A Turn Toward Avoidance? Selective Exposure to Online Political Information, 2004—2008

Scholars warn that avoidance of attitude-discrepant political information is becoming increasingly common due in part to an ideologically fragmented online news environment that allows individuals to systematically eschew contact with ideas that differ from their own. Data collected over a series of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Political behavior 2013-03, Vol.35 (1), p.113-134
Main Authors: Garrett, R. Kelly, Carnahan, Dustin, Lynch, Emily K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blogs
Conservatism
Elections
Internet
Liberalism
Media coverage
News content
Original Paper
Political behavior
Political campaigns
Political elections
Political Ideologies
Political parties
Political partisanship
Political Science
Political Science and International Relations
Political Science and International Studies
Sociology
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Summary:Scholars warn that avoidance of attitude-discrepant political information is becoming increasingly common due in part to an ideologically fragmented online news environment that allows individuals to systematically eschew contact with ideas that differ from their own. Data collected over a series of national RDD surveys conducted between 2004 and 2008 challenge this assertion, demonstrating that Americans' use of attitude-consistent political sources is positively correlated with use of more attitudinally challenging sources. This pattern holds over time and across different types of online outlets, and applies even among those most strongly committed to their political ideology, although the relationship is weaker for this group. Implications for these findings are discussed.
ISSN:0190-9320
1573-6687
DOI:10.1007/s11109-011-9185-6