Extreme Media and American Politics

In Defense of Extremity

verfasst von: J. Benjamin Taylor

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This book asks: what are extreme television media, and are they actually bad for American politics? Taylor explores these questions, and how these media affect political knowledge, trust, efficacy, tolerance, policy attitudes, and political behaviors. Using experiments and data from the National Annenberg Election Study, this book shows how extreme media create both positive and negative externalities in American politics. Many criticize these media because of their bombastic nature, but bombast and affect also create positive effects for some consumers. Previous research shows partisan media exacerbate polarization, and those findings are taken further on immigration policy here. However, they also increase political knowledge, increase internal efficacy, and cause their viewers to engage in informal political behaviors like political discussion and advocacy. The findings suggest there is much to be gained from these media market entrepreneurs, and we should be wary of painting with too broad a brush about their negative effects.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Placing Extreme Television Media in Their Historical and Economic Context

Abstract

Extreme media are a normal and predictable outcome of the media marketplace in the United States. Using historical and market-based explanations for the development of extreme television media, Taylor places extreme media in their proper context. Taylor shows how extreme media fill a niche and are valuable to the political system in the United States. Establishing that their rise is not happenstance or accidental, Taylor creates a firm foundation to explore the empirical realities for people who consume these media. Taylor closes this chapter with a roadmap for the book and a summary of his general findings.

J. Benjamin Taylor

Chapter 2. A Deep Dive into Extreme Television Media Selection

Abstract

This chapter examines the reasons behind extreme media selection under an “information search” condition. Using mainstream and extreme media content, subjects were prompted to select the media choice they believed would give them the “best information to make their political choices.” Predictors of media selection are replicated here, but Taylor turns to qualitative process tracing to study why people make their media choices and how they feel about those choices afterward. Taylor finds that people selecting into extreme media are entertainment seeking, and that subjects who viewed extreme media found it more entertaining than people who selected into mainstream television news. This chapter deepens our understanding of extreme media selection, and shows that extreme media are an extension of the “infotainment” format television.

J. Benjamin Taylor

Chapter 3. The Educative Effects of Extreme Television Media

Abstract

Using lab experiments with both student and non-student samples, Taylor finds that extreme media increase political knowledge and that they increase negative affect among viewers compared to control groups. Taylor also shows that extreme media are at least as informative as traditional news. This research adds to the growing literature on media effects in a polarized media environment, showing that extreme television media can have a beneficial impact on at least one important area of American politics: citizen competence. To account for external validity and popular conceptions on extreme media’s non-informative nature, Taylor uses cross-sectional data from the 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey finding that extreme television viewership correlates with greater political knowledge, while controlling for other known predictors.

J. Benjamin Taylor

Chapter 4. Exploring the Effect of Extreme Media on Political Trust and Efficacy

Abstract

Political trust and efficacy are two crucial values in democratic society. Using propensity score matching, Taylor finds that extreme media cause significant decreases in political trust, but significant increases in internal efficacy. This means extreme television media cause people to trust government less, but they feel as those they understand it better and can make a difference. Extreme media have no effect on external efficacy in the aggregate. Using an experiment with content on S.B. 1070, Taylor explores how extreme television media effect the components of trust and efficacy in a policy-specific context. These results show that extreme media effects are best understood as subtle, aggregate level effects, which result from the nuanced framing employed by extreme television media in general and on policy-specific content.

J. Benjamin Taylor

Chapter 5. The Puzzle of Extreme Media and Political Tolerance: An Immigration Case Study

Abstract

Using immigration content as a case study, Taylor explores the way extreme media framing and affect impact political tolerance for groups associated with S.B. 1070. Until now, there is no research looking into extreme media and political tolerance. Taylor finds that all media treatments decrease political tolerance, but—when interacted with affective engagement—liberal extreme media are able to increase political tolerance for pro-immigration groups and actors. The negative results for conservative extreme media and mainstream also dissipate when interacted with affective engagement—but are not significant—which highlights the importance of media activated emotion on political tolerance. These results show political tolerance is affected by extreme media, but significant changes in tolerance occur when the host’s framing and emotional engagement align for ideological congruity.

J. Benjamin Taylor

Chapter 6. Political Behavior and Extreme Television Media Consumption

Abstract

How do extreme television media affect policy attitudes and behavior? Are extreme television media different from their partisan or mainstream brethren? Are their effects more powerful? Using multiple datasets from the National Annenberg Election Study and a multimethod approach, Taylor shows how extreme media are correlated with policy attitudes on immigration, and frequency of discussing politics. Taylor shows that extreme media cause viewers to become advocates for candidates, but extreme media are not significant predictors of formal political behaviors like voting, working for a campaign, or online campaign activity. These findings show the complexity and nuance of extreme television media effects on normatively valuable aspects of politics. Extreme television media help citizens engage in political expression, but do create problematic effects such as attitude polarization.

J. Benjamin Taylor

Chapter 7. The Meaning and Future of Extreme Media in American Politics

Abstract

In this chapter, Taylor summarizes the findings from Chaps. 1 through 6, and highlights the implications and future for extreme media research. The contributions to political science include establishing extreme media as a new area for media and politics research as well as expanding the field’s understanding of how media affect immigration policy. The practical implications include showing how a relatively small sub-set of the population can create a substantively important impact for the whole of American politics and political behavior. The chapter concludes with paths for future research on extreme media in American politics.

J. Benjamin Taylor

Backmatter

Titel: Extreme Media and American Politics
verfasst von: J. Benjamin Taylor
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-41183-5
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-41182-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41183-5