Let’s tok politics: Partisan expectations of political news on TikTok

Digitization has fundamentally transformed both news media industries and markets. Since the emergence of the Internet, news consumers are increasingly turning to a combination of offline and online environments to consult news updates. This research aims to investigate news media repertoires in Flanders in the era of convergence. The study elaborates on what news outlets are being combined news media repertoires (also called ‘cross-media news diets’) (RQ 1) and what motivations audiences rely on for choosing these specific news outlets (RQ2). In today’s progressively converging news media environment, audiences are confronted with an abundance of content offered via both traditional and new media outlets. To cope with this news overload, audiences increasingly compose a personalized media diet or news media repertoire. Hasebrink and Domeyer (2012) define news media repertoires as relatively small subsets of news media composed by audience members. News audiences are thus seeking access, navigating in and making sense of the multitude of news messages across print, broadcasting, online and mobile media platforms (Schroder, 2014). The repertoire-approach is particularly valuable, since it offers a framework necessary for grasping news consumption in the networked media era. It follows Schroder’s (2011) assumption that audiences are inherently cross-media. Simple classifications based on the most-used medium, as used in the mass media era, are not only difficult to apply but also increasingly outdated (Lee & Yang, 2014). As a matter of fact, news consumption is not just a simple choice between traditional and new media; audiences actively combine different news sources into complex patterns of media use (Yuan, 2011). This study thus aims to investigate what news media repertoires are composed and how audiences compose particular news diets. It draws upon a mixed-method approach, which involves a Q-sorting task, embedded in much larger in-depth, face-to-face interviews (N = 42). The qualitativequantitative Q-sort technique (Schroder & Kobbernagel, 2010) is used to investigate subjectivity and requires the informants to sort a number of statements on a fixed normal distribution with a predefined number of positions, according to a specified dimension. Each position is thus associated to a numerical value. In this case, the statements were 36 types of news media, following a bi-polar dimension ranging from ‘does not play a role in my life’ to ‘plays an important role in my life’. In the analysis, principal component analysis is used to reduce the informant correlation matrix to a simple structure. This implies that patterns of informants sharing a similar stance towards news media are derived, and hence participants with similar news repertoires are identified. These components or groups of informants are then used to guide the qualitative analysis, which is the focal point of attention in this study. Results will show a variety (approximately six to eight) of news repertoires can be defined, based on three dimensions: (1) consumption on traditional and/or new platforms, (2) news content preferences, and (3) the serendipitous nature of news use. After mapping the currently adopted news media repertoires, a subsequent phase of qualitative analysis will follow in order to reveal the users’ motivations for these news media repertoires. The patterns revealed in the Q-sort will serve as analytic tools, guiding the search for an in-depth understanding of why these news outlets are combined into the adopted news media repertoires. The focus of the qualitative phase lies on expectations towards news outlets, news use habits as well as trust in news media. References Hasebrink, U. & Domeyer, H. (2012). Media repertoires as patterns of behaviour and as meaningful practices: A multimethod approach to media use in converging media environments. Participations, 9(2), 757-779. Lee, H., & Yang, J. (2014). Political knowledge gaps among news consumers with different news media repertoires across multiple platforms. International Journal of Communication, 8, 21. Schroder, K. C., & Kobbernagel, C. (2010). Towards a typology of cross-media news consumption: a qualitativequantitative synthesis. Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook, 8(1), 115-137. Schroder, K. C. (2011). Audiences are inherently cross-media: audience studies and the cross-media challenge. Communication Management Quarterly, 18(6), 5–27. Schroder, K. C. (2014). News media old and new: fluctuating audiences, news repertoires and locations of consumption. Journalism Studies, 1-19 (ahead-of-print). doi: 10.1080/ 1461670X.2014.890332 Yuan, E. (2011). News consumption across multiple media platforms: A repertoire approach. Information, Communication & Society, 14(7), 998-1016. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2010.549235

This study observed the influence of the credibility factors on the perception of the credibility of political information among the youth. Credibility can be due to the medium through which the information reaches the people; the source of the information; or the information itself. Each of the three factors: medium, source, and message are analyzed separately as an independent variable to observe its influence on the overall credibility of the political content received, as the dependent variable. The key finding is that the majority of them trust that online political content is produced and run by the trustworthy, intelligent and experts. They also appear to believe that online political content is trustworthy, accurate, fair and respectful towards other’s privacy. Moreover, it is found that the credibility of online political content is independent of any other credibility factor such as the source, medium, or the content credibility. The number of likes and shares seems to be the biggest criteria of the credibility and trustworthiness of a political content in the eyes of young university students. The findings of the study would allow the experts to convey political information to millennial effectively.

Purpose This study investigates whether ChatGPT-driven traffic (CGT) acts as a substitute or complement to traditional news media platforms in the United States and Taiwan. By analyzing website traffic patterns and incorporating cross-cultural and platform-specific factors, the research aims to determine how generative AI tools influence news consumption dynamics. The study also examines the moderating effects of website scale and specialization (generalist vs. niche) to provide a nuanced understanding of AI’s role in reshaping digital media ecosystems. Findings offer insights for media organizations, policymakers, and AI developers on adapting to evolving content distribution and engagement trends. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a quantitative research approach using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the impact of ChatGPT-driven traffic (CGT) on total website traffic (TWT). A dataset of 80 news websites (40 from the U.S. and 40 from Taiwan) was analyzed, incorporating website scale and specialization (generalist vs. niche) as moderating variables. Traffic data were sourced from SimilarWeb, capturing monthly visits over six months. Multi-group analysis (MGA) was conducted to compare effects across different platform sizes and national contexts, offering insights into ChatGPT’s role as a substitute or complement in news media ecosystems. Findings The study reveals that ChatGPT-driven traffic (CGT) generally complements news media by increasing website visits, but its impact varies by country and website scale. In Taiwan, ChatGPT acts as a traffic driver, especially for smaller and niche platforms. In contrast, large U.S. websites experience substitution effects, suggesting AI-driven content may reduce direct visits. Website scale is a key factor, with smaller platforms benefiting more from AI referrals. These findings highlight the need for adaptive strategies in media organizations and call for regulatory considerations to balance AI’s role in content distribution and news ecosystem sustainability. Research limitations/implications This study relies on third-party traffic data (SimilarWeb), which may not fully capture user interactions and engagement depth. The analysis is limited to a six-month period, potentially missing long-term trends in AI-driven news consumption. Additionally, the findings focus on the U.S. and Taiwan, limiting generalizability to other media markets with different regulatory and technological landscapes. The study examines traffic patterns but does not explore user trust, perception, or content credibility in AI-generated summaries. Future research should incorporate longitudinal data, qualitative insights, and additional geographic contexts to provide a more comprehensive understanding of AI’s impact on news ecosystems. Practical implications News organizations, especially smaller and niche platforms, should optimize content for AI-driven referrals to enhance visibility and engagement. Large U.S. platforms facing substitution effects must focus on exclusive content and direct user engagement to maintain traffic. Policymakers should ensure transparent referral attribution and explore fair revenue-sharing models between AI platforms and news publishers. AI developers should collaborate with media outlets to create sustainable content distribution frameworks, balancing efficiency with news ecosystem sustainability. Understanding ChatGPT’s role in media consumption can help stakeholders adapt strategies, refine monetization models, and foster AI-media partnerships for long-term industry resilience. Social implications The rise of AI-driven news consumption impacts public access to information, media trust, and digital literacy. In Taiwan, ChatGPT enhances access to niche content, potentially fostering information diversity. In the U.S., substitution effects may contribute to reduced engagement with primary news sources, affecting media sustainability and journalism quality. AI-generated summaries could influence public opinion formation, raising concerns about bias and misinformation. Policymakers must promote transparency and ethical AI use to ensure balanced news dissemination. Media literacy initiatives are essential to help users critically engage with AI-curated content while preserving credible journalism and democratic discourse. Originality/value This study provides a novel cross-cultural analysis of ChatGPT-driven traffic (CGT) in the U.S. and Taiwan, offering new insights into AI’s role in news consumption dynamics. By integrating website scale and specialization (generalist vs. niche), it refines the substitution-complementarity framework in the context of generative AI. Unlike prior research focusing on social media and search engines, this study uniquely examines AI-driven referrals using empirical traffic data. The findings contribute to digital media strategy, policy discussions, and AI adoption research, guiding news organizations, regulators, and AI developers in navigating the evolving AI-media ecosystem.

Facebook has become an important source for political information since news posts are an essential part of the content that is shared and spread within the SNS. The present study applies the uses and gratifications approach and the theory of the niche to understand the specific appeal of Facebook as a source for political news. We compare the gratifications obtained from political Facebook news with those of political television news and newspapers. For this purpose, we conducted an online survey of Internet users (N=422). Results show that users hardly ever visit Facebook with the primary intention to find political information. Interestingly however, they estimate that about a quarter of the posts they receive contains political information. The most important dimension of gratifications obtained from political Facebook news content are “entertainment” and “killing time”. In these dimensions, Facebook is superior to political television news and newspapers. For “balanced information”, “surveillance”, and “social utility”, the two traditional sources outperform Facebook. Analyses of niche breadth and overlap demonstrate that Facebook has a comparatively narrow niche and a low overlap with the two traditional news outlets. This means that political news content on Facebook serves a very specific function which is complementary to other sources. Users mainly turn to political news posts on Facebook for reasons related to distraction. However, their value can be seen in the fact that users might this way get in touch with political news that they otherwise might not have been exposed to at all.

This study explores the relationships between political orientation and news consumption, examining the mediating role of trust in media and the moderating role of interest in politics. Based on a survey of 9,558 audience members from Chile, our work reveals three key findings. First, political orientation is directly connected to individuals choosing to consume news from media outlets that align with their ideological beliefs, demonstrating a clear pattern of selective exposure. Second, trust in these media brands acts as a crucial mediator of this relationship, with individuals more likely to engage with news from sources they trust, often aligning with their political views. Third, political interest moderates all these links, with higher political interest intensifying selective exposure to like-minded media. These results enhance our understanding of confirmation bias in media consumption and underscore the intertwined roles of ideological preferences and perceived credibility. The findings have significant implications for media practices and policies to reduce political polarization and promote more diversified news consumption. Future research should consider experimental or longitudinal designs to further investigate these dynamics and explore interventions encouraging exposure to a broader range of viewpoints.

Research on ideological biases and polarization on social media platforms primarilyfocuses on news and political content. Non-political content, which isvastly more popular, is often overlooked. Because partisanship is correlatedwith citizens’ non-political attitudes and non-political content can carry politicalcues, we explore whether ideological biases and partisan segregation extendto users’ non-political exposures online. We focus on YouTube, one of the mostpopular platforms. We rely online data from American adults (N = 2,237).From over 129 million visits to over 37 million URLs, we analyze 1,037,392visits to YouTube videos from 1,874 participants. We identify YouTube channelsof 942 news domains, utilize a BERT-based classifier to identify politicalvideos outside news channels, and estimate the ideology of all the videos inour data. We compare ideological biases in exposure to (a) news, (b) political,and (c) non-political content. We examine both exposure congeniality (i.e., areusers consuming like-minded content?) and polarization (i.e. are there overlapsbetween Democrats and Republicans in the content they consume?). Wefind substantial congeniality in the consumption of news and political videos,especially among Republicans, and high levels of polarization in this exposure(i.e., limited overlaps between Democrats and Republicans). We also showthat both exposure congeniality and polarization are significantly lower fornon-political content, in that non-political videos are less likely to be ideologicallylike-minded and both Democrats and Republicans consume similarnon-political content. Theoretical and practical implications of these findingsare discussed.

In today's high-choice media environment, the relations between news consumption and (extreme) political views receive extensive attention. While social media and news aggregators are often blamed for political polarization, theories from media psychology highlight the importance of additional aspects of news consumption, aside from the media types used, in impacting the formation of political views and thereby, for instance, polarization. However, these aspects are typically studied in isolation, neglecting the heterogeneity in where and how news can be consumed. Based on this observation, the present work investigated the conjoint relations of various aspects of news consumption across media types with political views and their extremity. Study 1 included two samples of N = 714 (sample 1) and N = 721 (sample 2) participants completing an online survey assessing political news consumption habits and general political views, namely, ideology and affective polarization. Study 2 included two samples of N = 725 (sample 3) and N = 713 (sample 4) participants completing scales on issue-specific political views, namely, attitudes on war and the war against Ukraine. Latent Profile Analyses revealed four mostly media type-specific news consumer profiles replicated across samples, indicating that individuals choose one media type, like social media, aggregators, or print media, and devote considerable time to consuming political news from various sources, including attitude-incongruent news and diverse perspectives, from the same selected media type. While these profiles differed on sociodemographic and personality variables, few significant relations were found between these profiles and political views. These findings highlight the complexity of these relations and challenge the assumption that only certain media types, and news consumption via them, drive political extremity.

Recognizing the power of social media in politics and the crucial role of the family in shaping youth’s opinions about political events, the current study explored the impacts of family conversations about political information from social media on Filipino young adults’ political views. It also examined their reasons for using social media in general and for political information in particular, the types of political information they got from various social media platforms, and the ways they processed said information. There were 21 young adults aged 18 to 23 who participated in the study. The data gathered from semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis, guided by political socialization as a framework. Results showed that the participants used social media mainly for communication and interpersonal interactions, entertainment, information and updates, and schoolwork. And although they were not actively looking for political information, they were still exposed to related items on social media, which often centered on government, sociopolitical and socioeconomic issues, politicians, local and national politics, and international relations and global politics. The participants processed political information in many ways, including knowing more about it, talking about it with other people, discussing it with the family, and avoiding online discussions on it. Although they seldom engaged in political discussions online, they acknowledged social media as a great source of political information. The participants believed that family conversations about political information on social media were important and could impact not only their political views but even those of their family.

Most scholars focus on the prevalence and democratic effects of (partisan) news exposure. This focus misses large parts of online activities of a majority of politically disinterested citizens. Although political content also appears outside of news outlets and may profoundly shape public opinion, its prevalence and effects are under-studied at scale. This project combines three-wave panel survey data from three countries (total N = 7,266) with online behavioral data from the same participants (over 106M visits). We create a multi-lingual classifier to identify political content both in news and outside (e.g. in shopping or entertainment sites). We find that news consumption is infrequent: just 3.4% of participants’ online browsing comprised visits to news sites. Only between 14% (NL) and 36% (US) of these visits were to news about politics. The overwhelming majority of participants' visits were to non-news sites. Although only 1.6\\% of those visits related to politics, in absolute terms, citizens encounter politics more frequently outside of news than within news. Out of every 10 visits to political content, 3.4 come from news and 6.6 from non-news sites. Furthermore, exposure to political content outside news domains had the same – and in some cases stronger - associations with key democratic attitudes and behaviors as news exposure. These findings offer a comprehensive analysis of the online political (not solely news) ecosystem and demonstrate the importance of assessing the prevalence and effects of political content in non-news sources.

People are increasingly avoiding the news in a phenomenon termed news avoidance. Prior work has found that many people are not following political news, with the median American consuming zero articles per year from traditional news outlets. This behavior has troubling implications, as a well-informed public is typically considered essential to a functioning democracy. However, it is possible that people are accidentally picking up political information through entertainment or "soft news" outlets. The subject of this paper is People Magazine, a soft news outlet selected for its popularity (with an average of 187.1 million monthly visits). To understand how political news is covered by entertainment and soft news outlets, we make the following contributions: (1) we propose two potential and complementary frameworks for differentiating hard news content from soft news content; (2) we collect a large dataset of articles published on People Magazine's website; (3) we apply our frameworks to this dataset and contribute an analysis of the political content offered by a soft news outlet; (4) we evaluate our framework on two additional platforms. Together, these contributions additively result in the first exploration of the political content of individual news stories - all prior work has labeled entire outlets as hard or soft. As people increasingly avoid outlets with hard news, our work shows that they may still encounter political information through soft news outlets, a finding that has critical implications for political communication.

News consumers expect news outlets to be objective and balanced in their reports of events and opinions. However, there is a growing body of evidence of bias in the media caused by underlying political and socio-economic viewpoints. Previous studies have tried to classify the partiality of the media, but there is little work on quantifying it, and less still on the nature of this partiality. The vast amount of content published in social media enables us to quantify the inclination of the press to pre-defined sides of the socio-political spectrum. To describe such tendencies, we use tweets to automatically compute a news outlet’s political and socio-economic orientation. Results show that the media have a measurable bias, and illustrate this by showing the favoritism of Chilean media for the ruling political parties in the country. This favoritism becomes clearer as we empirically observe a shift in the position of the mass media when there is a change in government. Even though relative differences in bias between news outlets can be observed, public awareness of the bias of the media landscape as a whole appears to be limited by the political space defined by the news that we receive as a population. We found that the nature of the bias is reflected in the vocabulary used and the entities mentioned by different news outlets. A survey conducted among news consumers confirms that media bias has an impact on the coverage of controversial topics and that this is perceivable by the general audience. Having a more accurate method to measure and characterize media bias will help readers position outlets in the socio-economic landscape, even when a (sometimes opposite) self-declared position is stated. This will empower readers to better reflect on the content provided by their news outlets of choice.

Considering that cable news has become a primary source of political information for many Americans, this article examines the role and impact of Fox News in the United States, particularly as it compares to other news outlets. We begin by offering a historical analysis of Fox News’ formation and growth in popularity, including a review of existing scholarship on the network’s impact on news consumers. Prior research as well as an additional nationally-representative dataset reveals that two policy areas are particularly potent among Fox News’ consumers: immigration and climate change. Additionally, scholars have found initial evidence for the role of Fox News in shaping its viewers’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. We then consider the cognitive processing utilized by news consumers, explaining how it may differ among individuals who opt to consume Fox News and those who get news from other sources. We conclude by reviewing why three specific areas—immigration, climate change, and COVID-19—resonate so strongly with Fox News consumers.

This study explored in what way and to what extent people's occupational position corresponds with the consumption of news and the exposure to political content offered by the traditional mass media TV, radio, and newspaper, using survey data (N = 825). The influence of occupational position in general and perceived amount of public social capital (or: social network) on especially consumption of news as well as the exposure to political media content, was evident. Findings are in line with the central assumptions on ‘audience activity’ of audience-centered models in communication research in general and the ‘media use as social action’ approach especially (cf. Renckstorf and Wester, 2001, 2004). The subjectively perceived social context, indicated by occupational position as well as the subjectively held structure of relevancies is a central predictor of media use.

Democratic governments have been seized with a concern for mis- and disinformation. There is a malaise that we live in an accelerating post-truth era where a foundational pillar of democracy - the free exchange of factually accurate information - is endangered. And there is a strong feeling something must be done. In this report, we assess this concern. We ask: what claims are being made about the nature of the information ecosystem? Can we evaluate them? How are the attitudes of Canadians changing? Are the digital media we produce and consume harming or helping? In some cases we are able to provide straight-forward answers, in others we are able to evaluate some claims, and still in others we can simply describe what we can know today and lay a path forward for future research.To do all this, we employ survey and digital trace data. Using large national samples dating five years apart as well as targeted samples during key political moments (by-elections and extreme weather events), we are uniquely able to speak to trends and to how events may shape behaviours and attitudes. Using a novel digital trace data collection method that links Canadian political influencers across their information ecosystem footprint, we are also uniquely able to comment on concentration and fragmentation in the Canadian information ecosystem. The report details numerous findings. The four most central are:First, we find that most Canadians are inattentive to politics. Canadians do not regularly consume political news, generally have low levels of political knowledge, and have low awareness of important political figures in Canada and the United States. When news and political information were removed from Facebook, Canadians (including politically active ones) did not noticeably change their behaviour. Second, with the important caveat of inattentiveness, we find that in the aggregate individuals' news consumption and attitudes have been generally stable in the last five years. We observe remarkably few shifts in what and how people consume their news. Despite this, we do find a significant decline in media trust over the last five years. We do see an increase in use of social media for news, with a rapid rise of TiKTok as well as an increased use of Instagram, WhatsApp, Reddit, and SnapChat. Those who use social media for news tend to be less trusting of traditional media.Third, we find a high degree of concentration of influence in digital media. Social media provides unequal opportunities to be heard and to have an impact on the conversation. Politician impact in particular is highly unequal. Several large Canadian news outlets, notably Global News and CTV have been able to amass large social media followings. Fourth, we find that the online discourse among political influencers is not highly segregated in the typical fashion. Instead, the federalism of Canada is important, with politicians tending to share similar content as their provincial political community. Party affiliation does not structure the entire information ecosystem. Certain topics of discussion do tend to be associated with some political party families more than others, with left parties tending to focus on health than any other single topic, while the rest of the political spectrum gave comparatively more emphasis to international issues as well as those of government and governing.

As new media emerge and replace the popularity of conventional media, people use social media not only as medium to socialize, but also increase its role as news source or news outlet. A generational divide has always existed within news. The older people tend to choose TV and newspaper as their primary news source meanwhile research conducted by Reuters in 2015 showed that younger audiences that grown up in digital era, exhibiting very different behaviors and increasingly expect the news to come to them through online channels and in new formats. This makes social media become the opportunities and also threats to some news companies. What should the media do in order to survive? Does the generation gap influence the media to use both traditional and digital or social media? Some online media even put their headlines and link in Facebook and Twitter as news outlet, so people can just click the link and go to their websites. Methodology used in this research is qualitative with data gathered from focus group discussion and interview. The result of the study expected to show how the generation gap creates different media consumption and the need for news corporation to change their pattern in order to survive. Keywords: Social media, news outlet, new media