Abstract

Vox pops are a frequent and growing practice in the news. However, there seems to be a general tendency in journalistic practice to be quite critical about these interviews with the ordinary man on the street. Yet, hardly any research exists about journalists’ evaluation of vox pops or that has gone further than speculating about why they are used. This study tackles these research gaps using a survey involving 253 Belgian journalists. We conclude that vox pops are used mostly by audiovisual journalists, and that journalists seem to use them mostly because vox pops increase audience involvement with a news item. Generally, the journalists are quite negative about vox pops, but journalists who perceive them as involving and good public opinion tools are more positive. Against our expectations, the experience of journalists does not influence the evaluation nor the use of vox pops.