The effects of online news on the political process: Direct and indirect effects on political knowledge

Abstract

How do the news media stimulate political deliberation, political interest, and political knowledge? To compare the effects of online news with those of the traditional news media, we collected three types of data: a web-based survey, diary logs of mass media use, and access logs to news sites. The results showed that exposure to news media reinforced political interest and political deliberation. Online news use, however, facilitated only online deliberation, while exposure to TV and newspapers stimulated face-to-face conversation. In addition, online and TV news use had a direct effect on political knowledge. The results also showed that political conversation with the family had a direct effect on interest in politics and political knowledge, while political conversation with friends had a positive impact only on political interest. The implications of the findings were discussed in terms of how occasional political communication narrows the gap between the politically sophisticated and the less sophisticated.