Etmaal 2014 presentation: on the effects of opinionated news
1. Political Communication #5
Mark Boukes, et al.:
Assessing the Mechanisms Underlying the Effects of Opinionated News: How
Opinionated News Affects Political Attitudes
Ruud Wouters:
Do Targets React and Third Parties Comment? Responsiveness and Scope
Expansion in Television News Reports of Protest Demonstrations
Sophie Lecheler et al.:
Political News Framing on Effect Strength and Persistence
Bjorn Burscher et al.:
Automatic Coding of Policy Issues in News Articles and Parliamentary
Questions: An SML-Approach
2. Assessing the Mechanisms Underlying
the Effects of Opinionated News:
How Opinionated News Affects Political Attitudes
Mark Boukes
Hajo G. Boomgaarden
Marjolein Moorman
Claes H. De Vreese
Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap 2014
4th February 2014, Wageningen
3. Opinionated “news”
Not follow essential journalistic standards:
- objectivity, fairness, and accuracy
3
4. Research Question and Theory
How does opinionated news affect citizens’ political attitudes?
Theory:
Presumed influence
Relative Hostile Media Phenomenom
Are these consequential for politically relevant variables?
4
5. Hypothesis 1:
The influence of Presumed influence
5
Presumed
influence
Perceived
opinion climate
H1a H1b
H1c
Attitude
Objective news
versus
Opinionated news
6. Hypothesis 2:
The influence of bias perceptions
6
Political preference:
Left vs. Right
Anger
Perceived
bias
H2a H2b
H2c
Attitude
Objective news
versus
Opinionated news
7. Method
Experiment: randomized exposure to a TV news item
2 x 2 design
4 conditions:
Adult sample recruited via Panelclix.
7
Opinionated
PowNews
(n = 61)
Objective
NOS
(n = 59)
Opinionated
NOS
(n = 61)
Objective
PowNews
(n = 60)
8. Stimuli
Topic: widening of the highway A27
-Broadcasted by NOS and PowNews
-Clear debate structure with advocates and opponents
•Video creation:
- Original NOS item used as basis
- 2 recorded voice-overs: neutral vs. opinionated
- 2 source cues: NOS vs. PowNews
8
12. Results: Hypothesis 2
12
Political preference:
Left vs. Right
Perceived
bias
Objective NOS
versus
Opinionated PowNews
Objective PowNews
versus
Opinionated PowNews
Objective NOS
versus
Opinionated NOS
+
+ +
-
-
-
14. Results: Hypothesis 2
14
Results: Hypothesis 2
14
Political preference:
Left vs. Right
Anger
Perceived
bias
Attitude toward
highway
widening
Objective NOS
versus
Opinionated PowNews
Objective PowNews
versus
Opinionated PowNews
Objective NOS
versus
Opinionated NOS
+
+ +
-
-
-
+
–
15. Conclusion
2 mechanisms: one cognitive, one affective.
Salience of a topic may influence strength of indirect effects
- Low salience: Follow perceptions of the perceived majority
- High salience: Likely to evoke hostile media perceptions
Normal conditions:
- Selective exposure ≠> hostile media perception Positive indirect effect
- People also watch ideologically incongruent news,
so hostile media effect will still occur.
15
16. Questions / Remarks?
Assessing the Mechanisms Underlying the Effects of
Opinionated News:
How Opinionated News Affects Political Attitudes
Boukes, M.
Boomgaarden, H. G.
Moorman, M.
de Vreese, C. H.
Contact: m.boukes@uva.nl