Etmaal 2014 presentation:

1. Political Communication #5
Mark Boukes, et al.:
Assessing the Mechanisms Underlying the Effects of Opinionated News: How
Opinionated News Affects Political Attitudes
Ruud Wouters:
Do Targets React and Third Parties Comment? Responsiveness and Scope
Expansion in Television News Reports of Protest Demonstrations
Sophie Lecheler et al.:
Political News Framing on Effect Strength and Persistence
Bjorn Burscher et al.:
Automatic Coding of Policy Issues in News Articles and Parliamentary
Questions: An SML-Approach

2. Assessing the Mechanisms Underlying
the Effects of Opinionated News:
How Opinionated News Affects Political Attitudes
Mark Boukes
Hajo G. Boomgaarden
Marjolein Moorman
Claes H. De Vreese
Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap 2014
4th February 2014, Wageningen

3. Opinionated “news”
 Not follow essential journalistic standards:
- objectivity, fairness, and accuracy
3

4. Research Question and Theory
 How does opinionated news affect citizens’ political attitudes?
 Theory:
Presumed influence
Relative Hostile Media Phenomenom
 Are these consequential for politically relevant variables?
4

5. Hypothesis 1:
The influence of Presumed influence
5
Presumed
influence
Perceived
opinion climate
H1a H1b
H1c
Attitude
Objective news
versus
Opinionated news

6. Hypothesis 2:
The influence of bias perceptions
6
Political preference:
Left vs. Right
Anger
Perceived
bias
H2a H2b
H2c
Attitude
Objective news
versus
Opinionated news

7. Method
 Experiment: randomized exposure to a TV news item
 2 x 2 design
4 conditions:
 Adult sample recruited via Panelclix.
7
Opinionated
PowNews
(n = 61)
Objective
NOS
(n = 59)
Opinionated
NOS
(n = 61)
Objective
PowNews
(n = 60)

8. Stimuli
 Topic: widening of the highway A27
-Broadcasted by NOS and PowNews
-Clear debate structure with advocates and opponents
•Video creation:
- Original NOS item used as basis
- 2 recorded voice-overs: neutral vs. opinionated
- 2 source cues: NOS vs. PowNews
8

9. Example
9

10. Partially latent structural regression model
χ2(59) = 75.55, p = .072, CFI = .99; SRMR = .05, RMSEA = .04, 90% CI [.00, .06].
10

11. 11
Presumed
influence
Perceived
opinion
climate
Attitude toward
highway
widening
Objective NOS
versus
Opinionated PowNews
Objective PowNews
versus
Opinionated PowNews
Objective NOS
versus
Opinionated NOS
+
+
+
+
+
Results: Hypothesis 1

12. Results: Hypothesis 2
12
Political preference:
Left vs. Right
Perceived
bias
Objective NOS
versus
Opinionated PowNews
Objective PowNews
versus
Opinionated PowNews
Objective NOS
versus
Opinionated NOS
+
+ +
-
-
-

13. 13

14. Results: Hypothesis 2
14
Results: Hypothesis 2
14
Political preference:
Left vs. Right
Anger
Perceived
bias
Attitude toward
highway
widening
Objective NOS
versus
Opinionated PowNews
Objective PowNews
versus
Opinionated PowNews
Objective NOS
versus
Opinionated NOS
+
+ +
-
-
-
+
–

15. Conclusion
 2 mechanisms: one cognitive, one affective.
 Salience of a topic may influence strength of indirect effects
- Low salience: Follow perceptions of the perceived majority
- High salience: Likely to evoke hostile media perceptions
 Normal conditions:
- Selective exposure ≠> hostile media perception  Positive indirect effect
- People also watch ideologically incongruent news,
so hostile media effect will still occur.
15

16. Questions / Remarks?
Assessing the Mechanisms Underlying the Effects of
Opinionated News:
How Opinionated News Affects Political Attitudes
Boukes, M.
Boomgaarden, H. G.
Moorman, M.
de Vreese, C. H.
Contact: m.boukes@uva.nl