Abstract
Since the emergence of partisan cable news networks (CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC) in the mid-1990s, the way many Americans get their political information has changed. Previous research has examined the associations between cable news viewership and individuals’ political knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, but no identifiable work has characterized second-order associations to political news consumption. To investigate the potential extent of the influence of these networks on those who don’t consume them first-hand, this study uses 2008 National Annenberg Election Study data to identify media consumption practices of people who make a political voting persuasion attempt. Cross-sectional analyses suggest that cable news viewers proselytize more frequently than other news viewers. Fixed-effects models of longitudinal data suggest that those who start watching cable news also become more likely to attempt to persuade another’s vote choice. I argue that cable news’ usage of outrage rhetoric is the catalyst to action and, to support this contention, demonstrate that viewers of the three most outrageous news programs are more likely than all other comparison groups to proselytize.
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