News Media Use and Americans' Perceptions of Global Threat

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 575-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
TRAVIS N. RIDOUT ◽  
ASHLEY C. GROSSE ◽  
ANDREW M. APPLETON
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Global Knowledge ◽  
Threat Perceptions ◽  
Global Engagement ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Global Threat

This article explores the antecedents of Americans' perceptions of global threat, which may influence people's policy preferences and ultimately public policy. Three predictors of global threat perceptions are in focus: news media use, global knowledge and global experience. Using the 2004 Survey of Attitudes and Global Engagement, it is discovered that media use best explains global threat perceptions, but its impact is largely conditional on the characteristics of the individual and on the type of threat.

scholarly journals Soft Law Engagements and Hard Law Preferences: Comparing EU Lobbying Positions between UN Global Compact Signatory Firms and Other Interest Group Types

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Onna van den Broek
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Global Compact ◽  
Un Global Compact ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Although corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gone “mainstream,” the relationship between CSR and corporate political activities (CPA) has received little scholarly attention. This is problematic because firms potentially have a more sizable impact through their lobbying activities for socially and environmentally beneficial (or unbeneficial) public policies than through their own operations. This paper investigates if, and how, UN Global Compact signatory firms differ in their policy preferences on key EU proposals compared to other interest groups. To capture state-of-the-art data on firms’ policy preferences, I draw from the INTEREURO database, which includes firms’ lobbying positions on forty-three directives and twenty-seven regulations covering 112 public policy issues in the European Union. Statistical results show that Global Compact signatory firms significantly lobby for stricter regulation than non-signatory firms and industry associations, however, their positions are still lower than nonbusiness groups. These results are similar across various public policy issues and suggest that the regulatory preferences of firms’ participating in soft law CSR initiatives are more aligned with stakeholders' interests. This paper contributes to public policy literature exploring the relationship between hard and soft law as well as literature studying the political representation of divergent interest.

scholarly journals Confidence in Local, National, and International Scientists on Climate Change

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 272
Author(s):  
Aaron C. Sparks ◽  
Heather Hodges ◽  
Sarah Oliver ◽  
Eric R. A. N. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
News Media ◽  
Internet Survey ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Scientific Report ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Change Beliefs

In many public policy areas, such as climate change, news media reports about scientific research play an important role. In presenting their research, scientists are providing guidance to the public regarding public policy choices. How do people decide which scientists and scientific claims to believe? This is a question we address by drawing on the psychology of persuasion. We propose the hypothesis that people are more likely to believe local scientists than national or international scientists. We test this hypothesis with an experiment embedded in a national Internet survey. Our experiment yielded null findings, showing that people do not discount or ignore research findings on climate change if they come from Europe instead of Washington-based scientists or a leading university in a respondent’s home state. This reinforces evidence that climate change beliefs are relatively stable, based on party affiliation, and not malleable based on the source of the scientific report.

Perceived agenda-setting effect in international context: Impact of media coverage on American audience’s perception of China

2020 ◽  
pp. 174804852098402
Author(s):  
Linsen Su ◽  
Xigen Li
Keyword(s):  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Direct Experience ◽  
International Context ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Comparison Approach ◽  
The Individual

Different from the conventional content-survey result comparison approach in agenda-setting research, which compares media agenda and public agenda at the aggregated level, this study investigates the perceived agenda-setting effect of media at the individual level in an international context. A survey of American respondents (N = 848) identifies perceived agenda-setting effect from individuals’ cognitive process, and finds that the U.S. audience are aware that their perception of China is shaped by media coverage of China-related topics. The study finds that media use, political interest in China, and media trust positively predict perceived agenda-setting effect, while direct experience with China produces no effect. The study also confirms the effect of media use on perceived agenda-setting effect mediated by political interest.

Perception of factuality in selected online news media

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-148
Author(s):  
Eva Eddy
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Online News ◽  
The Other ◽  
News Report ◽  
Specific Event ◽  
The Way

Abstract The paper focuses on one’s perception of factuality in selected online news media. A group of university students of English were approached and presented with ten statements about Sweden and asked to evaluate their truthfulness. Half of the group (informed respondents) were then advised on the ways media use to infer a narrative onto the reader, potentially influencing the way they view events, while the other half (uninformed respondents) were not made aware of this fact. The respondents were then presented with a news report describing a specific event that took place in Sweden; however, half of each group were asked to read its tabloid description while the other halves were shown the event as reported by a broadsheet (both online). They were then asked to reevaluate the statements they were presented with before and decide whether their opinions changed based on the article they had just read. The results suggest that one is inclined to believe what they read, regardless whether the source seems reliable and whether they are aware of the fact media might manipulate their audiences.

Some Media Matter More Than Others: Investigating Media Effects on Attitudes toward and Perceptions of Immigration in Sweden

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 1238-1264
Author(s):  
Nora Theorin ◽  
Jesper Strömbäck
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Alternative Media ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Immigration Attitudes ◽  
Effects Of Media ◽  
Attitudes Toward Immigration

Over the last decade, issues related to immigration have become increasingly salient across Western democracies. This increasing salience has made it more important to understand people’s attitudes toward immigration, including the effects of media use on those attitudes. Differentiating between attitudes toward different types of immigration, attitudes toward immigration from different parts of the world, and perceptions of immigration’s impact, this article investigates the effects of media use on attitudes toward and perceptions of immigration in Sweden. Based on a three-year, three-wave panel study, it investigates the effects of media use on the individual level. Among other things, results show that there are limited effects of using traditional news media but more substantial effects on people’s immigration attitudes of using anti-immigration, right-wing alternative media and pro-immigration, left-wing alternative media. These findings imply that it is highly relevant to account for media use, especially alternative media use, when studying public attitudes toward immigration. Further, we find that variations in people’s immigration attitudes, to a high degree, depend on the type of immigration and on where migrants are coming from. This finding underlines the importance of measuring both of these aspects when the aim is understanding general attitudes toward immigration and/or key predictors behind immigration attitudes.

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