Political Polarization Are Associated with Increased Hard News Selection; However, This Effect Holds Only for Males
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MEDIA IMAGERY AND POLITICAL CHOICE: HOW VISUAL CUES INFLUENCE THE CITIZEN NEWS DIET A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND THE COMMITTEE OF GRADUATE STUDIES OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Laura Ann Granka May 2010 © 2011 by Laura Ann Granka. All Rights Reserved. Re-distributed by Stanford University under license with the author. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/ This dissertation is online at: http://purl.stanford.edu/mk309wn1650 ii I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Shanto Iyengar, Primary Adviser I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. James Fishkin I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Simon Jackman I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Clifford Nass Approved for the Stanford University Committee on Graduate Studies. Patricia J. Gumport, Vice Provost Graduate Education This signature page was generated electronically upon submission of this dissertation in electronic format. An original signed hard copy of the signature page is on file in University Archives. iii iv ABSTRACT Consumption of current affairs information now takes place on a range of different devices—web browsers, mobile phones, and tablets, to name a few beyond traditional analog media—and media owners have responded by offering news content in a variety of formats beyond mere text display. It is common for news interfaces to include graphics, animated slideshows, and other visual features alongside news content. Yet, relatively little research has assessed how these novel formats affect news audiences, specifically with regard to news reading and selection behaviors. The research reported herein examines which factors influence (i) an individual’s preferences for hard or soft news, (ii) an individual’s preferences for specific news sources, and (iii) how stable or susceptible to change these preferences are over time. STUDY 1: SELECTIVE EXPOSURE TO HARD AND SOFT NEWS The first level of analysis is to determine which individual characteristics are key predictors of consuming substantive news content, and which qualities are more likely to lead to soft news consumption. While this question is not new, this study provides several unique contributions. The first contribution addresses the dispute about whether self-report data (e.g., surveys) provides an accurate measurement of actual news consumption. Through an online experiment and survey with 1,000 participants, this study contrasts self-report and actual behavior, finding that reports of news exposure have a limited relationship to behavioral outcomes. The research adds a second layer of analysis to determine whether external factors – such as the presentation and display of news content – can also influence the type of news individuals choose. Specifically, it appears that a graphical news display, with photographs and images, encourages more soft news selection than does a text- only display. This effect is compounded for individuals with lower education levels, likely due to the extra cognitive burden associated with reading text-only content. Other individual characteristics, such as affective political polarization are associated with increased hard news selection; however, this effect holds only for males. v Finally, this study approximates the stability of news preferences over time— specifically, throughout the duration of a news reading session. While self-reported interest in current affairs is associated with hard news selection early in the experiment, participants become somewhat more likely to seek out the opposite news type as the experiment progresses. While news preferences are not inert, there is still a clear gap between those preferring hard news and those preferring soft news. This chapter concludes with implications for news displays and how we might attempt to close the widening political knowledge gap in American society. STUDY 2: POLITICAL POLARIZATION AND NEWS SOURCE PREFERENCES The second study evaluated the extent to which news consumers exercise preferences for content that is perceived to be in ideological agreement. Study 2 was conducted within the same online survey and experiment framework as Study 1, yet extended beyond the type of news selected to evaluate which factors affect the news source selected. News sources were clustered into right, left, and neutral leaning sources, in accordance with previous research and the results of a pre-experiment survey, where participants rated their perceived fairness of news organizations. Results reveal that political orientation does affect the news sources that participants select – notably in the first two trials of the experiment. Further, preferences for a specific source are quite stable over time—as the experiment progressed, individuals rarely deviated from their original sources, and when they did it was more likely to be a politically neutral source rather than the opposite ideology. Furthermore, the graphical display of news, which offers a prominent depiction of the news organization brand, led to more repeat selections of the same source. These findings offer additional support to the argument that the ideological division between media outlets may be growing increasingly stronger. Finally, it is important to note that loyalty towards a specific news provider may in fact be stronger than the influence of ideology: when liberals or conservatives chose an ideologically opposite news source, they showed strong allegiance to this source throughout the experiment, and were just as likely to repeatedly select the source as someone whose ideology matched that of the news provider. Thus, while partisan vi selectivity towards news choices may in fact be a prevalent phenomenon, it is likely much more nuanced than previously suspected. STUDY 3: BEHAVIOR EFFECTS OF NEWS DISPLAY: EYETRACKING STUDY The results of Studies 1 and 2 indicate that changing the visual display of news has a significant effect on both the news source and news type selected. Therefore, the third study engages eyetracking to critically evaluate how these unique information formats are viewed. Specifically, this chapter analyzes whether news readers allocate more attention to certain elements of a news story when presented in a graphical format, and whether the level of cognitive processing differs between the text-only and graphical displays. Results reveal clear differences in the processing of text and graphical news displays. Specifically, fixation duration—a measure of interest and cognitive processing—is shorter for soft news topics and when news is presented graphically. The graphical condition also facilitates more rapid decision-making, with less time spent per page. Saccade length, a measure of the overall pattern of page viewing, is significantly longer in the graphical condition, indicating a less linear viewing sequence. Furthermore, the amount of time spent reading a specific news story is highly influenced by page location in both conditions: unsurprisingly, more attention is given to news stories on the top of the page. The eyetracking data provides additional evidence to explain the divergent news selection behaviors witnessed in the text-only and graphical news formats. vii viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I extend deep gratitude and appreciation to the many people who offered invaluable advice, insight, discussion, and support throughout my PhD. In particular: My committee members and dissertation chair: Shanto Iyengar, Clifford Nass, James Fishkin, Simon Jackman, and Douglas Rivers. Shanto Iyengar, my advisor, has consistently challenged me to think more critically and deeply about the issues herein. James Fishkin has offered insight and wisdom throughout. Simon Jackman has provided me with invaluable statistical and analytical knowledge. Clifford Nass has been supportive since my original enrollment in 2004, offering advice on methods, data analysis, and scholarship generally. Douglas Rivers, my orals defense chair, laid the foundations for my statistical understanding. My colleagues and mentors at Google who encouraged and supported my goal of finishing my PhD: especially John Boyd and Patrick Larvie. Colleagues, faculty, and staff at Stanford: especially Fred Turner, whose high standards made me take that extra step, Jeremy Bailenson for career discussion and support, Solomon Messing for insightful discussion, and Susie Ementon, for continued patience, support, and guidance. Those who generously offered statistics and data analysis advice: Julie Granka for her infinite knowledge and patience, Noah Simon, Kieron Wesson, David Mease, Kyu Hahn, Rehan Khan. The online survey and experiment were created with much help from John Walker, Sean Westwood, Sam Luks, and Jason Cowden. Frederic Wolens provided eyetracking data assistance. I am indebted to the priceless patience and support of family and friends: especially