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

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  • Jason Barabas
  • Jennifer Jerit

Abstract

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.

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  • Jason Barabas & Jennifer Jerit, 2009. "Estimating the Causal Effects of Media Coverage on Policy‐Specific Knowledge," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(1), pages 73-89, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:53:y:2009:i:1:p:73-89
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00358.x
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    2. Simon D Angus & Lachlan O'Neill, 2024. "Paired Completion: Flexible Quantification of Issue-framing at Scale with LLMs," Papers 2408.09742, arXiv.org.
    3. Sigurd Hilmo Lundheim & Giuseppe Pellegrini-Masini & Christian A. Klöckner & Stefan Geiss, 2022. "Developing a Theoretical Framework to Explain the Social Acceptability of Wind Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-24, July.
    4. Thuy Nguyen & Victoria Perez, 2020. "Privatizing Plaintiffs: How Medicaid, the False Claims Act, and Decentralized Fraud Detection Affect Public Fraud Enforcement Efforts," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 87(4), pages 1063-1091, December.
    5. Max Grömping & Darren R. Halpin, 2021. "Do think tanks generate media attention on issues they care about? Mediating internal expertise and prevailing governmental agendas," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 54(4), pages 849-866, December.
    6. Matt Guardino & Suzanne Mettler, 2020. "Revealing the “Hidden welfare state†: How policy information influences public attitudes about tax expenditures," Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Administration, vol. 3(1).
    7. Giebler, Heiko & Banducci, Susan & Kritzinger, Sylvia, 2017. "New perspectives on information and electoral competition," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 429-435.
    8. Katerina Linos & Kimberly Twist, 2016. "The Supreme Court, the Media, and Public Opinion: Comparing Experimental and Observational Methods," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(2), pages 223-254.
    9. Banducci, Susan & Giebler, Heiko & Kritzinger, Sylvia, 2017. "Knowing more from less: how the information environment increases knowledge of party positions," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 47(3), pages 571-588.
    10. Wändi Bruine de Bruin & Htay-Wah Saw & Dana P. Goldman, 2020. "Political polarization in US residents’ COVID-19 risk perceptions, policy preferences, and protective behaviors," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 177-194, October.
    11. Stefan Geiß, 2020. "Self-Inflicted Deprivation? Quality-as-Sent and Quality-as-Received in German News Media," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(3), pages 304-320.
    12. Garz, Marcel & Szucs, Ferenc, 2023. "Algorithmic selection and supply of political news on Facebook," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    13. Grady, Christopher & Iannantuoni, Alice & Winters, Matthew S., 2021. "Influencing the means but not the ends: The role of entertainment-education interventions in development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    14. Schoonvelde, Martijn, 2014. "Media Freedom and the Institutional Underpinnings of Political Knowledge," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 163-178, October.
    15. Laura S. Loy & Karen R. S. Hamann & Gerhard Reese, 2020. "Navigating through the jungle of information. Informational self-efficacy predicts climate change-related media exposure, knowledge, and behaviour," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(4), pages 2097-2116, December.

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