Political engagement and News media

Coen, Sharon

Abstract

Grounded in a conception of learning from the News as a self-regulated practice, this Chapter argues that psychological theories concerning motivational factors underpinning the uses, gratifications and outcomes of the interaction with media play a central role in shaping our understanding of citizens’ experience of News. Since a one-size-fits-all account of media effects does not capture the variety of experiences of News consumption, we draw on literature in media and communication, sociology and political science to argue that the representation of the news audience as ‘citizens’ or ‘consumers’, together with the (conscious or unconscious) dynamics of mobilisation or repression in the process of News production and sense-making shape the type and quality of information available to the citizens. The proposed Empowerment/Helplessness model of Mediated Political Participation (EHMPOP) offers a lens through which we can interpret the potential of News in promoting or indeed hindering political and civic engagement.

• Deposit Date: Mar 5, 2025
• Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Book Title: Research Handbook on the Social Psychology of the Media