Partisan selective exposure in online news consumption: evidence from the 2016 presidential campaign

Peterson, Erik; Goel, Sharad; Iyengar, Shanto

doi:10.1017/psrm.2019.55

Cited by 88 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In general, measures of web tra c collected from this panel resemble those from sources (see e.g., Guess, 2019;Peterson et al ND for other applications in political science).…”

Section: Comparison With Real-world Media Choicementioning

confidence: 99%

Partisan Gaps in Political Information and Information-Seeking Behavior: Motivated Reasoning or Cheerleading?

Peterson¹,

Iyengar²

2019

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Do partisan disagreements over politically-relevant facts, and preferences for the information sources from which to obtain them, represent genuine differences of opinion or insincere cheerleading? The answer to this question is crucial for understanding the scope of partisan polarization. We test between these alternatives with experiments that offer incentives for correct survey responses and allow respondents to search for information before answering each question. We find that partisan cheerleading inflates divides in factual information, but only modestly. Incentives have no impact on partisan divides in information search; these divides are no different from those that occur outside the survey context when we examine web browsing data from the same respondents. Overall, our findings support the motivated reasoning interpretation of misinformation; partisans seek out information with congenial slant and sincerely adopt inaccurate beliefs that cast their party in a favorable light.

show abstract

“…In general, measures of web tra c collected from this panel resemble those from sources (see e.g., Guess, 2019;Peterson et al ND for other applications in political science).…”

Section: Comparison With Real-world Media Choicementioning

confidence: 99%

Partisan Gaps in Political Information and Information-Seeking Behavior: Motivated Reasoning or Cheerleading?

Peterson¹,

Iyengar²

2019

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Others use behavioral measures of online news exposure, but do not isolate foreign news use (Gentzkow and Shapiro 2011, Bakshy et al 2015, Peterson et al 2019.…”

Section: Previous Research On Foreign Media Exposurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…We examine the web browsing behavior of 1,504 survey respondents from the United States who completed one of four political attitude surveys, focused on domestic political issues (Peterson et al 2019), between August 2016 and March 2018. Respondents were recruited from YouGov's panel using the firm's standard approach in which an initial nonrepresentative subject pool is matched to a nationally-representative target sample.…”

Section: Breadth and Volume Of Foreign Media Exposurementioning

confidence: 99%

A Window to the World: Americans' Exposure to Political News From Foreign Media Outlets

Peterson¹,

Damm²

2019

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Political communication research overwhelmingly focuses on domestic media. Internet access has relaxed geographic constraints on news use to create an- other possibility: exposure to political coverage from foreign media outlets. We study the frequency and form of foreign media exposure in the United States using individual-level web browsing data and a content analysis of the news this sample encountered. This reveals foreign media exposure is widespread and internationally-oriented. 85% of these individuals visited a foreign source. Foreign media accounted for 7% of all news website visits. In a within-subject analysis of over three million visits to foreign and domestic websites, individuals were substantially more likely to encounter foreign affairs coverage, and less likely to reach coverage of U.S. domestic politics, when visiting foreign news sources. These findings show how new opportunities created by a changing media landscape shape public engagement with international politics.

show abstract

“…In contrast to cable television (e.g., Berry andSobieraj 2013, Mutz 2015), economic pressure leads online partisan media to bundle political coverage with substantial amounts of non-political news (Hindman 2018) and constrains their ability to inject ideological slant into much of their political coverage (Genzkow and Shapiro 2011). Content analysis of online news reveals modest differences in the perceived slant of the typical political story from major partisan outlets, a departure from the "outrage" typically associated with them (Budak et al 2016, Peterson et al 2019.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This means partisans hold unfavorable views of media they associate with the other side, considering them biased and untrustworthy Gussin 2007, Ladd 2012, Johnson 2013, Stroud et al 2014). Given the expansive choice the contemporary media environment provides over news use, these reputations lead partisans to avoid out-party media and instead frequent sources they perceive as neutral or associated with their side (Iyengar and Hahn 2009, Stroud 2011, Goldman and Mutz 2011, Levendusky 2013a, Peterson et al 2019.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

When Unfamiliarity Breeds Contempt: How Partisan Selective Exposure Sustains Oppositional Media Hostility

Peterson¹,

Kagalwala²

2019

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Partisans hold unfavorable views of media they associate with the other party. They also avoid out-party news sources. We link these developments and argue that, absent direct experience, partisans assess out-party media based off negative and inaccurate stereotypes. This means cross-cutting exposure that challenges these misperceptions can improve assessments of out-party media. To support this argument, we use survey-linked web browsing data to show the public has hostile views of out-party news sources they rarely encounter. We conduct three survey experiments that demonstrate cross-cutting exposure to non-political or neutral political coverage – forms of news widely available from partisan sources online – reduces oppositional media hostility. These findings explain how perceptions of rampant bias from out-party media coexist with modest differences in the online content major partisan news outlets provide. More broadly, we illustrate how negative misperceptions can sustain animus towards an out-group when individuals avoid direct encounters with them.

show abstract

Partisan selective exposure in online news consumption: evidence from the 2016 presidential campaign

Cited by 88 publications

References 31 publications

Partisan Gaps in Political Information and Information-Seeking Behavior: Motivated Reasoning or Cheerleading?

Partisan Gaps in Political Information and Information-Seeking Behavior: Motivated Reasoning or Cheerleading?

A Window to the World: Americans' Exposure to Political News From Foreign Media Outlets

When Unfamiliarity Breeds Contempt: How Partisan Selective Exposure Sustains Oppositional Media Hostility

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About