Question 3: Opportunity, Motivation, High Choice Environment, divide media Flashcards
1
Q
Opportunity
A
availability and access
2
Q
Motivation
A
explains how much media and what source is consumed, choices are numerous, easier to avoid the news due to the expanding media environment – making motivation even more important
3
Q
News Consumption in a High Choice Environment
A
- Vast expansion of media options since the 1990s
- More choices equal more opportunities for exposure to political news, but also more opportunities for exposure to entertainment
- Motivation becomes more important for determining exposure to political news
- Prior – survey: If you had free time at 6 o’clock at night which program would you choose to watch”: 48 percent chose entertainment/sports
4
Q
Narrowcasting and selective exposure
A
- Narrowcasting: ability to target niche audiences has made ideological slanted news economically viable
- Selective Exposure: intentionally exposing ourselves to news that reaffirms our ideals and preferences, people must be motivated to seek out ideologically-friendly news
5
Q
Are we segregated into red and blue media?
A
- Audiences for politically slanted news are small, according to Lawrence 14% of Americans read political blogs, the same is true for cable news
- Study by Prior- examined if Americans regularly watched Fox and MSNBC
- About 80% don’t watch either, which is indicative of the news climate in which consumers are not separated into red and blue media
- Selective exposure occurs, but primarily among those who are most politically interested and ideological (not representative of typical media consumers)
- Most Americans have a fairly balanced news diet
6
Q
Implications of Social Media
A
- Social media provides numerous opportunities for political news consumption
- But most people use social media for entertainment not politics
- Social media are opt-in technologies – only the most politically engaged are likely to use them for political purposes
