Abstract
Debates about post-truth need to take into account how news re-disseminates in a hybrid media system in which social networks and audience participation play a central role. Hence, there is a certain risk of reducing citizens’ exposure to politically adverse news content, creating ‘echo chambers’ of political affinity. This article presents the results of research conducted in agreement with 18 leading Spanish online news media, based on a survey (N = 6625) of their registered users. The results highlight that high levels of selective exposure that are a characteristic of offline media consumption are being moderated in the online realm. Although most of the respondents get news online from like-minded media, the figures related to those who also get news from media with a different media ideology should not be underestimated. As news consumption is becoming more ‘social,’ our research points out that Spanish citizens who are more active on social media sites are more likely to be exposed to news content from different ideological positions than those who are less active users. There is a weak association between the use of a particular social network site and gaining access to like- and non-like-minded news.
Highlights
Positive discourses have dominated academic views about how Internet-related technologies may affect life in democratic societies (Curran, Fenton, & Freedman, 2012), in recent years we have seen a growing concern regarding their potential for pernicious effects (Sunstein, 2018)
Recent research has found that some online spaces such as social media might have a positive effect in undermining the effects of selective exposure mechanisms (Flaxman, Goel, & Rao, 2016), creating incidental ways by which citizens might make contact with opposing points of view or political perceptions (Bakshy, Messing, & Adamic, 2015; Barbera, Jost, Nagler, Tucker, & Bonneau, 2015)
Results presented in this article offer some relevant insights concerning the debates around whether the Internet and social networks contribute to greater chances for selective exposure or if, they offer possibilities for incidental exposure to nonlike-minded news (Knobloch-Westerwick et al, 2013; Mitchelstein & Boczkowski, 2010; Schrøder, 2015)
Summary
Positive discourses have dominated academic views about how Internet-related technologies may affect life in democratic societies (Curran, Fenton, & Freedman, 2012), in recent years we have seen a growing concern regarding their potential for pernicious effects (Sunstein, 2018). Media and Communication, 2020, Volume 8, Issue 4, Pages 53–62 landscape in which incidental exposure to news was frequent, it seems that we have been moving towards a post-broadcast era characterised by a high-choice media environment in which possibilities for selective exposure have been constantly expanding (Prior, 2007) Despite this evidence, recent research has found that some online spaces such as social media might have a positive effect in undermining the effects of selective exposure mechanisms (Flaxman, Goel, & Rao, 2016), creating incidental ways by which citizens might make contact with opposing points of view or political perceptions (Bakshy, Messing, & Adamic, 2015; Barbera, Jost, Nagler, Tucker, & Bonneau, 2015). The article concludes with a discussion about the relevance of our findings in relation to the existing literature in the field
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