Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Political Science Dissertations Department of Political Science Spring 1-23-2013 The Effects of Extreme Media on Political Behavior, Attitudes, and Media Selection James B. Taylor Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/political_science_diss Recommended Citation Taylor, James B., "The Effects of Extreme Media on Political Behavior, Attitudes, and Media Selection." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2013. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/political_science_diss/28 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Political Science at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Political Science Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE EFFECTS OF EXTREME MEDIA ON POLITICAL BEHAVIOR, ATTITUDES, AND MEDIA SELECTION by JAMES BENJAMIN TAYLOR Under the Direction of Sean Richey ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the role of extreme media (i.e. political talk radio and cable news opinion shows) on the political attitudes of viewers and listeners. I investigate whether extreme media has both positive and negative externalities for democratic citizenship. Specif- ically, I use laboratory experiments, national survey data, and qualitative interviews to test the impact of extreme media on viewers' political knowledge, trust in government, efficacy, and political tolerance. I use laboratory experiments in controlled settings to uncover the impact of viewership on political knowledge, trust in government, and efficacy. I confirm these lab findings with the national survey data, by using propensity score matching and ordered probit models to demonstrate that exposure to extreme media produces political knowledge and efficacy, but decreases trust in government. I further use process tracing to ascertain the motivations individuals use to choose to view extreme media. Finally, through subject interviews conducted as part of the self-selection portion via a 1 x 3 self-selection experiment, I find subjects seek out entertaining media specifically from ideologically sim- ilar outlets. This project advances the media and politics literature by demonstrating the capacity for extreme media to alter political behavior, attitudes, and information processing. INDEX WORDS: Media effects, Political behavior, Political knowledge, Political science THE EFFECTS OF EXTREME MEDIA ON POLITICAL BEHAVIOR, ATTITUDES, AND MEDIA SELECTION by JAMES BENJAMIN TAYLOR A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2013 Copyright by James Benjamin Taylor 2013 THE EFFECTS OF EXTREME MEDIA ON POLITICAL BEHAVIOR, ATTITUDES, AND MEDIA SELECTION by JAMES BENJAMIN TAYLOR Committee Chair: Dr. Sean Richey Committee: Dr. Sarah Gershon Dr. Jason Reifler Electronic Version Approved: February 2013 Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University May 2013 iv DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to all those who have made me the person I am today. I would thank them all by name, but I would surely miss someone. Specifically, I am the person I am today because of my parents, Jimmy and Susan Taylor. They taught me what it means to be responsible, and how to be a good person. Additionally, I would like to thank my grandparents, Harold and Linda Scott and Jamie and Wadene Taylor. You all showed me the way you are supposed to live a good life. I would also like to thank my wife, Sarah. Without her understanding and support this degree could have never been accomplished. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the work and help of my committee: Sean Richey, Jason Reifler, and Sarah Gershon. These three people have not only advised me on this project, but have shown me what it takes to do meaningful, dedicated scholarship. I will be eternally grateful for the guidance they have provided during my Ph.D. at Georgia State. Whatever I do well in the future I do only because I have had the distinct honor of working with these scholars. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ::::::::::::::::: v LIST OF TABLES :::::::::::::::::::: ix LIST OF FIGURES :::::::::::::::::::: xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS :::::::::::::::: xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ::::::::::::::: 1 1.1 Media in the United States ....................... 1 1.2 Literature on Media Bias ......................... 3 1.3 Outline of the dissertation ........................ 7 CHAPTER 2 THE DETERMINANTS OF EXTREME MEDIA SELEC- TION :::::::::::::::::::: 10 2.1 Introduction ................................. 10 2.2 The Political Media Environment and Self-Selection . 11 2.3 Observational Procedures ........................ 12 2.4 Data ...................................... 13 2.5 A Qualitative Investigation of Self-Selection into Partisan Media 14 2.5.1 How to Choose in Light of the Objective? . 14 2.5.2 Was the Information Informative? . 16 2.5.3 Explicit Perceptions of Bias and Attitude Change . 19 2.5.4 Examining Affect toward Extreme and Non-Ideological Media . 23 2.6 Conclusions ................................. 26 CHAPTER 3 THE BENEFICIAL IMPACT OF EXTREME MEDIA ON POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE ::::::::::: 28 vii 3.1 Introduction ................................. 28 3.2 Political Knowledge ............................ 30 3.3 The Capacity for Media to Teach ................... 31 3.4 Knowledge of Immigration Policy ................... 34 3.5 Theory and Hypothesis .......................... 35 3.6 Data ...................................... 36 3.7 Television Media .............................. 38 3.7.1 Experimental Results . 38 3.7.2 Interactions . 39 3.7.3 Cross-Sectional Data . 41 3.8 Radio ..................................... 49 3.8.1 Assessing Knowledge and Political Talk Radio . 50 3.8.2 Matching . 54 3.8.3 Matching Results . 56 3.9 Conclusion .................................. 59 CHAPTER 4 EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF EXTREME MEDIA ON POLITICAL TRUST AND EFFICACY :::::: 61 4.1 Introduction ................................. 61 4.2 Political Trust ................................ 62 4.3 Media Effects on Trust and Efficacy . 64 4.4 Theory and Hypotheses ......................... 66 4.5 Data and Methods ............................. 67 4.6 Results .................................... 69 4.7 Conclusions ................................. 75 CHAPTER 5 POLITICAL TOLERANCE AND EXTREME MEDIA : 77 5.1 Introduction ................................. 77 5.2 Political Tolerance and Its Individual-Level Determinants . 78 viii 5.3 Media and Political Tolerance ...................... 81 5.4 Theory and Hypothesis .......................... 82 5.5 Data ...................................... 83 5.6 Experimental Procedures ........................ 85 5.7 Results .................................... 87 5.8 Conclusions ................................. 88 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS :::::::::::::::: 91 6.1 Main Findings ............................... 92 6.2 Final Thoughts on Extreme Media ................... 93 REFERENCES ::::::::::::::::::::: 95 APPENDICES :::::::::::::::::::::: 107 Appendix A SURVEY QUESTION WORDING AND CODING :: 107 A.1 1996, 2000, and 2004 National Election Study . 107 A.2 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey . 111 Appendix B MATCHING MODEL SPECIFICATIONS AND BALANCE 114 Appendix C VIDEO TREATMENT SCRIPTS ::::::::: 118 Appendix D EXTREME TREATMENT MENTIONS AND NAES \EX- TREME" VARIABLE CODING ::::::::: 123 Appendix E PRINCIPLE COMPONENT ANALYSIS :::::: 126 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Self-Selection Subjects' Demographics and Ideology . 14 Table 3.1 Experimental Subjects' Demographic Summary Statistics . 37 Table 3.2 NAES Summary Data . 43 Table 3.3 Ordered Probit Model for Political Knowledge (2008 NAES) . 46 Table 3.4 Ordered Probit Model for Political Knowledge (2008 NAES), Full Specifications . 48 Table 3.5 Matching Routine Summary Table for NES and NAES Surveys . 53 Table 3.6 Average Treatment Effect of Radio on Political Knowledge (NES) 57 Table 3.7 Average Treatment Effect of Radio on Political Knowledge (NAES) 58 Table 4.1 Treatment Effects of PTR on Trust in Government in 1996, 2000, and 2004 (NES) . 69 Table 4.2 Treatment Effects of Extreme Media on Trust in Government in 2008 (NAES) . 70 Table 4.3 Treatment Effects of PTR on External Efficacy in 1996, 2000, and 2004 (NES) . 72 Table 4.4 Treatment Effects of Extreme Media on External Efficacy in 2008 (NAES) . 72 Table 4.5 Treatment Effects of PTR on Internal Efficacy in 1996 and 2000 (NES) . 73 x Table 4.6 Treatment Effects of Extreme Media on Internal Efficacy in 2008 (NAES) . 74 Table 5.1 Summary Statistics by Treatment Group, Fall 2011 . 84 Table B.1 Propensity Score Blocks and Balance for 1996 NES . 114 Table B.2 Propensity Score Blocks and Balance for 2000 NES . 115 Table B.3 Propensity Score Blocks and Balance for 2004 NES . 116 Table B.4 Propensity Score Blocks and Balance for 2008 NAES . 117 Table D.1 Experimental Treatment Explicit Mentions for Knowledge Questions 123 Table D.2 Media Coding . 124 Table D.3 Media Coding, continued . 125 xi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 Treatment Effects for Media on S.B. 1070 Knowledge . 39 Figure 3.2 Treatment Effects for Media on S.B. 1070 Knowledge, by Ideology 40 Figure 3.3 Treatment Effects for Media on S.B. 1070 Knowledge, by Pre-Test Knowledge . 42 Figure 5.1 Treatment Effects on Tolerance for Illegal Immigrants . 87 Figure 5.2 Treatment Effects