The Impact of News Consumption on Anti-immigration Attitudes and Populist Party Support in a Changing Media Ecology

Abstract

Democracies around the world are facing a rising wave of right-wing populism and new nationalism, which often relies on strategic exploitation of anti-immigration sentiments. While media have long been acknowledged as important channels of anti-immigration rhetoric, the evidence of the actual impact of news consumption on attitudes to migration and support for populist parties is still inconclusive, and largely limited to pre-digital media ecologies. Combining a representative twowave panel survey (N=819), digital tracking of real-time electronic measurement of television, radio and online media exposure, and an analysis of news content, this study explores the effect of news consumption on anti-immigration attitudes and electoral behaviour during the EP2019 election campaign in the Czech Republic. Our analysis reveals that being exposed to news about migration-particularly on websites and on commercial television stations-increases the likelihood of voting for populist parties, while exposure to public service media leads to less negative attitudes towards immigration. At the same time, being exposed to more news sources intensifies, rather than reduces, anti-immigrant attitudes. This result challenges the assumption that a more diverse news media diet could serve as an antidote to selective exposure and "echo chambers", commonly linked with radicalization of political views.

The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV

“…Additional evidence from movie ratings suggests that, compared to RAI, content on Mediaset was generally of lower quality and less suitable for younger viewers. 8 Figure 1. Total Airtime per Day and Airtime Shares for Different Categories of TV Shows, Mediaset versus RAI, 1983-1987 Notes: Panel A plots the average total airtime per day on Mediaset and RAI channels over the period 1983-1987.…”

The “refugee crisis” and the transformation of the far right and the political mainstream: the extreme case of the Czech Republic

“…Moreover, immigration, notably Muslim immigration, became seen as a national threat by the majority of the Czech population in the wake of the "refugee crisis". This process was also enhanced by the over-emphasis and negative framing of the "crisis" by the media (see Štětka, Mihelj, and Tóth 2020). While this happened elsewhere in CEE as well, it has led to two particular processes in the "extreme" case of the Czech Republic.…”

“…Coenders, Gijsberts, and Scheepers 2004), during the so-called "refugee crisis" the character of both the political context and the far right in CEE has fundamentally changed, although notable national differences continue to exist within the region. While some scholars anticipated the possibility of a growing appeal of immigration in CEE in reaction to the recent developments in European politics (Buštíková 2015, 77;2018, 575;Štětka, Mihelj, and Tóth 2020), the scope of the change, and its political ramifications, remains largely unstudied.…”

“…This type of media framing and representation of immigration and immigrants is not exclusive to Western Europe and with the increased importance of the issue in the wake of the "refugee crisis", it was adopted by the media in CEE as well (see e.g. Ostřanský 2018, 101;Štětka, Mihelj, and Tóth 2020). Moreover, even compared to Western Europe, media in CEE have been over-emphasising the problems with migrants (Fengler and Kreutler 2020, 34-6).…”

“…This type of media emphasis, triggered by the "refugee crisis", has a strong impact on public opinion and, ultimately, on electoral behaviour, helping the far right to step into the spotlight even in countries where it has long been dormant, consequentially increasing its political impact (see Štětka, Mihelj, and Tóth 2020). The political mainstream is then pressured to radicalise in response to the public mood swing and the increased impact of the far right.…”