Cross‐National versus individual‐level differences in political information: a media systems perspective

Iyengar, S; Curran, J; Lund, A; Salovaara‐Moring, I; Hahn, K; Coen, S

Abstract

We propose a context-dependent approach to the study of political information. Combining a content analysis of broadcast news with a national survey measuring public
awareness of various events, issues, and individuals in the news, we show that properties of national media systems influence both the supply of news and citizens’ awareness of events in the news. Public service-oriented media systems deliver hard news more frequently than
market-based systems. It follows that for citizens living under public service regimes, the opportunity costs of exposure to hard news are significantly lowered. Lowered costs allow less interested citizens to acquire political knowledge. Our analyses demonstrate that the knowledge gap between the more and less interested is widest in the US and smallest in Scandinavia.

Citation

Iyengar, S., Curran, J., Lund, A., Salovaara‐Moring, I., Hahn, K., & Coen, S. (2010). Cross‐National versus individual‐level differences in political information: a media systems perspective. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 20(3), 291-309. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2010.490707

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Nov 12, 2012
• Journal: Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties
• Print ISSN: 1745-7289
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 291-309
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2010.490707
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2010.490707