Effect of Call-In Political Talk Radio Shows on Their Audiences: Evidence from a Multi-Wave Panel Analysis

Abstract

This article examines the effect of political talk radio (PTR) shows on listeners’ political attitudes during the  presidential election in the United States. Two complementary approaches for analyzing panel data (cross-lagged correlations and a fixed-effects conditional logit model) were employed to answer the question of whether the messages of PTR influence the audience or whether the audience is merely selecting sources consistent with its pre-existing political biases. In this context, the current study compares the usefulness of media exposure, on one hand, and political knowledge, on the other, as a tool for uncovering media effects on political attitudes. Three major conclusions result from the panel analyses. First is that the impact of PTR on political attitudes over time is very small at best. Second, when there is evidence of causal association between attitudes toward political figures and media reception, the direction of effect is from attitudes to reception (measured either by PTR exposure or political knowledge). Third, using political knowledge as a surrogate for media reception, instead of simple exposure, did not improve the number or magnitude of the observed associations between PTR messages and attitudes toward political leaders. Call-in political talk radio (PTR) shows offer a unique setting for studying media effects on the formation and change of political attitudes. PTR in the U.S. is a highly partisan medium that is often characterized by intense and one-sided political information to which audiences are repeatedly exposed (Davis ). Under this condition the effect of political messages on audiences’ attitudes is expected to be maximal (Zaller ). Moreover, PTR continues to be a vital interactive medium for the dissemination of political and civic knowledge, and a vibrant forum for exchange of political attitudes and mobilization of political participation (Cappella et al. ). Hence, the information and messages contained in PTR are highly conducive to political socialization The manuscript was first submitted September , . The present version was received March , .  World Association for Public Opinion Research                 and individual learning (Hollander ). Finally, PTR offers a fruitful ground for political communication research because its audience may be relatively easily distinguished by political predispositions and level of exposure. This diversity within and across PTR listeners (including non-listeners) can be effectively used to test hypotheses about the importance of political predispositions and exposure dosages to the prospects of political persuasion. The present study was designed to take advantage of these unique characteristics of PTR shows. The study focuses on the effect of PTR messages on their audiences’ political attitudes with the particular objective of carefully examining the nature of the causal relationship between exposure to highly persuasive political messages in PTRs and political attitude change. We begin with a brief summary of the literature pertaining to the impact of PTR on their audiences and then present several hypotheses regarding the causal association between media exposure and political attitudes change. We then test these hypotheses with five-wave panel data on exposure to PTR shows and listeners’ political attitudes during the  presidential election. IMPACT OF POLITICAL TALK RADIO SHOWS ON THEIR