Fringe Sources Are for Losers: How Election Outcomes Affect Media Choice (Pre-Recorded)

• In Event: Misinformed? Who, How, and Why

Abstract

Today's media environment gives Americans countless options of sources from which to learn about politics, but these sources vary dramatically in their credibility and objectivity. Americans increasingly distrust the media, often preferring to learn from fringe partisan media sources, social media, or conversations with their friends, all of which can facilitate biased information processing and the spread of misinformation. The question is why. Why do individuals avoid credible, mainstream media sources? In this paper, we argue that when individuals are political "losers," (their party lost a major election or is down in the polls), they opt out of consuming news from mainstream sources, instead choosing to get information from fringe sources, or directly from their peers. They are pushed away from mainstream media in an effort to avoid reminders of their party's poor performance, which they are likely to perceive as negative coverage. We test our theory using an original nationally representative 3-wave panel dataset that surveyed respondents before the 2020 election, directly following the election, and directly following inauguration. We use novel open-ended measures of news consumption, revealing over 300 unique information sources. We then collected the text of all articles published in the 30 days prior to the survey wave by the news sources respondents listed to examine variation in tone of coverage as a mechanism for the observed change in consumption behavior. Our results speak to ongoing debates about selective exposure and the partisan media environment.

Authors

• Jenna Pedersen, Washington University in St. Louis

• Taylor Nicole Carlson, Washington University in St. Louis