Vox Populi

In broadcasting, vox populi (/ˈvɒks ˈpɒpjuːli/, /-laɪ/ VOKS POP-ew-lee, -lye) is an interview with members of the public. Vox populi is a Latin phrase that literally means "voice of the people".

American television personality Steve Allen as the host of The Tonight Show further developed the "man on the street" interviews and audience-participation comedy breaks that have become commonplace on late-night TV. 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 MOTS.

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.

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