Vox populi

For other uses, see Vox populi (disambiguation).

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

Vox populi, a Latin phrase that literally means voice of the people, is a term often used in broadcasting for interviews of 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.

Because the results of such an interview are unpredictable at best, usually vox pop material is edited down very tightly; doing it live is mostly impractical. This presents difficulties of balance, in that the selection used ought, from the point of view of journalistic standards, to be 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, casts 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, i.e., 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, "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.

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. [[1]]

• "Vox Populi" is the name of the blog of the Georgetown Voice, Georgetown University's weekly newsmagazine. [[2]]

Well established in broadcast journalism, the "vox populi" format is sometimes used for dramatic or comedic effect in other media. For example, the film Mean Girls includes several instances of students directly addressing the camera to reveal their thinking on the title characters with lines like, "I saw Cady Heron wearing army pants and flip-flops, so I bought army pants and flip-flops," lending credence to the idea of the "mean girls" as celebrities within their school by showing that everyone has an opinion of them. Monty Python's Flying Circus sometimes filled the time between sketches with characters sharing absurd opinions in vox-populi style, such as a stern upper-class man who suggests setting fire to the poor. The later sketch-comedy show A Bit of Fry and Laurie featured "vox pops" in every episode, frequently playing on easily recognizable British stereotypes like the stupid policeman, yobbo, or middle-class housewife and satirizing the answers they would typically be expected to give on social or political issues. Humor was also often derived from the fact that the only the answer and not the question was heard, leading to non-sequiturs like a straitlaced businessman saying, "Well I wouldn't suck it!" laughing nervously, and withdrawing, with no further explanation given.

See also

• Greg Packer, a quasi-professional vox pop interviewee.
• Sepultura, Sepultura wrote and performed the song "Vox Populi" on the CD "Nation"
• List of Latin phrases