Media Exposure and Regime Support Under Competitive Authoritarianism: Evidence From South Korea

Abstract

This study explores whether and how exposure to mass media affects regime support in competitive authoritarian regimes. Using geographical and temporal variation in newspaper circulation and radio signal strength in South Korea under Park Chung Hee's competitive authoritarian rule (1961–1972), we find that greater exposure to media was correlated with more opposition to the authoritarian incumbent, but only when the government's control of the media was weaker. When state control of the media was stronger, the correlation between media exposure and regime support disappeared. Through a content analysis of newspaper articles, we also demonstrate that the regime's tighter media control is indeed associated with pro-regime bias in news coverage. These findings from the South Korean case suggest that the liberalizing effect of mass media in competitive authoritarian regimes is conditional on the extent of government control over the media.

Sometimes Less Is More: Censorship, News Falsification, and Disapproval in 1989 East Germany

“…In contrast, states with control over the media can withhold information and contain the risk of protest escalation (Francisco ). This perspective corresponds with studies that consider media censorship as an effective strategy to generate political stability (Cho, Lee, and Song ; Stockmann and Gallagher ). By manipulating publicly available information, leaders can inflate people's opinion about the regime's performance and foster conformist behavior in support of the government (Hollyer, Rosendorff, and Vreeland ; Little ).…”

“…Especially autocratic governments often systematically control the media and communication flows to prevent the diffusion of information that could damage their reputation or spark public resistance against the state (Little ). Research generally agrees that censorship and propaganda can be powerful tools to boost regime legitimacy and maintain political stability (e.g., Cho, Lee, and Song ; Stockmann and Gallagher ).…”

Framing as an Information Control Strategy in Times of Crisis

“…The effects of a particular frame are likely to be attenuated by a competing frame (Sniderman and Theriault 2004) or an opposing party cue (Slothuus and De Vreese 2010). In contrast, authoritarian governments tilt the media playing field by directly or indirectly controlling the media (Cho, Lee, and Song 2017;Gehlbach and Sonin 2014) and suppressing competing voices from other media channels . Accordingly, authoritarian governments can steer all media outlets to align reporting with official rhetoric (Stockmann 2013).…”

Selection Neglect and Political Beliefs

“…The idea that news can prime individuals of certain issues, and subsequently affect attitudes and behavior, has a long tradition in the political psychology literature (Iyengar and Kinder, 1987;Tesler, 2014). Studies have shown that the types of information that people consume affect their attitudes-their views on different aspects of the economy (Garz and Martin, 2021;Kim, 2021;Jacobs et al, 2021) , government performance (Chen and Yang, 2019;Cho et al, 2017), and political candidates-as well as behaviors as extreme as engagement in militia violence (Yanagizawa-Drott,…”