How Does Exposure to Discordant Media Affect Attitudes? Evidence from Turkey

• In Event: Methods of Authoritarian Domination (Virtual Session)

Abstract

When citizens lack exposure to media sources which offer contrasting perspectives, biased information consumption diets risk undermining democratic accountability. This might especially be the case in dominant party settings where many citizens lack familiarity with credible media sources from across the political spectrum. In the context of increasingly autocratic Turkey, we implement a randomized control trial that induces citizens’ exposure to either politically aligned (concordant) or non-aligned (discordant) online media sources over the course of half a year. We consider effects on media consumption and attitudes; information-sharing within social networks; affective polarization; political engagement; and attitudes towards government and democracy more broadly. Our results will speak to the relationship between media consumption and democratic accountability in a setting where citizens’ exposure to discordant information sources is otherwise limited.

Authors

• Jeremy Bowles, Stanford University

• Shelley Liu, UC Berkeley

• Horacio Larreguy, ITAM

• Ahmet Akbiyik, Harvard University