Abstract
Although a growing body of literature points to the particular media diet of populist voters, we know too little about what specific media preferences characterize citizens with populist attitudes. This article investigates to what extent citizens with antiestablishment and exclusionist populist attitudes are attracted to attitudinal-congruent media content. We collected survey data using a nationally representative sample (N = 809) and found that citizens’ preferences for media content are in sync with their populist attitudes. Beyond having a tabloidized and entertainment-based media diet, populist voters self-select media content that actively articulates the divide between the “innocent” people and “culprit” others. These findings provide new insights into the appeal of different types of media populism among citizens with populist attitudes on different dimensions.
Highlights
A growing body of literature points to the particular media diet of populist voters, we know too little about what specific media preferences characterize citizens with populist attitudes
Drawing on survey data collected among a representative sample of Dutch citizens (N = 809), we found that citizens with populist attitudes on different dimensions are attracted to different types of media populism
We estimated a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model to investigate whether preferences for media populism could be validly distinguished from populist attitudes
Summary
A growing body of literature points to the particular media diet of populist voters, we know too little about what specific media preferences characterize citizens with populist attitudes. Beyond having a tabloidized and entertainment-based media diet, populist voters self-select media content that actively articulates the divide between the “innocent” people and “culprit” others. These findings provide new insights into the appeal of different types of media populism among citizens with populist attitudes on different dimensions. Claes H. de Vreese (Ph.D., University of Amsterdam, 2003) is Professor and Chair of Political Communication and Program Group Director of Political Communication & Journalism at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), Department of Communication Science, University of Amsterdam.
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