Identification with television newscasters and Korean college students' voting intentions and political activities

Abstract

In 2004, many prominent newscasters ran as candidates in the Korean general election and won. The present study examines whether young voters' identification with newscasters was significantly associated with Korean voting behaviour as well as with other forms of political participation. Analysis of 270 respondents showed that identification with newscasters contributed significantly to young Koreans' intentions to vote for newscasters and to their active involvement in other forms of campaign participation, beyond the effects of age, gender, and level of political interest. Additionally, news media exposure, perception of newscaster behaviours, emotional involvement, surveillance motivation and entertainment motivation were all positively related to voters' identification with newscasters.