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No Need to Watch: How the Effects of Partisan Media Can Spread via Interpersonal Discussions

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  • James N. Druckman
  • Matthew S. Levendusky
  • Audrey McLain

Abstract

To what extent do partisan media sources shape public opinion? On its face, it would appear that the impact of partisan media is limited, given that it attracts a relatively small audience. We argue, however, that its influence may extend beyond its direct audience via a two‐step communication flow. Specifically, those who watch and are impacted by partisan media outlets talk to and persuade others who did not watch. We present experimental results that demonstrate this process. We therefore show that previous studies may have significantly underestimated the effect of these outlets. We also illustrate that how the two‐step communication flow works is contingent upon the precise composition of the discussion group (e.g., is it consistent of all fellow partisans or a mix of partisans?). We conclude by highlighting what our results imply about the study of media, preference formation, and partisan polarization.

Suggested Citation

  • James N. Druckman & Matthew S. Levendusky & Audrey McLain, 2018. "No Need to Watch: How the Effects of Partisan Media Can Spread via Interpersonal Discussions," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 62(1), pages 99-112, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:62:y:2018:i:1:p:99-112
    DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12325
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Karell & Andrew Linke & Edward Holland & Edward Hendrickson, 2023. "“Born for a Storm†: Hard-Right Social Media and Civil Unrest," American Sociological Review, , vol. 88(2), pages 322-349, April.
    2. Gorodnichenko, Yuriy & Pham, Tho & Talavera, Oleksandr, 2021. "Social media, sentiment and public opinions: Evidence from #Brexit and #USElection," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    3. Michael Thaler, 2020. "The Fake News Effect: Experimentally Identifying Motivated Reasoning Using Trust in News," Papers 2012.01663, arXiv.org, revised May 2022.
    4. Carolyn M. Hendriks & Selen A. Ercan & Sonya Duus, 2019. "Listening in polarised controversies: a study of listening practices in the public sphere," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 52(1), pages 137-151, March.

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