success.

The Los Angeles Free Press is an example of a

 

successful underground newspaper. As of March, 1968 it
"boasts of a full-time staff of 32, (and it) grossed

$450,000 last year (note: in 1967 when the circulation
was less than half of what it is today), and has filed

for incorporation."14

 

131bid.

14"Making It—-Underground," Newsweek, March 4:
1968, p. 58.

ESTABLISHMENT VERSUS UNDERGROUND PRESS

To claim that a distinction can be made between
the 'establishment' press and the 'underground' press
requires a certain set of considerations which will be
discussed.

The three categories of analysis are: presenta-
tion and style; content; and ideology. Presentation re-
fers to the rules of message construction. Style refers.
to the evaluative aspect of the presentation. Presenta-
tion includes such considerations as the way in which
items (e.g. news stories) are presented (i.e. which
stories receive front page coverage). It also includes
the relative amount of space given to specific items.

The establishment media appear to handle the question of
presentation as a function of general news interest.

This is an evaluative consideration which implies that
certain stories are more important than others; and there-
fore some stories receive more coverage (in terms of
temporal and inclusiveness) as a function of their in-
terest for their readership. It would seem that presenta-
tion is somewhat a captive of the broad based interest of
combination of both readers and editors. Shall there be

just a few stories covered in depth or many stories

16

17

covered briefly? The underground media appear to handle

presentation as a function of the two also but it appears
that there is at least an attempt to cover a few stories

in depth rather than many stories superficially.

Style can be considered a question of whether or
not to use one of two Opposed approaches: Objectivity
or subjectivity.

The establishment media claim to present the news
in an Objective manner. The underground lay no such
claims. The reporters and writers provide loaded con—
texts in which to view the information they are present-
ing. The extent of their stories are then rather well
defined beforehand. They write stories which they can
'relate' to. These stories are something which can be
either entertainment or informative but they are Opinionated.
The writers write to the reader in such a way that the
situation of the story defines the way in which the reader
might react in that given situation. The standard Of be-
havior is defined: this standard is sometimes explicit
and sometimes not explicit. Essentially each story in
the news relates to some subject which provides some
social or political meaning to the reader. This order:
standard and meaning, is an essential part of each story:

Striking the heart of crime-ridden Venice last week,
LAPD's crack Metropolitan Task Force descended on
Ocean Front Walk eradicating a wave of crime and . . .
"general lawlessness . . ." with a unique combination-

Of illegal arrests, scurrilious profanity and wanton
. brutality.

l8

LeRoi Jones, you have me worried. Sure you're a

good poet, maybe the best racist reactionary poet

around, you can stir your audience to blood-lust,

you use words as they really are, language as it is

spoken, feelings as they are felt and you produce

some of the most insidious destructive stuff I've

ever heard.

Authorities at San Quentin have tried to stOp the

planned convicts work stoppage by transferring twelve

prisoners to other institutions. In Northern Cali-

fornia appearance, James Park, Associate Warden-

Administrator claimed that eight of the men transferred

to Folsom Prison were editors of the convicts illegal

newspaper, "The Outlaw."

[The above three stories were lead paragraphs taken

from the front page of the February 16, 1968 issue

of the L.A. Free Press.]
Each of these statements indicate a standard and a mean-
ing. The first paragraph depicts police activity and how
it has implications for the reader: beware! The second
paragraph labels Jones as a "racist, reactionary poet,"
it implicitly cautions the reader: beware! The final
paragraph describes the actions of the prison 'authorities'
and the message to the convicts (if they were permitted
to read the Freep) is: beware!

As for content [defined in terms Of the material
presented] the establishment media present socially ac—
cepted evaluations of ongoing behavior and criticism.ort
applaudsaction within the limits of "good taste." The
question becomes one of what constitutes good taste.

The underground press seems to place social meaning in
many of the things that the establishment media 'misses.‘

Taste is a value judgment related to the possible affects

19

upon the reader (or viewer, i.e. the recent CBS cancella-
tion of the Smothers Brothers Show because of alleged poor
taste). For example, the subjects which might not fit

the criterion of the N.Y. Times ("All the News That's Fit

 

to Print") would be fair game for the underground. Im-
plicitly, there appears to be no restrictions in printing
items which may be regarded by some as being in poor

taste. An interesting illustration of this point is the
use of "four letter" words. It would probably be hard to
document but it would seem that the underground press was
probably the first mass media (excluding books) to popular-
ize the use Of obscene words in normal message presentation.
It is hard to place this within a cause and effect scheme,
but this practice found great popularity within the radi-
cal movement.

A final category is that Of ideology. It is
apparent to those in the Movement, that the establishment
media (rightfully or not) is bound within the structure
of two-party politics. The point is made by V. 0. Key
that:15

The position Of the media in the power system must
be explained not by some devil theory, but in terms
of the consequences of their place in relation to

other elements of the system and the nature of the

system itself. The etiquette and understandings of
the American political order prescribe a relatively

 

15V. 0. Key, Public Opinion and American Democracy,
1964, pp. 389-390.

 

20

narrow range of freedom for debate and criticism.
The position of the media in relation to other ele-
ments Of the system limits them to only a part of that
permissible spectrum Of debate. The range of alter-
natives for example, offered by the politicians may
not be broad, but it is broader than the range of
advocacy by the media, which are bound manily either
to bland neutrality or to an alliance with the com-
mercial sector of society. As innovation in public
policy has develOped, the media have tended to be
cast in defensive roles rather than as innovators

or advocates at the evolving edge of public policy.

The role played by ideology in the establishment media is
more a latent force, which only manifests itself on

the editorial page. In the underground, ideology is
everywhere. One place which this is readily illustrated
is in the case of Rock (music) criticism. The political
analysis of a rock performance of the MCS might illustrate.
In a review of an MCS concert by Sandy Pearlman in a

recent issue of the Village Voice states:

 

(The night's second energy scene.) What with Ameri-
can flags carefully hung on their Marshall cabinets
and all, you might think the M05 political. But
really they're some great Cosmic Show. watch 'em

to see how an energy scene unfolds. Know it or not,
politics is merely one of their inspirational

phases . . . . A 5 Cosmic Show surpasses the Doors,
Who, Sly and his Family, Unlike Arthur Brown, they're
in no way dull. Yet they've known FIRE in a burning
American flag (now a federal crime) or bra.

In a short content analysis of one issue Of the Ann Arbor
Argus, one apparent fact was that in each story or news
item, there was some component Of ideology or some ex-
plitice value (political as well as social) which was
being illustrated or exemplified. Some examples Of this

are:16

 

16Ann Arbor Argus, Vol. 1, no. 6.

21
The spirit of the people is stronger than the pigs
technology.
The purveyor of honkie non-culture are continuing
to rear their ugly, puss-filled heads in definance
of human rights or high school students.
For some time now, the repression and attacks against
political activists--whether they are fighting for
an end to the Vietnam War, black liberation, socialism,
or things mundane as University reform or increases
in welfare payments--have been on the increase. . . .
Now there is a new tactic. Now there are new targets--
the lawyers who defend political activists.

The distinctions which can be made between the
two types of media appear to be quite apparent. The
establishment papers are neutral or supportive of the
status quo, the stories are blandly "objective" and cer-
tain economic and political considerations prevent the
media from leading public Opinion.

The underground press can be characterized by
subjective and personal interpretations of behavior con-
sistent with some political and social ideology which is
opposed in many ways to the current ongoing system.

The remainder of this paper will be an attempt
to understand the potential impact of this media approach
(underground) on attitudes.

The underground media because of its sizable
readership may play a role in forming behavior for specific
types of acts or for specific circumstances. The under-

ground media may be one source of input in both the atti-

tude and action elements of social behavior. It is possible

22

to visualize a situation in which the underground may
provide the information and direction necessary to either
form an opinion or undertake action of one type or
another. It is noted that the underground is Opinionated
and Opposed to many of the tenants of contemporary politi-
cal order. If these attitude frameworks are internalized
and acted upon than it would appear that the underground
media must be recognized as an important political

instrument.

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DYNAMICS OF THE

MEDIA IMPACT

The mass media can be viewed as a adjunct to the
process of political socialization and studied in con-
junction with mediating factors (or processes) which
manipulate media messages to form reinforcing or con-
firmatory evidence for pre—established conceptions of
social reality. Mass media can also be treated as an
object of study by itself. It can be analyzed in terms
of content, in terms of function and in terms of affect.
This distinction between approaches is an important one,
for it relates to different conceptual distinctions
about the nature of the media and the potential effect
which such media have on the workings of social order.
The introductory remarks about the contrast between the
underground and establishment media pose certain ques-
tions which must be analyzed in terms of both conceptions
above, for the impact of the medium must be tied to both
the internal and external dynamics Of message presentation.

Internal dynamics.--As discussed earlier the dis-

 

tinctions which can be made between the underground and

establishment media relate to: presentation; content;

 

and ideology. Presentation refers to the ways in which

23

24

the messages are constructed and placed in the media.
Content refers to the nature of the messages which are
selected for inclusion in the media. And ideology refers
to the particular scheme of values, beliefs, and attitudes
which are implicit or explicit in the presentation Of
messages of two types: (1) the way the messages are
selected; (2) the way the message are constructed.

If any one media source can be characterized by
the ways it presents a picture of social reality it can
be described in terms of the above three factors. The
internal dynamics of the media has impact on working
definitions of social situations. These definitions are
viewed as inputs; they provide meaning and they provide
direction. The meaning element is important because it
provides evaluations of the "important" aspects of action
and behavior. One can say: "X is not important unless
it is regarded as being 'important' by X media source."
In a sense this notion is brought forth more forcefully
when one realizes that much of what goes on in the world
is not 'input' to any one individual (no matter how hard
that individual may attempt to keep up with events). One
must defer to such newspapers Of 'record' as the Egg;
Timg§_which attempts to provide a broad panorama of im-
portant and relevant happenings if one wants even a
superficial understanding Of what (one newspaper) defines

as important.

25

The N.Y. Times though is not the only newspaper

 

read by the populace. Instead, the process of selection

is.bounded by at least two major factors: (1) availabil-

 

ity; (2) interest or need. Availability refers to the

 

choice and selection process. If one can only get X or

Y media than his range of Options is restricted (re:

one who can select among X, Y, Z . . . media). Excluding
the reasons upon one makes a selection between or among
the media available, the person with fewer choice deci-
sions has a more limited view of the world available to
him. He will be confronted with fewer variations in
terms of presentation, content and ideology.

External dynamics.--Interpersonal communication

 

of relevant information occurs within a framework of
norms and values which are supportive of the group;
peOple usually belong to those groups which exhibit at-
titudes similar to their own. Given this, then, it is
quite apparent that the messages which are communicated
will probably be readily accepted as natural or logical
extensions of the pre-established position of that group.
Mass media serves as a great leveller: it pre-
sents to the people information about happenings in those
parts of the social system to which they do not have ac-
cess; nor does the individual have control over all the
information which is disseminated: i.e. the individual

is satiated with messages on a great many subjects, many

26

of the tOpics have little or no interest for him. So
there are those messages which are important to the in-
dividual and those which are not. The important messages
are those which have a perceived consequence for the in-
dividual; but the important messages may also be defined
in terms of the social consequences of the messages
themselves. Those messages which are important to a few
but those few being the Opinion leaders have greater
consequence than those messages which are important to
the many (sometimes). [The reason for this apparent para-
dox is that the Old notion that the effect of the media
can be liken to a hypodermic needle (messages effect all
the people the same way) as opposed to the notion of the
two-step flow as articulated by (Katz and Lazarfeld).]
The same message may not have the same effect unless it
is interpreted by the Opinion leaders in the same way.
This is important because of the close relation
between the mass media and interpersonal communication:
neither is completely affective in understanding behavior
(alone). The mass media presents messages which have two

components: (1) they present the occurrence of action;

 

and (2) they present the substance of action. The occur—

 

rence of action is here regarded as being a neutral action,
e.g. a demonstration at the People's Park in Berkeley.
The substance of the act is regarded as the evaluative

aspect. Evaluation relates to such judgments as: the

27

source of news (e.g. police or demonstrator); the slant
Of the news (editorial judgment); and placement of the
news (buried in the back of the paper). Occurrence and
substance overlap but must be regarded as being distinc-
tive differenciating elements. For example, both the
underground and the establishment papers may report on
the same event (occurrence) but they may give conflicting
accounts of the substance of the event (re: content and
ideology and presentation).

Recognizing this distinction, may then allow one
to discuss the problem: What difference does it make
what people read (re: occurrence) if the evaluative as-
pect (i.e. inter-personal communication) determines: (l)
importance and (2) re—definition or interpretation, of
the event in terms of some group oriented perspective?

One can make a further distinction between the
establishment media and the underground media: the es-
tablishment media presents messages which must appeal to
the largest possible audience (economic determinate?);
the underground or specific or specialized media may
appeal to a smaller but more receptive audience. This
notion Of audience receptivity is important because it
indicates that the evaluation of the media may have
something to do with the impact of interpersonal evalua-
tion. First those media which are regarded as being

more 'correct' (by readers) may be more readily accepted

28

and interpersonal mediations may play a smaller role in
the manipulation of the perception of the messages; con—
versely those media which are regarded as 'suspect' may
present messages which need more interpersonal analysis
to make "acceptable" sense out of those messages.
Therefore it would seem that the more specific
the media (e.g. SDS handout at rallies) the less need
for evaluation, if the people receiving the messages are
the same as those for whom the messages were constructed
and directed. Now one distinction that is very important
must be mentioned. It is possible that these messages
develOped to appeal to a select audience can be and are
of two types: (1) reinforcing messages and (2) conver-
sion messages. The two can be combined. The reinforcing
messages would be less susceptible to interpersonal
evaluation because in a sense the messages themselves are
a product of this evaluative process. The conversion
messages would be more susceptible to evaluative elements
(this process may negate or support the appeal of the
message, but this process must be regarded as an 'added-
step' or evaluative search). It should be noted that a
third type Of message is possible: this is one which
emphasis is placed on a set of moral values which are in
themselves either generally acceptable to the audience

or so vague as to be placed within any value framework.

29

This ability is both efficient and effective in reaching
the audience because: it can be applied to a diverse
readership with similar affect; and it appears to rein-
force the existing social values and beliefs (these

messages can be regarded as conversion/reinforcement

[neutral] messages).

RESEARCH PROBLEM

As discussed earlier the underground and estab—
lishment media have decidedly different views of news
presentation. Much of the current turmoil, called by
some "crime in the streets," and others "the first
stages Of revolution," has its focus on relations be-
tween activists/militants/radicals and representatives
of the 'system' they oppose, namely the police. In a
sense the police are both respected and feared by this
contingent of left activists: reSpected for their
ability to use 'ultimate' force and feared for their
ability to coerce and control.

Much of the 'image' of the police is a creation
of second-hand experience and mass media presentations.
These foundations of perception provide the "definitions
of roles" and "definitions of situations" and combine to
construct attitude and belief sets which can then be
acted upon. Police attitudes are then a result of the
manipulation of various bits and pieces of information
about the police, producing a 'picture' of the police
which is consistent with other related political and

social 'views.‘

30

31

Because of the pervasive presence of the under-
ground in various parts of the country, one can treat
the underground as a potential source of input into be-
lief and attitude structures of at least some members
of the social system. The underground media being a
'house organ' of the Movement (composed of various
groupings Of individuals, e.g. anti-war; anti-establish-
ment; anti-racism and imperialism, etc., etc.) provides'
a service to those individuals who are disposed to seek
confirmatory reinforcement Of their policies and atti-
tudes. A brief reading of the underground literature
is sufficient to find many references to the police and
police activity. Usually the police are treated as the
'enemy.‘ The police are made to look like 'puppets'
and lackeys Of some 'establishment.‘ Those people who
read this media complex are then confronted with a vast
multitude of negative evaluations of the police.

Of primary interest in this study is the ways in
which exposure to the media may have a determining affect
on the ways in which subjects perceive the police. Cer-
tainly, those people who characterize themselves (or are
characterized by action) as radicals will have a different
perception of the police, which is bounded by their ex-
periences and ideology than those who are less radical.
This group would use such terms as 'pig' and facist in

descriptions of the police. They would see the police

32

as 'devils' and 'enemies' in their (the radicals)
world.

On the other end of the (political) spectrum we
would find those people Who for ideological reasons
would view the police as a traditional agent of social
control; a View which would cast the police in the role
as defenders of the faith: "Support your local police"
sloganeering. It may be that notions relating conserva-
tism to the support of the status quo are apprOpriate:
the police protect the lives and property of 'haves'
against the onslaughts of the 'have-nots.‘

In the middle (of the road) we find those indi-
viduals who are ambivalent or apathetic to the question
of police behavior. They may be ambivalent because they
have no 'axe to grind,‘ they are merely spectators to
the confrontations apparent about them. They may be
apathetic because they do not perceive the issue Of
police action as being particularly important to their
own existence.

Assuming that the current 'fad' of finding fault
with the police becomes prevalent in establishment media,
how would these three groups of individuals behave (or
at least think)? Is it so far-fetched to see terms like
'police riot' and police 'brutality' receive widespread
dissemination? [It can be remembered that it was in the

underground media that anti-Vietnam prOpaganda was first

33

presented (in 1964, which coincides with the early rise
in pOpularity Of the underground media). Look at the
wide spread support that anti-war ideology has received.]
It is of some importance then to see how those
who are labeled 'radical' might react to specifically
unfavorable definitions of the police; as it is important
to see how the right (wing) populace react to such defi-
nitions. WOuld it be the case that the radicals become
more anti-police while the conservatives become more pro-
police? And what of the reaction of the middle-Of-the-

roaders?

METHOD

The subjects for this study consisted of 175
students enrolled in 200 level political science and
sociology courses. It cannot be said that these sub-
jects are representative of any other grouping of indi-
viduals. For instance this sample would not constitute
'even a good representation of either sociology or politi-
cal science undergraduates because of an open-enrollment
standard which allows students from various other depart-
ments or colleges to enroll for these courses. This
sample was chosen to provide information which may at a
later date be used to design a more inclusive and
representative study. In a sense this study is a pilot
project directed at uncovering certain relationships to
be studied in conjunction with a broader theoretical
perspective (of political socialization).

The subjects were divided into four groups: con-
trol and three experimental groups. Each of the subjects
recorded his political identification:

WOuld you consider yourself . . .

Radical
Liberal
Middle-of-the-road

Conservative
Ultra-conservative

34

35

In retrospect this sole measure of political inclination
is a questionable one. I would indicate at least three
reasons for this: (1) without any independent criterion
established for each of these terms it is possible that
inter-item descrimination by the subjects would be poor:
i.e. one man's radical may be another's middle-Of-the-
road moderate of 'white liberal.‘ (2) It may be the
case that any one individual may chose any one other
category of political identification at random as a
function of either inconsistent belief structure or a
very complex belief structure which would be subject
and/or object relative: e.g. the individual may be a
political radical and economic conservative. (3) Fads
being what they are, it may just be the case that it may
be the fashionable thing to be regarded and regard one-
self as a radical or conservative. In a sense, these
'plastic' partisans hold no belief what-so-ever.

The major justification of this response scheme
relates to the nature of the subject I am studying, in
that the terms used by the subjects may be more repre-
sentative of their 'true' perception Of their politics
than some measure which operationally defines political
identification in terms of some set of statements which
have no apparent Objective validity.

The subjects were chosen at random for inclusion

in the four groups. Each subject first responded to the

36

political-self-identity item. Those subjects in the
control group were then given two sets Of statements to
respond to. The first set of statements were drawn from
a study of community-police relations conducted in Los
Angeles. This scale was chosen because it provided the
broad overview of the police which would provide some
index of feelings on items ranging from police 'appear-
ance' to the way in which the police 'treat' suspects.
Twenty-one of twenty~two items were selected from this
scale as being appropriate. The one item rejected was
judged to be too specific to be useful:
Overall evaluation
1. One of the very best Police Departments in
the country.
2. About on an average with other large Police
Departments.
3. Definitely below standard in comparison with
other large Police Departments.
The second group of statements were constructed in such
a way as to appear 'loaded' or biased either pro-police
or anti-police. These statements would provide a dif-
ferent view of intensity of attitude. The first set of
statements were somehwat conservative, i.e. there was
apparent in the statements a rather "working within the
system" view of the police. It is questionable whether
this scale would provide an accurate index of dissatis-

faction. It should also be noted that the first set of

statements were not constructed in such a way as to provide

37

a continuum of response, i.e. there were three possible
responses, the first response was pro-police, the last
response was anti-police, but the second response was
not neutral. A better charactization of this second re—
sponse would be to say that it represented a 'moderate'
evaluation of the police. Examples of this response are:
Usually men who are fairly honest.
Have moderate professional interest in work.
Occasionally show favoritism to politicians.
The second set of statements provided a neutral response,

and an example Of a typical statement is:

Police do a good job of being respectful to
people like yourself.

Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly disagree
The experimental groups received a random selec-

tion of statements about the police from the Los Angeles

 

Free Press. [Selected from September to December, 1967]

 

A statement was more than a sentence but less than the
total news item or story. A statement would be a message
unit which provides both context and a component of evalua-
tion (occurrence and substance). A sentence might not

get across the jest or sense of the story. Space limita-
tions forbade the presentation of the whole news item or
story. The selection Of the statement as the unit of use
also appeared wise because I was attempting to present a
general picture of many not just a few 'accounts' Of

police behavior.

38

The Los Angeles Free Press (Freep) was chosen
because first, it was hoped that the action which was
described in the statements presented were unfamiliar;
this prevents the subjects from using alternative facts
to negatively evaluate the content of the statements.
Second, and more practical I had access to the Free Free
as it was (and is) locally distributed.

The subjects were not made aware Of the source of
the statements other than the statement: "The following
statements were selected from a West Coast newspaper
during the last three months of 1967."

The subjects were asked to read each of the
statements and then indicate their opinion of these state-
ments in terms of the criteria:

Rate each of the following statements in terms

of the way in which the statements compare with

your own personal Opinion of what "proper"

police behavior should be.

Unfortunately this instruction introduced into the study
a condition for which I was (and am) unprepared to
evaluate. The reason for this operation is simple, I
wanted to force the subjects to read each statement (and
hopefully think about its content). The easiest and most
effective means at my disposal was to force the subjects
to commit themselves overtly. But this process of com-

mitment may have introduced the problem of some interven-

ing factor not controlled for. In defense of this action,

39

it would seem that the subjects must constantly compare
the existent police attitudes with those statements pre-
sented. In this way any apparent conflict between the
two would become manifest. But the problem is compli—
cated by the fact that in evaluating the statements the
subjects may be calculating certain alternatives which
are Operating at cross purposes. For example: _
In its pamphlet on the June 23rd events at Cen-
tury City, the ACLU has succeeded in developing
the most complete chronology available to date
of the anti-Johnson demonstration in Los Angeles
and the subsequent attack of the police upon un-
armed and unaggressive demonstrators.
How would one hypothesize that a 'radical' would evaluate
this action. First, it may be the case that the subject
feels that this action is the proper and usual action
for the police to take. Or, the subject may feel that
this is improper police action (comparing his ideal no-
tion Of the police with police as they appear to be).
The first interpretation would relate to a conception
of events which would welcome such police behavior for
the reaction (within the radical community) it would
receive. The second interpretation would relate to that
'radical' who would say that this type of action must be
prevented.
Each Of the experimental groups received a dif-

ferent amount Of statements about the police. The first

experimental group received only one page Of statements;

40

the second group received two pages and the third experi-
mental group received four pages of statements.

After the experimental groups responded to the
Freep statements they were instructed to respond to the
two sets Of statements (police attitude items).

Time 1 Time 2

Control group Attitude statements
Exp. group 1 One page of statements Attitude statements
Exp. group 2 Two pages of statements Attitude statements.

Exp. group 3 Four pages of statements Attitude statements

The results were then analyzed in the following
way. The per cent Of pro, moderate or neutral, and anti-
police responses for each of the two sets Of attitude
statements was computed. These percentages would then
indicate the differences in responses between the various
groups and between the first set of attitude statements

and the second.

HYPOTHESIS

There are two major hypothesis to be tested:

That political self identity is highly related to
attitudes toward the police.

a. Radicals will be highly anti—police.

b. Conservatives will be highly pro-police.

c. Moderates will be somewhere between the radicals
and the conservatives in pro-police response.

That reading increasing amounts of police related

messages from an underground paper will have dif-

ferential effects as related to the political self
identity of the subject.

a. Radicals will become somewhat less.pro-police
after reading increasing amounts Of anti-police
statements.

1. Radicals will be less anti-police with respect
to a general conception Of the police.

2. Radicals will be more anti-police with respect
to a specific conception of police action.

b. Moderates will become more anti-police as they
read more anti-police statements.

c. Conservatives will become somewhat less pro-police

as they read increasing amounts of negative
evaluations Of the police.

41

RESULTS

There are two major hypothesis to be tested:
(1) that the radicals are less pro-police than the con-
servatives; and (2) the greater the amount of anti-police
statements read the less pro-police the respondants.

Political self-identity and police attitudes.--
The control group was used as a base for finding the re-
lation between political self-identity and pro-police
response. It was the control group that received no
statements about the police from the underground press;
this group simply recorded its attitudes toward the

police on the two scales noted above.

Table l.--The per cent of 'pro-police' responses for the
first set of statements (twenty-one items).

Political Identity Per Cent Pro Police Response
Radical 19.01
Middle-of-the-road 28.59
Conservative 50.34

42

43

Table 2.--The per cent of 'pro—police' responses for the
second set of statements (14 items).

Political Identity Per Cent Pro Police Response
Radical 15.83
Middle-Of-the—rdad 34.42
Conservative 44.30

The impact of varyingamounts Of anti-police
statements on radicals.--It was expected that the radi-
cals (as measured by the self—identity question only)
would already be as anti—police as conceptually possible,
i.e., they could not become more anti-police. If this
was the case than any change that would be expected
would be in the direction of lessening rather than in-
creasing anti-police response as a function of the ex-

perimental design.

Table 3.--The per cent Of pro police responses for the
radicals as affected by the experimental con-
ditions for the first set of statements.

Experimental Condition Per Cent Pro Police Response
Control 19.01
Exp. 1 (1 page) 34.60
Exp. 2 (2 pages) 24.60

Exp. 3 (4 pages) 23.98

44

Table 4.—-The per cent of pro police responses for the
radicals as affected by the experimental condi-
tions for the second set of statements.

Experimental Condition Per Cent Pro Police Response
Control 15.83
Exp. 1 (1 page) 19.81
Exp. 2 (2 pages) 21.14
Exp. 3 (4 pages) 13.69

The impact Of varying amounts of anti-police

statements on conservatives.--It is not as clear for the

 

conservatives (as it is for the radicals) that they are
conceptually as pro—police as possible (to begin with).
It can be hypothesized that the conservatives will become
somewhat less pro police as they read increasing amounts

of anti-police statements.

Table 5.--The per cent of pro police responses for the
conservatives as affected by the experimental
conditions for the first set of statements..

Experimental Conditions Per Cent Pro Police Responses
Control 50.34
Exp. 1 (1 page) 43.54
Exp. 2 (2 pages) 30.15

Exp. 3 (4 pages) 33.33

45

Table 6.--The per cent of pro police responses for the
conservatives as affected by the experimental
conditions for the second set Of statements.

Experimental Conditions Per Cent Pro Police Responses
Control 44.80
Exp. 1 (1 page) 48.90
Exp. 2 (2 pages) 44.00
Exp. 3 (4 pages) 37.50

The impact of varyingamounts of anti-police
statements on moderates.--It is expected that the moderates
will give the best indication of the general impact of
the anti-police statements because they are least af-
fected by the drawbacks of the experimental design. That
is, it is this group which has the widest possible range
of response [it can become either more or less pro

police].

Table 7.--The per cent of pro police responses for the
moderates as affected by the experimental
conditions for the first set of statements.

Experimental Conditions Per Cent Pro Police Responses
Control 28.59
Exp. 1 (1 page) 38.13
Exp. 2 (2 pages) 37.83

Exp. 3 (4 pages) 33.72

46

Table 8.--The per cent of pro police responses for the
moderates as affected by the experimental con-
ditions for the second set of statements.

Experimental Conditions Per Cent Pro Police Responses
Control 34.42
Exp. 1 (1 page) 32.61
Exp. 2 (2 pages) 30.16

Exp. 3 (4 pages) 28.99

DISCUSSION

The first hypothesis, that political identity is
related to attitudes toward police, was confirmed, as can
be seen in Tables 1 and 2. The radicals (or left-radi-
cals) are much more non-pro-police than either the-moder-
ates or the conservatives, while the conservatives are'
much more pro-police than either the radicals or the
moderates. Table 1 indicates this pattern for the
general working-within-the-system types of statements.

It is to be noted that the general pro-police response

is somewhat higher here than in the next table. This
might indicate that in general the subjects might be less
anti-police over a broad range of police action and be-
havior. But Table 2 indicates that for more specific
criteria (re: specific kinds of 'good' and bad police
conduct) the response is more anti-police. Interestingly
enough, this holds for both the radicals and the conserva-
tive but not for the moderates. One way of explaining
this pattern would be to note that it is probably those
groups at extreme ends of the political spectrum that are
most suspect of police interference (i.e., police repres-
sion can be directed at either the radical left or the

conservative right). The moderates are more critical of

47

48

the police for general reasons (instead of political
ones).

In Tables 3 and 4 we see that the affect of the
experimental conditions on the radicals is not a clear
one. Instead it seems that the control group is the
most anti-police. It is here that one must note that
the experimental design would influence the results. As
noted, the radicals-are generally as anti-police as could
be possible. Therefore any change in attitudes would be
towards a lessening of anti-police response as a function
of the instrument used. It is also interesting to note
that in Table 3 the radicals are somewhat less anti-police
(re:- Table 4). It is possible that in general terms the
radicals resent particular types of police action rather
than the general image of the police presented in the
first set Of statements. It is noted that there is less
pro-police response for the second set of statements
about the police.

Of some interest is the fact that the lowest pro-
police response for the first set of statements (general
police image) is almost the same as the highest pro-
police response for the second set of statements (19.01
to 21.14). This might be understood by noting that the
content in the statements about the police (the experi-
mental condition) were rather specific in nature and more

akin to the type of items found in the second set of

49

statements. Therefore the second set of statements may
be a more direct indication of the impact of the police
items (statements from the underground paper).

In general, radicals are less anti-police generally
but more anti-police on specific issues with which they
can empathize or which have been confronted. And the
impact of increasing amounts Of material (detrimental to
the police image) will apparently have more impact on
specific than general attitudes. Finally, it is noted
that the lowest pro-police response was found with those
who read the greatest amount of anti-police statements
and responded to the more specific police attitude scale.
It would be the expectation that the highest pro-police
response would be found where the conservative control
group would be responding to the first attitude scale
(general police image). This is confirmed [Table l for
the conservatives]. This would set the conceptual range
of possible response to the police: from the radical
who has read statements which confirm his expectations
about the police and responds to those items which best
indicate his suspicion of the police; to the conservative
who has a generally favorable image of the police and
reads no evidence disconfirming this image and responds
in a general way to his perceived inclination.

Tables 5 and 6 show that the reading increasing

amounts of anti-police statements has the affect of

50

increasing the amount of anti-police responses. But the
one confounding factor is that, instead of applying to
the second set of attitude statements (as was the case
with the radicals), this applies more to the first (general)
set of attitude items. One could hypothesize that the
conservative cannot symphthize with the situations pre-
sented in the second set of items (which have of course
a radical bias) but can show their dissatisfaction in
more general ways. In a way, this is a reasonable re-
sponse. It is hard to see the conservatives agreeing
with the image of the police which is mostly radical;
but it is quite logical for them to be more anti-police
while not agreeing with the radical image. Table 5
indicates that as the conservatives read increasing
amounts of anti-police statements they become somewhat
less pro-police. But in Table 6 it can be seen that the
conservatives do not appear to become less pro-police in
terms of the radical conception of the police; they just
become more anti-police in their own way, i.e., kind of
a non-radical devaluation Of the police image.

Tables 7 and 8 show the ways in which the moderates
respond to increasing amounts of negative evaluations of
the police. It is felt that this group is the best indi-
cator of the affect of the experimental conditions.

In Table 7 excluding the control group it is

quite apparent that as the amount of anti-police statements

51

presented to them increased so does-their degree of
anti-police response increase. It must be noted that
this table relates to the general police item attitude
scale. When one includes the control group it appears
that the statements presented to the subjects produces
a generally more pro-police response (re: the control
group).

In Table 8 one sees the expected pattern of ex-
perimental affect: starting with the control group, the
more negative evaluations of the police that the subjects
read the less their pro-police response. It is possible
that the discrepancy between the results in the two
tables relates to the fact that there are some points in
the statements presented to the subjects which increase
the evaluation of the police in a general way but actually

decrease the image of the police in specific ways.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

This brief study indicated some of the major and
apparent.differences between the establishment and under—
ground media. These differences relate tO presentation,
content, and ideology. As was noted the underground
media is an outgrowth of the first stages in the develOp-
ment of a general socio-political movement: it provided
that news and information which was not being faithfully
recorded in the establishment press. As the ties between
the underground media and the community they served
strengthened, they presented an interpretation of men.
and events which reinforced the particular world-view of
this general social movement. One symbol of authority
which received much coverage was the police. Police were
generally viewed unfavorably. The question the empirical
section of this paper dealt with the possible impact of
reading this material relating to the police.

It was found that these statements selected from
the underground media had an affect on the perception Of
particular types of specific police conduct and behavior.

It was the moderates or middle—Of-the-roaders who most

neatly complied with the pattern expected; as they read more

of the anti-police statements they responded with fewer

52

53

pro-police responses. It can be noted in conclusion
that the results would seem to indicate that if these
anti-police messages ever find currency in the estab-
lishment media they may have great impact on that vast
centrist grouping now referred to as the 'silent
majority.’ The radicals may become somewhat more anti-
police and the conservatives may become somewhat less
pro-police but the moderates will undoubtedly exhibit a
very high degree of anti-police sentiment (relative to

some earlier pro-police sentiment).

REFERENCES

REFERENCES

The Ann Arbor Argus. Vol 1. No. 6, May 8-22, 1969.

 

"Armed Forces: The Peace GI's," Newsweek, April 21,
1969, p. 36.

"Battle of Four-Letter Words," Time, March 8, 1968, p. 73.
Didion, Joan and John Gregory Dunne. "Alicia and the

Underground," Saturday Evening Post, January 13,
1968.

 

Greenfield, Robert. "Turn-On Radio: The New wave,"
Eye, April, 1969, pp. 65-.

Key, V. 0. Public Opinion and American Democracy, 1964.

 

"Making It--Underground," Newsweek, March 4, 1968, pp. 58-9.
"Notes From Underground," Newsweek, July 8, 1968, p. 76.

Papper, Thomas. "Growing Rich on the Hippie," The Nation,
April 29, 1968, pp. 569-572.

 

"Reporting: All the News That's Fit to Protest," Time,
March 22, 1968, p. 67.

"The Seedier Media," The New Republic, December 2, 1967,
pp. 7-8-

Stone, Richard. "Hip Papers: The Underground Press suc-
ceeds by intriguing rebels and squares," Wall
Street Journal, Monday, March 4, 1968, EasEern
Edition, pp. I,15.

 

Strouse, Jean. "Guide to the Underground Press," Eye,
February, 1969, pp. 50-.

"Underground Alliance," Time, July 29, 1966, p. 57.

"Underground Trips," Newsweek, May 1, 1967, p. 65.

54

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

List of statements selected from the Los Angeles Free
Press during the last three months of 1967.

Later in the evening, three crewcutted young men
whom several patrons identified as plainsclothesmen came
in and sat at one Of the tables. After appropriating an
already-in-use chair from another table (without being
able to provoke a fight), they broke a tall glass, which
fell to the floor. Shortly after that, they left, leav-
ing the jagged pieces of glass lying on the floor.

The first, California State Police Officer Noel
B. Bailey of Stockton, has been suspended after having
allegedly planted pot in his back yard.

Grinning nonsensically, the two investigators
walked out the front exit, waving to the "applauding"
crowd, and shamefully trying to hide the bulky film case
under a tight coat. A Santa Barbara news photographer
was told to "shove off" when he tried to capture the
event on celluloid.

On one occasion, Dellar said, he was talking
with two cops outside the store. He said he asked them,
"You talk about our shop as if it were some terrible kind
Of den. Won't you at least come in and let us show you.
the shop, and the things that we sell?" The cop's answer,
he said, was: "No, we know all about all that Communist
shit you have in there."

A little more inclined to activism? Ball-bearings
have been suggested as effective counter-riot tools. Or
marbles which being more colorful, tend to give a festive
air to police riots. What happens here is that when the
advancing protect-and-servers are 50 feet away, everyone
bends down and sends a double handful of marbles rolling
down the street. I don't care how big your feet are--the
result would be a tangle of blue-serge arms and legs un-
dreamed of even in the wildest stretches of Kama Sutra
art. And this gambit would tend to curb the enthusiams
Of the motorcycle type fuzz, too--the ones who use their
hogs like horses, riding them full tilt into a crowd in
an effort to "disperse."

55

56

The days that ushered in the third week Of Octo—
ber were something else. Whooping and brawling, the
brave policemen Of Oakland swooped with flailing clubs
on peace demonstrators and beat them to the ground.

Chief Meester's activities give credence to the
oft told tales of pot heads Of police resorting to
"planting" drugs on people whom they would not ordinarily
have valid grounds to arrest.

The living area behind the Reality Exit, which
Medlevine uses as "a place for people to crash," was the
object of a well organized, well-planned bust one night
.about two weeks ago. "Suddenly, at about 10:30 p.m.,"
Medlevine said, "Plainclothesmen and plainclotheswomen
and uniformed heat came toward the house from every di-
rection. I felt like I was in the middle Of-a school of
sharks. Russ, one of the guys living here, came to the
door Opened it just a crack and said, 'You can't come in
here without a warrant.‘ One Of the Older cops, who ap—
peared to be in charge, shouted, 'Get him!‘ Then, four:
cops forced Open the door, grabbed Russ and threw him
clear across the room, smashed him against the wall, and
threw him against the room again and smashed him against
the refrigerator. They ripped Off his shirt and gave
him a terrible beating. Even after they put the hand-
cuffs on him and they had him in the car, they were still
hitting him in the ribs and stomach. Several others in
the room confirm Medlevine's story, saying that the cops
were indeed still beating on Russ in the car, although he
was handcuffed.

Dr. A. C. Germann, a professor of criminology at
Long Beach State College, described American police chiefs,
as a group as "narrow-minded, parochial, tunnel-visioned
individuals who are frightened at making innovations and
who have given us ineffective law enforcement for the last
50 or 100 years." Asked to clarify this statement, Ger-
mann, a former Los Angeles police officer, said, "In other
words, there are a lot of dead-heads in the front Office."

In its pamphlet on the June 23rd events at Century
City, the ACLU-has succeeded in developing the most com-
plete chronology available to date of the anti-Johnson
demonstration in Los Angeles and the subsequent attack Of
police upon unarmed and unaggressive demonstrators.

The Older one walked up to Harris Dellar, manager
Of the place and asked, "What was the name of the band
that was playing?" Dellar shrugged and said he didn't
know, in a manner that was neither insolent nor Obsequious--

57

just sort Of casual. A few minutes later the COp said

to him," I asked you a question and you gave me a smart
answer. You're going to see a lot of me from now on."

The cop stood there, expectantly, as if waiting for Dellar
to apologize or humble himself in some way. Whatever he
was waiting for did not come, and he turned away. The day
after the bust Dellar was fired. His explanation was that
the plainclothesman had told the owners to fire him, or
else they could expect a great deal more harassment.

One Berkeley policeman had an amazing record for
finding grass in a high percentage of cases he had stopped
for traffic violations. Many Of these drivers were later
found innocent and in time, this reign Of terror was
stopped.

At some signal I did not see, the police suddenly
advanced on us, swinging their clubs, especially at those
who had plywood shields or garbage can lids for protec-
tion. I recall wanting to get away from the clubs yet not
wanting to run. The front line soon was backed up against
the rest of the demonstrators and there was no place to go.

Why did Dellar close the shop? "With all the
theft and vandalism, plus the police harassment, it was
just too much of a bad scene. .'. . The heat was there
every night, from the time we Opened, and it got so bad
that every time that the Man arrived, all the peOple would
leave the shop." Girls were ordered to leave the shop and
then busted for being out on the street after curfew.

Kids who were arrested for curfew were ordered to appear
with their parents in Juvenile Division of the L.A.P.D.
and be interviewed by a counselor.

The Officers formed a wedge and began moving
through the crowd. They seemed to pay attention only to
those demonstrators who were in front of the induction.
center. They drove right into them. They didn't waste
time making arrests. (A total of 19 arrested.) They
were using their billy clubs quite freely and they also
used mace, the new liquid which comes out of an aerosol
can..

The truth of the matter, according to Dederich,
is that "The Santa Monica police department is used as a
private army by a special interest group--we don't know
who, but we will go to court like adults to find out. . . .
We are the city of Santa Monica too," said Dederich. "We
own $5-l/2 million worth Of property. Yet the police
never come when we call. Last month a group Of drunks
with knives were smashing up our apartment (Many Synanonites

58

live in a 62-unit dwelling on Cloverfield and Virginia)
and they wouldn't come; we've had a half a dozen home-
made bombs thrown in the building; and we called them to
report some marijuana-smoking youths beside the building;
they didn't come."

The California criminologist said the average
police department demands mediocrity and conformity and
that a man doesn't rise to an executive position unless
he conforms and sings the party line. Germann, who
helped write the President's Report on Crime and Law En-
forcement, continued his criticism by declaring, "There
are a lot of 70 10's at the head of American police de-
partments. If anyone cares to challenge this assertion,
let's just test the chiefs of 150 departments selected at
random and look at the results.

The Oakland fuzz have never quite won a prize
for the "best" PD around, "being largely under the thumb
of a city boss so reactionary that he makes Santa Monica's
hacks look like bleeding liberals by comparison.

The idea of New York Rules goes back nearly a
decade to that ugly fall morning when it was discovered
that a kind of middling grade poet named Ringo Angel
(who had up till that point been noted for reading poetry
which rhymed) was in reality a Detective Sergeant on the
Narcotics Squad of the New York Police Department and all
those people went to jail. Stevenson Phillips tells
about Ringo Angel, I hear Ringo is a Captain now, and the
stories about the famous pot party which he invited dozens
of peOple to, supposed to have been held at the Charles
Street Police Station are legion. Poor Joey Gof, walking
down the street with a cat he's known for about three
hours who stopped to use a police phone. Joey asked the
cat, "Are you a cop?" and the cat said "Yeah" and Joey
said, "You're not going to bust me, are you?" and the
cat said, "You've been busted for,about 20 minutes."

Babb had been told of the planned visit from the
cops earlier that afternoon. He had tried to reach the
D.A. several times by telephone, thinking that something
short Of an Old fashioned raid might be arranged among
civilized peoples. The D.A., however, was conspicuously
absent, being involved in a futile attempt to convince
the Goleta Fire Department that they should stand by with
high pressure hoses to control the 'mob' they said was
assembling outside the theater. The evening ended with
the investigators demanding to be taken into the projec-
tion booth where they confiscated the film "Change Of

59

Heart," a unique work by Andrew Noren about the death of
human passions and senses.

There are no soul brothers on Wall Street. And
the N.Y. police force is 28,000 strong; its local brother-
hood of storm-troopers, the Tactical Patrol Force (TPF)
riot specialists—-"we provoke 'em, we control 'em"--is
about the size of the Oakland Police force en masse.,

Several students gathered around Cliff as he was
handcuffed questioning the cops about the legality of the
arrest. John Johnson, a friend of Cliff's, questioned
the arresting Officer about why and where Cliff was going.
One Of the officers next to Cliff arrested Johnson for
interfering with the arrest.

Mystery.and concern are mounting over the fatal
shooting of a 20-year-Old religious pacifist by narcotics
detectives in South Laguna last week. The youth, Peter
Amasanthus, was shot and killed by plainclothesmen as he
fled a raid on a private home in the South Bay community
last Thursday. There are unavoidable indications of
criminal negligence and possibly of willful malpractice
by the officers involved. None of the officers involved
were in uniform. They drove unmarked vehicles. At no
time did they display a warrant or identify themselves
as law Officers. . . . The youth was cut down in a salvo
Of shots fired after the ten officers burst into the
home through doors and windows . . . none of the suspects
was armed.

APPENDIX B

General Police attitude scale from: G. Douglas Gourley,
Public Relations and the Police. Charles C. Thomas,
Springfield, Illinois, 1953, pp. 37-39.

1.

APPEARANCE

(1) Dress to command public respect.
(2) Dress fairly well.

(3) Habitually dress sloppily

PHYSICAL CONDITION

(1) Mostly in excellent physical condition.
(2) Usually in good physical condition.

(3) Mostly in poor physical condition.

EDUCATION

(1) Usually men of high school education or higher.

(2) Mostly men having at least elementary school
education.

(3) Usually men of little or no education.

HONESTY

(1) Mostly men of unquestionable honesty.
(2) Usually men who are fairly honest.
(3) Mostly men who are dishonest.

COURTESY

(l) Habitually courteous in dealing with the public.
(2) Sometimes discourteous in dealing with the public.
(3) Very discourteous in dealing with the public.

PROFESSIONAL INTEREST

(1) Have high professional interest in work.

(2) Have moderate professional interest in work.
(3) Have only slight professional interest in work.

TRAINING

(1) Highly trained in modern police methods.
(2) Fairly well trained.

(3) Mostly poorly trained.

60

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

61

BASIS OF SELECTION

(1) Members selected for personal merit and ability.

(2) Members usually selected for personal merit and
ability.

(3) Members seldom selected for personal merit and
ability.

DEPARTMENTAL DISCIPLINE

(l) Operate under excellent discipline.
(2) Operate under fairly good discipline.
(3) Operate under poor discipline.

EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES

(1) Make use of all available modern police equipment.
(2) Use some modern equipment.

(3) Do not understand the use of modern equipment.

INFLUENCE OF POLITICS

(1) Apprehend criminals indiscriminately without
regard for pressure brought by influential persons.

(2) Occasionally show favoritism to politicians.

(3) Lose jobs by refusing to obey orders of political
bosses.

CRIME PREVENTION

(1) Make consistent effort to educate public in how
best to protect property.

(2) Occasionally give information to the public on
how to protect property.

(3) Seldom try to educate the public in means of
protecting property.

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

(1) Usually watchful to prevent juvenile delinquency.

(2) Occasionally put forth some effort to prevent
juvenile delinquency.

(3) Indifferent concerning juvenile delinquency.

INFLUENCE OF PRESS

(l) Operate independently from newspaper publicity.

(2) Pay particular attention to those crimes reported
in the newspapers.

(3) Make serious effort to supress crime only when
newspapers complain.

INVESTIGATION AND APPREHENSION

(1) Usually apprehend criminals in difficult cases.

(2) Have moderate amount Of success in difficult
cases.

(3) Rarely get their man in difficult cases.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

62

TREATMENT OF SUSPECTS

(1) Respect constitutional rights of suspected
criminals.

(2) Use whatever degree of force found convenient.

(3) Often conscienceless and brutal in performing
duties.

BOYS AND GIRLS

(l) Liked by boys and girls.

(2) Boys and girls are indifferent.
(3) Feared by boys and girls.

MINORITY GROUPS

(1) Usually fair in dealing with minority groups.

(2) Sometimes unfriendly in dealing with minority
groups.

(3) Definitely prejudiced in dealing with minority
groups.

PROTECTION OF INNOCENT

(1) Careful not to arrest innocent persons.

(2) Occasionally arrest innocent persons.

(3) Indifferent whether persons arrested are innocent
or not.

SUPERVISION

(l) Directed by highly competent and efficient
supervisors.

(2) Supervisors are fiarly competent and efficient.

(3) Supervisors are inefficient and not qualified.

TOP ADMINISTRATION

(l) Administrators or executives are very competent
and well trained.

(2) Administrators or executives are of average
ability and competence.

(3) Administrators or executives are incompetent and
untrained.

APPENDIX C

Scale constructed to measure specific attitudes towards
certain aspects of police action and behavior.

1.

10.

11.

The police are doing an excellent job of enforcing
the laws of the land.
l.SA. 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD

Police do a good job on being respectful to people
like yourself.
l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD

You would have to replace at least half the police
force to get really good police.

l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD
Police never accuse you of things you didn't do.

l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD
Police try to act "big shot."

l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD
Police try to get smart with you if you ask them a
question.

l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD

You have a great respect for the police.
l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD

Police act to supress news accounts which might
tend to place them in a bad light.
l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD

Police brutality is a myth.
l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD

Policemen do not "plant" evidence on people and then
arrest.them.

l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD
Policemen are generally ultra-conservative.

l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD

63

12.

13.

14.

64

Policemen do not selectively enforce the law.
l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD

The average college student is much more intelligent
than the average policeman.
l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD

Policemen do not let their political beliefs inter-
fere with the performance of their duties.

l.SA 2.A 3.U 4.D 5.SD

FEB 2 7 1988