Weaving It In: How Political Radio Reacts to Events

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Standard

Weaving It In : How Political Radio Reacts to Events. / Vandeweerdt, Clara.

In: Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 87, No. 1, 2023, p. 120-141.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Vandeweerdt, C 2023, 'Weaving It In: How Political Radio Reacts to Events', Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. 87, no. 1, pp. 120-141. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfad005

APA

Vandeweerdt, C. (2023). Weaving It In: How Political Radio Reacts to Events. Public Opinion Quarterly, 87(1), 120-141. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfad005

Vancouver

Vandeweerdt C. Weaving It In: How Political Radio Reacts to Events. Public Opinion Quarterly. 2023;87(1):120-141. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfad005

Author

Vandeweerdt, Clara. / Weaving It In : How Political Radio Reacts to Events. In: Public Opinion Quarterly. 2023 ; Vol. 87, No. 1. pp. 120-141.

Bibtex

@article{a9fe03e4271f4cba8cff346b9dccf36f,
title = "Weaving It In: How Political Radio Reacts to Events",
abstract = "How do ideologically slanted media outlets react to politically relevant events? Previous research suggests that partisan media trumpet ideologically congenial events, such as opposing-party scandals, while ignoring bad news for their own side. Looking at reactions to newsworthy events on political radio-an often-partisan medium that reaches more Americans than Twitter-I find a different pattern. Based on recordings of hundreds of shows totaling two million broadcast hours, I demonstrate that regardless of their ideological leanings, political shows respond to events by dramatically increasing the attention they give to related policy issues. At the same time, liberal and conservative shows continue to frame those issues in very different ways. Instead of ignoring inconvenient events, partisan media {"}weave them in,{"} interpreting them in ways consistent with their ideological leanings. These media dynamics imply that nationally significant events can cause opinion polarization rather than convergence-becoming a divisive rather than a shared experience.",
keywords = "TALK RADIO, ISSUE OWNERSHIP, PUBLIC-OPINION, PARTISAN BIAS, MEDIA BIAS, NEWS, COVERAGE, POLARIZATION, CABLE, CLIMATE",
author = "Clara Vandeweerdt",
year = "2023",
doi = "10.1093/poq/nfad005",
language = "English",
volume = "87",
pages = "120--141",
journal = "Public Opinion Quarterly",
issn = "0033-362X",
publisher = "Oxford University Press",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Weaving It In

T2 - How Political Radio Reacts to Events

AU - Vandeweerdt, Clara

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - How do ideologically slanted media outlets react to politically relevant events? Previous research suggests that partisan media trumpet ideologically congenial events, such as opposing-party scandals, while ignoring bad news for their own side. Looking at reactions to newsworthy events on political radio-an often-partisan medium that reaches more Americans than Twitter-I find a different pattern. Based on recordings of hundreds of shows totaling two million broadcast hours, I demonstrate that regardless of their ideological leanings, political shows respond to events by dramatically increasing the attention they give to related policy issues. At the same time, liberal and conservative shows continue to frame those issues in very different ways. Instead of ignoring inconvenient events, partisan media "weave them in," interpreting them in ways consistent with their ideological leanings. These media dynamics imply that nationally significant events can cause opinion polarization rather than convergence-becoming a divisive rather than a shared experience.

AB - How do ideologically slanted media outlets react to politically relevant events? Previous research suggests that partisan media trumpet ideologically congenial events, such as opposing-party scandals, while ignoring bad news for their own side. Looking at reactions to newsworthy events on political radio-an often-partisan medium that reaches more Americans than Twitter-I find a different pattern. Based on recordings of hundreds of shows totaling two million broadcast hours, I demonstrate that regardless of their ideological leanings, political shows respond to events by dramatically increasing the attention they give to related policy issues. At the same time, liberal and conservative shows continue to frame those issues in very different ways. Instead of ignoring inconvenient events, partisan media "weave them in," interpreting them in ways consistent with their ideological leanings. These media dynamics imply that nationally significant events can cause opinion polarization rather than convergence-becoming a divisive rather than a shared experience.

KW - TALK RADIO

KW - ISSUE OWNERSHIP

KW - PUBLIC-OPINION

KW - PARTISAN BIAS

KW - MEDIA BIAS

KW - NEWS

KW - COVERAGE

KW - POLARIZATION

KW - CABLE

KW - CLIMATE

U2 - 10.1093/poq/nfad005

DO - 10.1093/poq/nfad005

M3 - Journal article

VL - 87

SP - 120

EP - 141

JO - Public Opinion Quarterly

JF - Public Opinion Quarterly

SN - 0033-362X

IS - 1

ER -

ID: 342672065