[ Summer 2010 ]

The World Wide Web and the U.S. Political News Market: AJPS Article Summary

A groundbreaking article—"The World Wide Web and the U.S. Political News Market"—appears in the April 2010 issue of American Journal of Political Science. Authored by Norman H. Nie (Stanford University), Darwin W. Miller, III (RAND Corporation), Saar Golde (Stanford University), Daniel M. Butler (Yale University), and Kenneth Winneg (University of Pennsylvania), this paper provides theoretical grounding for future work on the consequences of changes in the political news market.

Conducted with KnowledgePanel®, the study tests the premises that self-selected ("selective") media exposure leads to the possibility that people who turn to the Internet for news are 1) further from the center, politically; and 2) are interested in a broader range of political issues—including "niche" issues—than those who watch only mainstream TV. Previous studies on this topic were conducted before the Internet exploded, and most focused on network/cable news and talk radio. In addition, earlier research did not examine the relationship between news sources and political attitudes.

The investigators form their conclusions from responses to quantitative surveys that include questions on news exposure and political views.  To summarize their main finding: American viewers who are left- or right-of-center, who watch cable news and also consume Internet news, are more liberal (i.e., those already leaning left-of-center) or more conservative (i.e., those already leaning right-of-center) than viewers who do not.

Formal citation: Nie, N., D.W. Miller, S. Golde, D.M. Butler, and K. Winneg. 2010. The World Wide Web and the U.S. Political News Market. American Journal of Political Science. 54(2): 428-439.