Abstract
In the present project we assessed whether partisan news affects consumers’ views on polarizing issues. In Study 1 nationally representative cross-sectional data (N = 4249) reveals that right-leaning news consumption is associated with more right-leaning attitudes, and left-leaning news consumption is associated with more left-leaning attitudes. Additional three-wave longitudinal data (N = 484) in Study 2 reveals that right-leaning news is positively (and left-leaning news is negatively) associated with right-leaning issue stances three months later, even after controlling for prior issue stances. In a third (supplemental) study (N = 305), random assignment to right-leaning (but not left-leaning) news (vs. control) experimentally fostered more right-leaning stances, regardless of participants’ previously held political ideology. These findings suggest that partisan news, and particularly right-leaning news, can polarize consumers in their sociopolitical positions, sharpen political divides, and shape public policy.
Highlights
In the 20th century news organizations aimed for objectivity by providing both sides of political debates [1,2]
With greater availability and more choices [3,4], many news organizations provide more overt ideological perspectives to differentiate themselves in a more competitive market [5–9]. Many speculate that this partisan news could be driving political polarization [10–12] and some scholars argue that increasing polarization in the United States may alter how people form attitudes [13], making them more inclined to uncritically accept arguments put forth by partisan news
Regression results (Table 2) suggest that for all attitudes assessed, greater right-leaning news consumption was associated with more right-leaning stances and greater left-leaning news consumption was associated with more left-leaning
Summary
In the 20th century news organizations aimed for objectivity by providing both sides of political debates [1,2]. Arendt and colleagues found that both explicit and implicit attitudes toward news outlets predict later choice in news articles, even when headlines from those sources were nearly identical [53], and Knobloch-Westerwick and Meng [54] found evidence for selective exposure to news media, regardless of the topic or political issue presented. Underpinning these media effects one may expect to find motivated reasoning or motivated social cognition. Refugee admittance, the U.S military, Muslims, feminists, gun control, and general political ideology were explored
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