IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/meanco/v13y2025a9959.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Democracy, Deliberation, and Media: The Role of Incidental Exposure and News Consumption

Author

Listed:
  • Andrés Scherman

    (School of Communication and Journalism, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Chile / Millennium Nucleus Center for the Study of Politics, Public Opinion, and Media in Chile (MEPOP), Chile / Centre for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (COES), Chile)

  • Pedro Fierro

    (Millennium Nucleus Center for the Study of Politics, Public Opinion, and Media in Chile (MEPOP), Chile / School of Business, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Chile / Department of Media and Communication, London School of Economics, UK)

  • Yuanliang Shan

    (School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin – Madison, USA)

Abstract

This study examines the relation between news consumption and fostering public deliberation within democratic systems. Drawing on Jürgen Habermas’s concepts of understanding orientation (consensus-oriented, communicative rationality) and strategic orientation (goal-oriented, instrumental rationality), it explores how news media can either facilitate rational communication in public debates or, alternatively, encourage strategic interventions. To investigate these relationships, this study utilizes a survey in Chile ( N = 903) conducted under the supervision of the Millennium Nucleus for the Study of Politics, Public Opinion, and Media (Nucleo MEPOP) between August and September 2022. The findings reveal that traditional media and social media are significantly and positively associated with a strategic orientation, whereas exposure to digital media is negatively associated with such an orientation. Additionally, incidental exposure emerges as a key factor in shaping the relationship between media consumption and deliberative predispositions. This article contributes to the understanding of classical approaches to the study of deliberation in the digital contemporary context, where homophily, polarization, and confrontation have emerged as significant challenges for both developing and established democracies.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrés Scherman & Pedro Fierro & Yuanliang Shan, 2025. "Democracy, Deliberation, and Media: The Role of Incidental Exposure and News Consumption," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 13.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v13:y:2025:a:9959
    DOI: 10.17645/mac.9959
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/9959
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/mac.9959?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pedro Fierro & Ignacio Aravena-Gonzalez & Patricio Aroca & Francisco Rowe, 2024. "Geographies of discontent: measuring and understanding the feeling of abandonment in the Chilean region of Valparaiso (2019–2021)," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 17(2), pages 275-292.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hernando Rojas & William P. Eveland, Jr., 2025. "Editorial: When All Speak but Few Listen—Asymmetries in Political Conversation," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 13.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      More about this item

      Keywords

      ;
      ;
      ;
      ;
      ;
      ;
      ;

      Statistics

      Access and download statistics

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v13:y:2025:a:9959. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.