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How Does Media Choice Affect Hostile Media Perceptions? Evidence from Participant Preference Experiments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2015

Kevin Arceneaux  and
Martin Johnson
Kevin Arceneaux
Affiliation:
Professor of Political Science, Behavioral Foundations Lab, Director, Institute for Public Affairs, Faculty Affiliate, Temple University, 453 Gladfelter Hall, 1115 Polett Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19122, e-mail: [email protected].
Martin Johnson
Affiliation:
Kevin P. Reilly, Sr. Chair in Political Communication, Manship School of Mass Communication and Department of Political Science, Louisiana State University, Journalism Building, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, e-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

We investigate how selective exposure to various types of media shapes hostile media perceptions. We use an innovative experimental design that gauges the influence of viewers’ preferences for entertainment, partisan cable news, or mainstream broadcast news on their reactions to media content. This design represents a modification to the participant preference experiment used elsewhere, expanding a laboratory-based media environment to include partisan and mainstream news options, alongside entertainment programming. We find that people’s viewing preferences shape their reactions to news media content.

Keywords

Selective exposurepartisan newshostile media perceptionparticipant preference experiment
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Experimental Political Science , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , Spring 2015 , pp. 12 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © The Experimental Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2015 

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