Media Effects

Politicians, journalists and publics engage with political media every day and across multiple platforms. There is a common belief that the news media can exert large effects on a susceptible populace. Political candidates and parties, for example, continue to plough increasing amounts of money into political advertising and a strong media presence. Yet the efficacy of these media relies as much on the psychology of those receiving news as those promoting it. Source cues, relevant media technology, message content and prior beliefs, and human information processing are all important. As such, select exposure to media content and message discarding can define the mass impact of the media’s agenda-setting, priming, and framing functions. The digital revolution has also renewed and diversified the study of media effects with a particular focus on social media. The following texts engage with these themes to unpick the psychology of media effects in politics.

Introduction to the topic:

Valentino, N.A. and Nadris, Y. (2013). Political Communication: form and consequence of the information environment. In L. Huddy, D. Sears, and J. Levy (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 813-851. 

Category 1: Media output.

Druckman, J.N. (2005). Media Matter: How Newspapers and Television News Cover Campaigns and Influence Voters, Political Communication, Vol. 22(4): 463-481.

Holbrook, R.A, and Hill, T.G. (2005). Agenda-Setting and Priming in Prime-Time Television: Crime Dramas as Political Cues. Political Communication, Vol. 22(3): 277-295.

Scheufele, D.A., and Tewksbury, D. (2007). Framing, Agenda Setting, and Priming: The Evolution of Three Media Effects Models. Journal of Communication, Vol. 57(1): 9-20.

Huber, G.A., and Arceneaux, K. (2007). Identifying the Persuasive Effects of Presidential Advertising. American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 51: 957-977.

Bennett, W.L. and Iyengar, S. (2008). A New Era of Minimal Effects? The Changing Foundations of Political Communication. Journal of Communication, Vol. 58: 707-731.

Althaus, S., Swigger, N., Chernykh, S., Hendry, D., Wals, S., and Tiwald, C. (2011). Assumed Transmission in Political Science: A Call for Bringing Description Back In. The Journal of Politics, Vol. 73(4): 1065-1080.

Category 2: Media consumption and impact.

Bartels, L. (1993). Messages Received: The Political Impact of Media Exposure. American Political Science Review, Vol. 87(2): 267-285.

Valentino, N.A., Hutchings, V.L. and Williams, D. (2004). The Impact of Political Advertising on Knowledge, Internet Information Seeking, and Candidate Preference. Journal of Communication, Vol.54: 337-354.

Stroud, N. (2008). Media Use and Political Predispositions: Revisiting the Concept of Selective Exposure. Political Behavior, Vol. 30(3): 341-366.

Stroud, N.J. (2010). Polarization and Partisan Selective Exposure. Journal of Communication, Vol. 60: 556-576.

Chan, M., and Lee, F.L.F. (2014). Selective exposure and agenda setting: exploring the impact of partisan media exposure on agenda diversity and political participation. Asian Journal of Communication, Vol. 24(4): 301-314.

Helfer, L. (2016). Media Effects on Politicians: An Individual-Level Political Agenda-Setting Experiment. The International Journal of Press/Politics, Vol. 21(2): 233–252.

Xu, X. and Peterson, J.B. (2017). Differences in Media Preference Mediate the Link Between Personality and Political Orientation. Political Psychology, Vol.38: 55-72.

Category 3: Media-linked activism and campaigning.

Swigger, N. (2013). The Online Citizen: Is Social Media Changing Citizens’ Beliefs About Democratic Values?. Political Behaviour, Vol. 35: 589–603.

Bimber, B. (2014). Digital Media in the Obama Campaigns of 2008 and 2012: Adaptation to the Personalized Political Communication Environment. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, Vol. 11(2): 130-150.

Auter, Z.J., Fine, J.A. (2016). Negative Campaigning in the Social Media Age: Attack Advertising on Facebook. Polit Behaviour, Vol. 38: 999–1020.

Boulianne, S. (2019). Revolution in the making? Social media effects across the globe. Information, Communication & Society, Vol. 22(1): 39-54.

Boulianne, S., Koc-Michalska, K., and Bimber, B. (2020). Mobilizing media: comparing TV and social media effects on protest mobilization. Information, Communication & Society, Vol. 23(5): 642-664.

Kofi Frimpong, A.N., Li, P., Nyame, G. et al. (2020) The Impact of Social Media Political Activists on Voting Patterns. Political Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-020-09632-3

Online content

News:

Jay D. Bolter in The Atlantic – ‘Social Media Are Ruining Political Discourse’ (May 2019, Available here).

Simon Hinde for Cairn Info – ‘Brexit and the Media’ (2017, Available here).

Brian McNair in The Conversation – ‘ Calming the media storm’ (November 2013, Available here).

Diana Owen for OpenMind – ‘The New Media’s Role in Politics’ (2018, Available here).

Podcasts:

The Media and Politics Podcast by Harvard Kennedy School – The Media and Politics Podcast features insight and expertise from leading voices at the intersection of media, politics and public policy. Prominent journalists, editors and academics address topics such as the media industry, campaigns and politics, foreign policy, race and gender, and technology. Available here.

Social Media and Politics by Michael Bossetta - Social Media and Politics is a popular science podcast bringing you first-hand insights into how social media is changing the political game. The show is interview-based, and each episode features a prominent digital strategist, academic, politician, or a member of civil society with an interesting story to tell about their experiences in the social media space. Available here.