A mixed report: The effects of strategic and substantive news content on political cynicism and voti...

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Bibliographic Details
Title: A mixed report: The effects of strategic and substantive news content on political cynicism and voting;
Authors and Corporations: Adriaansen, Maud L., van Praag, Philip, de Vreese, Claes H.
In: Communications, 37, 2012, 2, p. 153-172
published:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Media Type: Article, E-Article

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further information
Physical Description: 153-172
ISSN: 0341-2059
1613-4087
DOI: 10.1515/commun-2012-0008
published in: Communications
Language: English
Subjects:
Collection: Walter de Gruyter GmbH (CrossRef)
Table of Contents

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This article examines the effects of strategic and substantive news on political cynicism, turnout intention and voter uncertainty, drawing on two experiments (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 451, 18–25 year-olds). We found that among less politically knowledgeable citizens, all news mobilizes, but strategic news also induces cynicism. For the more knowledgeable citizens, we found that the combination of strategic and substantive news yields slightly less cynicism and that substantive news makes these citizens reconsider their voting choice. Overall, we only found favorable or neutral effects among the more knowledgeable, while we found both favorable and unfavorable effects among the less knowledgeable. The implications for news effects research are discussed.</jats:p>