Taking Sides in the War on News: Exploring Curvilinear Associations and Group Differences

• In Event: Journalism Under Attack

Abstract

A survey-based study of U.S. adults (N = 2,052) focuses on associations between perceptions of the news media industry as a threat to political performance and a range of politically-oriented behaviors (i.e., news media exposure, political talk, political participation). Analyses reveal a series of non-monotonic relationships. Group differences between those who hold the most extreme views concerning news-media-as-threat are also explored. The opposing groups are distinct in some important ways (e.g., ideology, race), but are also found to be surprisingly similar (e.g., income, education, gender, news media exposure).

Authors

• Lance Holbert, Temple U

• Nicholas Robinson, Temple U