Understanding News Media Consumption and Political Attitudes
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UNDERSTANDING NEWS MEDIA CONSUMPTION AND POLITICAL ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR IN LATIN AMERICA Ryan Salzman, B.A. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2011 APPROVED: John A. Booth, Major Professor T. David Mason, Committee Member Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha, Committee Member Tetsuya Matsubayashi, Committee Member Alan B. Albarran, Committee Member James D. Meernik, Acting Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Salzman, Ryan, Understanding news media consumption and political attitudes and behavior in Latin America. Doctor of Philosophy (Political Science), May 2011, 239 pp., 57 tables, 3 figures, references, 150 titles. News media consumption is vital to understanding democracy in Latin America. Democracy in the region lacks consolidation that may be encouraged by the ability of news media to shape individuals’ political attitudes and behaviors. Yet, we know very little about how citizens of Latin American countries consume news media or how that consumption affects attitudes and behavior. This study offers a region-wide examination of the factors that shape news media consumption and the effects of that consumption on individuals in the region. To explore this topic, I examine survey data from the 2008 Latin American Public Opinion Project in 18 Latin American countries. I argue that news media promote democratic attitudes and political behavior by increasing the symbolic value of democracy and by supplementing those symbols with information that further encourages democratic attitudes and political participation. Additionally, political behavior is not temporally proximate to political behaviors such as voting. This necessitates a mediated path for news media consumption to influence participation through political interest, civil society participation and democratic attitudes. My findings illustrate that each news medium type (TV, radio, newspaper) must be considered separately from each other type. I find that news media consumption has little effect on attitudes. The effect of news media consumption on behavior is best understood as mediated paths through political interest and civil society participation. An additional analysis examines the state of internet use in the region. In total, this project offers a broad understanding of how news media consumption affects individual-level democracy in Latin America. Copyright 2011 by Ryan Salzman ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS No production of this magnitude can be executed without significant assistance from other individuals. I would first and foremost like to acknowledge the efforts of John A. Booth. Without his advice, critiques, and encouragement this study would have been impossible. I would also like to acknowledge the helpful advice and comments given to me at various times by Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha, Tetsuya Matsubayashi, and T. David Mason. Instrumental in the development of my understanding of media in Latin America was Alan B. Albarran. The resources provided to me by Dr. Albarran and the Center for Spanish Language Media at the University of North Texas encouraged the pursuit of this project from its very early stages. To these individuals and all other members of the University of North Texas Political Science Department faculty and staff, thank you. I must also acknowledge the support and encouragement provided to me by my friends and family. Without their emphasis on the value of education and strong insistence on following your dreams, none of this would have been possible. And to Catherine, who inspired my interest in media, repeatedly assured me of my ability, and demonstrated unwavering love for me and my work, thank you. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ viii Chapters 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 2. MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA ....................................... 30 3. RESEARCH DESIGN ....................................................................................... 54 4. WHAT DETERMINES NEWS MEDIA CONSUMPTION IN LATIN AMERICA? ....................................................................................................... 77 5. UNDERSTANDING NEWS MEDIA CONSUMPTION AND DEMOCRATIC ATTITUDES ................................................................................................... 101 6. UNDERSTANDING NEWS MEDIA CONSUMPTION AND POLITICAL BEHAVIOR..................................................................................................... 117 7. INTERNET USE IN LATIN AMERICA ......................................................... 152 8. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 186 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................ 207 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................... 228 iv LIST OF TABLES Page 1.1 Population Characteristics of Latin America .................................................................. 17 1.2 Economic Performance of Latin American Countries .................................................... 18 1.3 Social Development Performance of Latin American Countries ..................................... 20 1.4 Political Performance of Latin American Countries ....................................................... 22 1.5 Media Indicators in Latin American Countries ............................................................... 25 3.1 Self-Reported News Media Consumption Rates in Latin America ................................. 59 3.2 Unweighted Sample Size, By Nation ............................................................................. 63 3.3 ICT Development Index Access Scores ......................................................................... 74 3.4 Summary Statistics for Variables Included in the Study ................................................. 76 4.1 Self-Reported Newspaper Consumption per Country ..................................................... 79 4.2 Self-Reported TV News Consumption per Country ....................................................... 80 4.3 Self-Reported Radio News Consumption per Country ................................................... 81 4.4 Summary Statistics for News Media Consumption Determinants Models ...................... 90 4.5 Ordered Logistic Models of News Media Consumption Determinants ........................... 91 5.1 Average Political Attitude Scores per Country ............................................................. 106 5.2 News Media Consumption and Democratic Attitudes Regression Models .................... 108 6.1 Average Political Behavior Scores per Country ........................................................... 119 6.2 News Media Consumption and Political Behavior Regression Models ......................... 126 6.3 News Media Consumption, Interest in Politics, and Political Behavior Regression Models .................................................................................................................................... 131 6.4 News Media Consumption, Civil Society, and Political Behavior Regression Models .................................................................................................................................... 136 6.5 News Media Consumption, Political Attitudes, and Political Behavior Regression Models .................................................................................................................................... 140 v 6.6 Political Behavior Models with All Independent Variables .......................................... 146 7.1 Internet Use in Latin America ...................................................................................... 163 7.2 Average Self-Reported Internet Use Scores per Country in Latin America ................... 168 7.3 Ordered Logistic Models of Internet Consumption Determinants ................................. 171 7.4 Direct Political Behavior Model with Internet News Consumption .............................. 177 7.5 Mediated Model of Political Behavior with Internet News Consumption ..................... 181 B.1 Predicted Probabilities for Radio News Consumption Determinants ............................ 212 B.2 Predicted Probabilities for Television News Consumption Determinants ..................... 213 B.3 Predicted Probabilities for Newspaper Consumption Determinants .............................. 214 B.4 Predicted Probabilities for the Direct Model of Discussing Politics .............................. 215 B.5 Predicted Probabilities for the Direct Model of Voting................................................. 215 B.6 Predicted Probabilities for the Direct Model of Attending Meetings............................. 215 B.7 Predicted Probabilities for the Direct Model of Protesting ............................................ 216 B.8 Predicted Probabilities for the Mediated Model: Political Interest ................................ 216 B.9 Predicted Probabilities for the Mediated Political Interest