Chapter 5 Hearing the Other Side and Standing Firm Arceneaux and Johnson Main point What role could partisan news play in hardening the attitudes of viewers against opposing arguments Example ID: 653561
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Slide1
Erinn LauterbachFeb. 28, 2014
Chapter 5: Hearing the Other Side and Standing Firm
Arceneaux
and JohnsonSlide2
Main point: What role could partisan news play in hardening the attitudes of viewers against opposing arguments? Example:
Birthers
in 2008
These shows both bolster pre-existing attitudes and help hone viewer defenses to arguments from the other side.
P
artisan show hosts (O’Reilly &
Olbermann
)
Promote their own views
Tear down others with whom they disagree
These kinds of communications can wall off like-minded viewers from hearing the other side. Slide3
One theory of political communication is that if people are exposed to opposing arguments (both proattitudinal and
counterattitudinal
) they will have more moderate views and reasonable opinions.
Authors use a hypothetical counterfactual
Questions: will hearing the other side moderate views (increase openness)
or
will exposure to countervailing views harden partisans against those arguments?Slide4
Again the A & J are borrowing from the psychology literatureExposure to proattitudinal
information increases peoples political efficacy and bolsters their initial opinions
Primes group identity
If
c
ounterattitudinal
information signals an out-group threat it would motivate people to defend their groups position
This desire for in-group cohesion can mediate even reasonable counter arguments
Examples? Climate change? Slide5
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) (Petty and Cacioppo
)
Helps the authors incorporate how the audience might differ in their receptivity to pro and
counterattitudinal
arguments.
“some individuals have a strong need to intellectually process, or elaborate, arguments while others are less inclined to do so”
Need for cognition
Individuals high in need for cognition are better at and enjoy dissecting arguments as well as generating their own counter arguments.Slide6
People who have weak attitudes and high need for cognition
tend to moderate their opinions when exposed to both side.
People with
strong attitudes
and
high need for cognition
tend to
counterargue
when exposed to
counterattitudes
.
Rehearse counterarguments
Distrust the source
Resist persuasion Slide7
ExperimentsSelective Exposure Experiments (SEEs) 09 & 11
Randomly assigned to 3 groups:
Proattitudinal
show
Counterattitudinal
show
Entertainment show (later to became channel changing group)
Focus on tax policy (Warren Buffet)
Asked to watch the news selection and rate the
counterattitudinal
persuasiveness on a 9 point scale
ELM measure was given in a pre-testSlide8
ResultsIf
a respondent claims the
counterattitudinal
argument was not persuasive (weak) then there is evidence that watching partisan news
hardens
people’s opinions making them
less open
to opposing viewpoints.
This is what they found. When compared to the control group, those in the
counterattitudinal
group rated the given argument as weak. Slide9
ELM?Low need for cognition participants:
In both pro and
counterattitudinal
groups did not evaluate arguments differently from the control group.
High need for cognition participants:
The partisan arguments caused participants to be more resistant to opposing arguments. Slide10
Entertainment Folks?News seekers have a desire to maintain their opinions and should be capable of resisting
counterattitudinal
arguments.
Entertainment seekers however may benefit from exposure to both pro and
counterattitudinal
news.
Have less defense against counter arguments.
ELM?
May lack the desire to connect arguments made in the news to any pre-existing opinions. Slide11
ExperimentFall 2011 Participant Preference Experiment (PPE)
Shorter version of the fall 2011 SEE
Before being randomly assigned to a group, participants were asked what they preferred to watch.
ELM was given in the post-test Slide12
ResultsPartisan news shows have a larger affect on entertainment seekers
Specifically,
proattitudinal
group entertainment seekers substantially increase their resistance to counter arguments.
ELM:
Both low and high need for cognition entertainment seekers are more likely to resist opposing arguments after watching
proattitudinal
news.
It does little to harden attitudes further thoughSlide13
Takeaway: Partisan news has the potential to have massive effects, but these are likely unrealized because the most susceptible tune out opinionated cable news programs. Slide14
Chapter 6: The Salience and Framing of IssuesSlide15
Agenda Setting: By reporting on some issues at the expense of others, news media influences what issues the mass public sees as most important
Salience
Primes:
News media can construct shared perceptions about a collective experience and thus influence peoples political judgments
Helps people decide what information to rely on when constructing attitudes
Frames:
How a problem is defined can affect what people think about an issue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfb9f7yFYgwSlide16
Question: Does the rise of partisan media alter agenda setting? Possible theories:Partisan media may focus on different things.
Stroud (2001) looked at the 2004 Presidential election. He found that the agenda on each side was similar, but the way they framed the issues was different.
Implications: audiences of one news outlet will have a different conversation from that of the audience of other news outlets.
Viewer watching a
counterattitudinal
show may accept the agenda, but not the partisan definition given with the issue.
A & J find that both pro- and
counterattitudinal
shows can shape perceptions of issue salience. Slide17
O’Reilly devoted much of his time to talking about the budget and economy
Olbermann
did not discuss the economy at all
Olbermann
viewers were 14% less likely than O’Reilly to mention the economy as the most important problem.
Olbermann
successfully shifted the focus of his viewers away from the economy. Slide18
ExperimentWinter 2011 SEE
Focus on the ACA/
Obamacare
Posttest includes and overall evaluation of the president
The liberal and conservative shows presented the ACA in completely different waysSlide19
FindingsControl Group
There was basically no relationship between health care and their performance evaluation of the president
Counterattitudinal
Group
Participants were more likely to bring health-care specific and evaluations of Obama in line with each other
Partisan (especially
counterattitudinal
) news appear to prime the issues relevant to their evaluations of the president. However,
counterattitudinal
shows magnify partisanship in issue-specific presidential evaluations. Slide20
Agenda Setting:Most likely to happen among entertainment seeking groups assigned to proattitudinal
shows.
News seekers in the
counterattitudinal
group appear to resist agenda setting (they were 10 percentage points less likely to mention the environment as a problem)
Issue Framing
Partisan media not only wants to set the agenda but also to affect how viewers define the issue.
Priming
Because
counterattitudinal
shows attack people’s core predispositions and partisan identities, a defensive priming effect may be more
robus
than simple agenda-setting effects are. Slide21
ExperimentFall 2011 PPE
Participants were presented with six problem definitions of federal tax policy and asked to rank how important each was.
Definitions taken from the news shows, 3 liberal & 3 conservative
Participants physically drag each definition to the spot where they thought it belonged. Slide22
Findings:News Seekers
Were highly likely to choose attitude-consistent problem definitions without the aid of partisan news
Definitions were unaffected by pro or
counterattitudinal
shows.
Entertainment Seekers
Proattitudinal
shows appeared to facilitate an attitude-consistent problem definition (only
slighly
)
Counterattitudinal
shows lowered the probability that they chose an attitude-consistent definition as their first choice.
These shows may successfully alter problem
defintions