Estimating the Causal Effects of Media Coverage on Policy-Specific Knowledge

Policy facts are among the most relevant forms of knowledge in a democracy. Although the mass media seem like an obvious source of policy-specific information, past research in this area has been plagued by design and methodological problems that have hindered causal inferences. Moreover, few studie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAmerican journal of political science Vol. 53; no. 1; pp. 73 - 89
Main Authors Barabas, Jason, Jerit, Jennifer
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.01.2009
Blackwell Publishing
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
Causality
Content analysis
Cross-sectional analysis
Datasets
Democracy
Health care surveys
Information
Journalism
Knowledge
Learning
Media
Media coverage
Medicare
News content
News Coverage
News media
Policy
Policy studies
Political attitudes
Political information
Political science
Polls & surveys
Public opinion
Public policy
Social surveys
Television
U.S.A
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Summary:Policy facts are among the most relevant forms of knowledge in a democracy. Although the mass media seem like an obvious source of policy-specific information, past research in this area has been plagued by design and methodological problems that have hindered causal inferences. Moreover, few studies include measures of media content, preventing researchers from being able to say what it is about media coverage that influences learning. We advance the literature by employing a simple but underutilized approach for estimating the causal effects of news coverage. Drawing upon a unique collection of cross-sectional survey data, we make within-survey/within-subjects comparisons under conditions of high and low media coverage. We show how the volume, breadth, and prominence of news media coverage increase policy-specific knowledge above and beyond common demographic factors.
Bibliography:istex:1361C37A9BE4C0E8413A7812AE888B7A9206E6B1
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ArticleID:AJPS358
We thank the following people for helpful comments and assistance: Larry Bartels, John Benson, Robert Blendon, Toby Bolson, Barry Burden, Maria Geraci, Gary King, Jim Kuklinski, Jeff Mondak, and Will Moore. We also thank the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and participants in the Scholars in Health Policy Research Program seminars. Data for this study come from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at the University of Connecticut. This project is also supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (SES‐0818583).
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ISSN:0092-5853
1540-5907
DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00358.x