Learning about Politics from Mass Media and Social Media: Moderating Roles of Press Freedom and Public Service Broadcasting in 11 Countries

Author(s):  
Chang Sup Park ◽  
Homero Gil de Zúñiga

Abstract To examine whether mass media and social media relate to political knowledge, the study draws upon an original survey of adults from 11 countries, the 2014 CESifo DICE Report on public service broadcasting, and the 2015 Press Freedom Index by Freedom House. Findings reveal that news use via television, newspapers, online news sites, and social media is positively associated with political knowledge. Furthermore, press freedom and strong public broadcasting strengthen the association between news use (via both mass and social media) and political knowledge. The findings suggest that the media system plays a crucial role in creating a political learning environment even in this social media age.

Author(s):  
Sven Stollfuß

This article investigates how platformisation changes the practices of content production and distribution through the case of the web series, Druck (tr. Pressure (2018–), for the public service content network ‘funk’ (ARD and ZDF). An analysis of the German adaptation of the Norwegian television and web series Skam (tr. Shame) (NRK3, 2015–2017) shows how public service broadcasting (PSB) in Germany is changing due to the influence of social media. To reach a younger audience, PSB has to meet them on third-party platforms. Consequently, PSB must provide content that fits the mobile media environment of social media.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-87
Author(s):  
Jenni Hokka

With the advent of popular social media platforms, news journalism has been forced to re-evaluate its relation to its audience. This applies also for public service media that increasingly have to prove its utility through audience ratings. This ethnographic study explores a particular project, the development of ‘concept bible’ for the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE’s online news; it is an attempt to solve these challenges through new journalistic practices. The study introduces the concept of ‘nuanced universality’, which means that audience groups’ different kinds of needs are taken into account on news production in order to strengthen all people’s ability to be part of society. On a more general level, the article claims that despite its commercial origins, audience segmentation can be transformed into a method that helps revise public service media principles into practices suitable for the digital media environment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 808-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helle Sjøvaag ◽  
Truls André Pedersen ◽  
Thomas Owren

This article asks to what extent public service broadcasting’s online news service resembles that of commercial media. The context of this inquiry is claims of ‘out-crowding’ facing public service broadcasters across Europe. In Norway, commercial players in this debate accuse the public service broadcaster, NRK, of being too similar to competitors in the private sector for commercial operators to attain sustainable revenues in the online realm. To ascertain the extent to what these claims are warranted, this article compares NRK’s online content with that of nine commercial competitors in national and local markets, using a hybrid methodological approach combining quantitative content analysis with Latent Dirichlet allocation, analysing in excess of 115,000 documents. Findings show that commercial operators resemble each other more than they do NRK, indicating closer competition in the commercial segment than between the public service broadcaster and market players.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 13-24
Author(s):  
Olaniru Oluwatosin ◽  
Olatunji s. Olusoji ◽  
Ayandele Olusola ◽  
Olugbenga A. Popoola

Knowledge about politics and government activities increases due to the socialization and enlightenment functions of the mass  media. Youths and students are the largest bloc of voters in Nigeria but seemingly least political informed. This study examines the frequency of the forms of media accessed and level of political knowledge among Nigerian students. It also assessed the relationships between political knowledge and access to  radio, television, newspaper, and social media. Moreover, it investigated the predictive influence of the frequency of media access on Nigerian  students’ political knowledge. The study adopted Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT) to explain how media is used to the advantage of people. Using cross-sectional survey research design, a structured questionnaire was used to collect information on students’ demographic, frequency of  media access and knowledge of Nigerian politics from 246 randomly selected students of the Polytechnic, Ibadan (Mean age is 25.07 years, SD = 6.23). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Findings identified social media as the most frequently use media,  followed by radio, television and newspaper.31% of the respondents had very high political knowledge while 3% had no political knowledge. Access to radio is the only significant correlate (r = 0.42, p<0.05) and independent predictor (β= 0.43, t=-3.98, p<0.05) of political knowledge although access  to radio, television, newspaper and social media are significant joint predictors of political knowledge (R2= .18, F (4, 241) = 4.32). Therefore, the study concludes that radio is the foremost source of political knowledge amongst undergraduate students in Ibadan, Nigeria. It recommends that various  media institutions and political analysts should take advantage of the social media to make more audience politically knowledgeable. Keywords: Political knowledge; Mass media; Social media;  Traditional media; Nigerian students.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512110478
Author(s):  
Dam Hee Kim ◽  
Brian E. Weeks ◽  
Daniel S. Lane ◽  
Lauren B. Hahn ◽  
Nojin Kwak

Social media, as sources of political news and sites of political discussion, may be novel environments for political learning. Many early reports, however, failed to find that social media use promotes gains in political knowledge. Prior research has not yet fully explored the possibility based on the communication mediation model that exposure to political information on social media facilitates political expression, which may subsequently encourage political learning. We find support for this mediation model in the context of Facebook by analyzing a two-wave survey prior to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In particular, sharing and commenting, not liking or opinion posting, may facilitate political knowledge gains.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-48
Author(s):  
Andhika Febi Hardina ◽  
Irwansyah Irwansyah

This research discusses the social media Twitter, which is the first platform to search for the latest information or news. This is backed up by the large amount of news or information circulating on online news portals, often sourced from the social media Twitter. The purpose of this literature review is to see how Twitter was chosen by social media users as a place to fulfill their information needs. The scope of this research is in the mass media communication circle using Uses & Gratifications Theory (UGT) to explain why users choose their media to complement their needs. This study uses an in-depth interview exploratory description method. Data collection from journals or previous research is carried out based on the context and cases where the data and information are needed in this study. In addition, this study uses an exploratory description method of in-depth interviews with four respondents who use social media Twitter. Questions are given in a structured manner. The result of this research is that there is a new motivation for people to use Twitter.  


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 339
Author(s):  
Prayudi . ◽  
Retno Hendariningrum

General Election 2014 in Indonesia principally was a gate to more democratic Indonesia. People were given rights to directly vote their preferred legislative representatives and president and vice president for the next five-year period. New political learning process was introduced as all presidential candidates must show their capabilities in all aspects to attract constituents. The role of mass media became important as each candidate worked hard to gain sympathy from people. This paper examines how Indonesian online news media critically reported the presidential candidates. Further, this paper analysed how the issue were represented in the online media and why it was represented in such ways.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482110478
Author(s):  
Homero Gil de Zúñiga ◽  
Manuel Goyanes

Prior scholarship has consistently shown that informed citizens tend to better understand government actions, expectations, and priorities, potentially mitigating radicalism such as partaking in illegal protest. However, the role of social media may prove this relationship to be challenging, with an increasingly pervasive use of applications such as WhatsApp for information and mobilization. Findings from a two-wave US panel survey data show that WhatsApp news is negatively associated to political knowledge and positively associated to illegal protest. Less politically knowledgeable citizens also tend to engage in illegal protest more frequently. Results also suggest an influential role of political knowledge in mediating the effects of WhatsApp news over illegal protests. Those who consume more news on WhatsApp tend to know less about politics which, in turn, positively relates to unlawful political protest activities. This study suggests that WhatsApp affordances provide fertile paths to nurture illegal political protest participation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1078-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Moeller ◽  
Claes de Vreese

This study investigates the dynamics of the reciprocal influence of political knowledge and attentive news use. News media are an important source for political information and contribute to political learning. Yet, this process is optimized with increasing levels of pre-existing knowledge about the political world. In extant literature, mutual interdependence is often suggested, but empirical proof is scarce. We propose to conceptualize the relationship of knowledge and news use as an upward spiral. The model is tested on data from a three-wave panel survey among 888 adolescents using growth curve modeling. The results support the model of a spiral of political learning. Interestingly, the influence of political knowledge on news use is estimated to be higher than the other way round.


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