The causes of political misperceptions: Suggestions for research

The extent of misperceptions of political events and developments is assumed to be largely determined by the rate of press freedom characterizing each country (Reporters sans frontiers, RSF, 2018). Following that argument, only about one third of all countries worldwide would turn out to be in a good (Scandinavia, Germany) or satisfactory (the US, the UK, Canada and Australia) situation (see Appendix). Recent research on misperceptions suggests that the freedom of press may be a necessary but not necessarily a sufficient condition of measurement. More decisive than freedom of press are two further factors, namely deep-rooted ideological inclinations and worldviews as formed during primary (family) and subsequent (school) phases of socialization on the one hand, and the structure of media ownership on the other hand. In what follows, we present some recent evidence on how the ownership of the media (state/public/private) is influencing misperceptions. It is argued that state and private media distort public opinion more than the media under public control.