Vox populi

"Voice of the people" redirects here. For other uses, see Voice of the people (disambiguation).

For other uses, see Vox populi (disambiguation).

Vox populi (Template:Pron-en VOKS POP-ew-lye), a Latin phrase that literally means voice of the people, is a term often used in broadcasting for interviews with members of the "general public".

Vox pop, the man in the street

A vox pop interview

Usually the interviewees are shown in public places, and supposed to be giving spontaneous opinions in a chance encounter — unrehearsed persons, not selected in any way. As such, broadcast journalists almost always refer to them as the abbreviated vox pop. In U.S. broadcast journalism it is often referred to as a man on the street interview or M.O.T.S.. The technique was especially used in reporting surrounding the United Kingdom general election in 2005.

Because the results of such an interview are unpredictable at best, usually vox pop material is edited down very tightly. This presents difficulties of balance, in that the selection used ought to be, from the point of view of journalistic standards, a fair cross-section of opinions.

Although the two can be quite often confused, a vox pop is not a form of a survey. Each person is asked the same question, the aim is to get a variety of answers and opinions on any given subject. Journalists are usually instructed to approach a wide range of people to get varied answers from different points of view. The interviewees should be of various ages, genders, classes and communities so that the diverse views and reactions of the general people will be known. Generally, the vox pop question will be asked of different persons in different parts of streets or public places. But as an exception, in any specific topic or situation which is not concerned to general people, the question can be asked only in a specific group to know what the perception/reaction is of that group to the specific topic or issue; e.g., a question can be asked to a group of students about the quality of the education.

Proverbial use

Often quoted as, Vox populi, vox dei (/ˈvɒks ˈpɒpjəlaɪ ˈvɒks ˈdeɪ.aɪ/), "The voice of the people [is] the voice of God", is an old proverb often erroneously attributed to William of Malmesbury in the twelfth century.

Another early reference to the expression is in a letter from Alcuin to Charlemagne in 798, although it is believed to have been in earlier use. The full quotation from Alcuin reads:

Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, Vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit.

English translation:

And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness.

The usage indicates that the phrase had long since become an aphorism of common political wisdom by Alcuin and Charlemagne's time.

Cultural references

• "Vox Populi" is a paper by Sir Francis Galton, first published in the March 7, 1907 issue of Nature that mathematically demonstrates the "wisdom of crowds."
• "Vox Populi" is the motto of the Alabama House of Representatives.
• "Vox Populi" is the name of the blog of the Georgetown Voice, Georgetown University's weekly newsmagazine.
• Vox Populi is the name of 2008 Dutch film by Eddy Terstall.
• "Vox Populi" is the name of an episode from the first season of the television series Jericho.
• "Vox Pop" is a student newspaper at the University of Aberdeen.
• "Vox Populi" is the name of a song on 30 Seconds To Mars's 2009 album, "This Is War".
• Vox Populi has been used as the name of several public opinion polls in the past, including a recent series of daily polls hosted by The Escapist.
• "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" is the name of a project by Anonymous.
• "Vox Populi" is the title of Chapter 1, Book 3 of V for Vendetta
• "Vox Populi" a term used in The Fountainhead by Ellsworth Toohey when speaking to Peter Keating

See also

• List of Latin phrases
• Greg Packer, a quasi-professional vox pop interviewee.
• Paul Yarrow