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News Exposure, Political Knowledge, and Political Participation

A Research Note

Gary Mariano
DVS101D – Directed Research I
De La Salle University
14 December 2009

Abstract

In an ideal, democratic world, it would be logical to assume and expect that

citizens vote, that when they do so they are making informed decisions, and that
they obtain their information from the news media. The current research supports
this linearity. It also reveals other combinations, as well as other determinants and
effects. This research note reviews the (mostly Western) literature, looks into how
scholars measure the key variables, and advances a hypothesis regarding the
behavior of young Filipino voters. Relevant data from the East Asian Barometer
reveal that discussion is a significant predictor of turnout among Filipino voters,
but news exposure is not.

Key words: news/media exposure/attention/consumption; political knowledge/literacy/

sophistication/expertise, awareness, civic/citizenship skills/competence; political
participation/involvement, voting behavior.

Introduction

In 1964, Lerner found high statistical correlations among urbanization, literacy, media
exposure, and political participation. Putnam (1993) identify voting and newspaper reading as
two of four indicators of civic community. Milner (2002) emphasized the need of making an
informed choice in linking political knowledge (PK) and political participation (PP). In 2005,
Mindich noted the same strong connections between news exposure (NE) and PP, but said the
growth of the suburb as an obstacle to both NE and PP. New realities tend to alter relationships
among variables over the years. Hence, this research note seeks to find out how recent works
describe the links between NE, PK, and PP.

The available literature generally supports the conventional logic that NE contributes to
PK which in turn leads to PP. But there were variations (Fig. 1). One is that NE and PK mutually
affect each other. Another is that NE produces other effects that contribute to PK and PP. In
addition, there were other factors cited that resulted in PK and PP.

Unless indicated, the studies claimed the ability to predict an effect of a suspected
independent variable on a dependent variable. Otherwise, they found significant correlations.
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Fig. 1. Factors affecting political participation.

Definitions

News exposure – amount of newspaper article reading and TV news story viewing (Atkin
and Heald, 1976); news exposure is behavioral while news attention is cognitive (Kaid, 2004).

Political knowledge – an individual’s ability to recall candidates’ names, personal

characteristics, and qualifications; to identify election issues and current campaign
developments; and to recognize connections between candidates and issue positions. (Atkin and
Heald, 1976); knowledge about government and political institutions (Andersen et al., 2002).

Citizen competence – the ability to make informed choices between political

candidates (Popkin and Dimock, 1999)

Civic competence – attitudes and skills required for effective governance (Soltan,
1999)

Citizen literacy – citizens’ knowledge of their political environment (Pattie and

Johnston, 2003)

Political literacy – the potential for informed political participation; also known as
political expertise, political awareness, and civic competence (Cassel and Lo, 1997).
 Mariano p. 3 of 18

Political information efficacy – qualification to participate in politics, being

informed about politics, good understanding about politics (Kaid et al. 2005)

Political socialization – a developmental process by which children and adolescents

acquire cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors relating to their political environment
(Atkin & Gantz, 1978)

Political participation – voting, contacting, protesting, activism, board membership,

campaign work, campaign giving (Verba, Schlozman, Brady and Nie, 1993); voting,
campaigning, contributing, communal activity, particularized contact, political discussion,
passive cooperation as forms of political participation (Claggett, 2006)

NE as Predictor of PK and PP

Chaffee and Frank (1996) said it was rare to find a study in which newspaper reading was
not a significant predictor of PK, noting that persons actively seeking political information
consulted print media more than television even if TV news offered more information about
candidates. Johnson-Cartee (2005) says that for most people PK is contructed through the mass
media. Norris (2002) noted the consistently positive relationship between attention to the news
media and political knowledge, trust, and participation

A number of studies found significant evidence saying NE resulted in PK (Lucas and

Schmitz, 1988; Pattie and Johnson, 2003; Eveland et al., 2005; Mindich, 2005; Prior, 2005; De
Vreese and Boomgarden, 2006; Drew and Weaver, 2006; Wattenberg, 2008).Earlier, Conway et
al. (1981) had suggested that the relationship was reciprocal.

Lucas and Schmitz noted that although respondents cited TV as the most frequent source
of news information, those who registered the the highest PK scores were readers of newspapers
and news-oriented magazines, and sought information from different media (148).

Lee and Wei (2008) noted that a decrease in NE caused lower PP, but not PK. They
reason that because their respondents were not newspaper readers in the first place, the low use
of this medium did not affect PK.

Kenski and Stroud (2006) cited the Internet as “significantly associated” with PK, as well
as political efficacy, and PP.

Even the so-called “soft news” programs, mostly talk and entertainment-oriented shows
like Oprah, Entertainment Tonight, Extra, Access Hollywood, Inside Edition, The Tonight Show
with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, O'Reilly Factor, Dateline, 20/20, were
cited for their ability to facilitate voting competence (Baum and Jamison, 2006). Baum (2003)
credits them for making information highly accessible and understandable to the less politically
sophisticated. But Prior (2003) doubts whether people actually learn from them, saying the
demand for soft news was limited and small (2005).

To a lesser degree, Atkin and Heald (1976) and Atkin and Gantz (1978) said that NE
 Mariano p. 4 of 18

correlated positively with PK.

Other studies suggested a direct, positive effect of NE on PP (De Vreese and

Boomgarden, 2006; Esser and De Vreese, 2007; Kim, 2007; Larcinese, 2007; Livingstone and
Markham, 2008). Salzman and Aloisi (2009) said that NE causes an action, such as joining a
group, which then causes a participatory action. NE, along with the Internet but not TV, likewise
resulted in PP (Moy et al., 2005). On the other hand, Pattie and Johnson (2003) argue that while
NE was related to PK, increased newspaper reading was not an assurance of voter turnout.

PK as Predictor of PP

Larcinese (2007) noted the sizeable influence, “in causal fashion,” of PK on PP, citing the
important role media played in influencing PP. Tolbert and MacNeal (2003), reported that online
political information had a strong impact on voter behavior and that the Internet was a strong
predictor of increased PP. Popkin and Dimock (1999) reported a positive correlation between
knowledge and turnout.

Mindich (2005) and Wattenberg (2008) share the same sentiment, although their works
did not use statistical analysis to link the two variables.

Other Effects of NE

NE also resulted in political discussion (Garramone and Atkin, 1986), political efficacy
(McCluskey et al., 2004), political interest (Drew and Weaver, 2006; Livingstone and Markham,
2008), social capital (Shah, 1998; Jeffres et al., 2007; Kim, 2007).

Lee (2005) noted how conservative news promoted trust and reduced cynicism, while on
the other hand, Elenbaas and De Vreese (2008) said that NE resulted in political cynicism. Lee
conceded that political talk show on both radion and TV, and the Internet led to cynicism. Kaid
et al. (2007) reported political advertising did not produce increased cynicism, but significantly
raised political efficacy.

Other Predictors of PK

The following factors were found to be of predictive nature on PK: education (Jennings,
1996; Mondak, 1995; Grönlund and Milner, 2006), intelligence and interest (Luskin, 1990),
parents (Jennings, 1996), political discussion (Eveland et al., 2005; Eveland and Hively, 2009),
prior knowledge (Mondak, 1995). Cassel and Lo (1997) said cognitive mobilization – that is,
GPA, political involvement, and higher education – explained political literacy. Compulsory
voting, while boosting PP, does not raise PK (Loewen et al., 2008). McFarland and Thomas
(2006) listed social background, parenting practices, student-peer practices, and school
background.

Johnson et al. (1995) found significant correlations between newspaper use and attention,
and knowledge. Atkin and Heald (1976) and Kaid et al., (2007) reported correlations between
political advertising and PK.
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Eveland (2004) said that discussion and PK are mediated through motivations and
information-processing behaviors.

Other Effects of PK

Political knowledge also predicts good governance (Toka, 2008). This effect is not
instant, though, but happens only over several elections.

Other Predictors of PP

Also found to affect PP are age (Franklin, 2004), benefits of voting (Filer and Kenny,
1980); its costs (Niemi, 1976), education (Burden, 2009), political efficacy (Kaid et al., 2007;
Ikeda et al., 2008), family structure (Wolfinger & Wolfinger, 2008), mobilization (Mickelson,
2006), political interest (Esser and De Vreese, 2007), political discussion (Esser and De Vreese,
2007; Eveland and Hively, 2009); trust (Shah, 1998), and skepticism (Henn et al., 2007).

Franklin argued that lowering the US voting age to 18 was a mistake, although he
proposed lowering it further to 15, so that first-time voters would experience their first trip to the
polls while they are still in school (213).

Filer and Kenny presented evidence that turnout is goes up when the probability of
affecting the outcome rises, and goes down as the cost of voting increases.

According to Burden (2009), educational attainment helps predict turnout, but not
political knowledge: “Rather than the value added by college itself, perhaps it is simply the type
of person who attends and graduates from college that makes them more likely to vote.”

Concepts and theories advanced were the calculus of voting (Riker and Odershook,
1968), the decision-theoretic analysis (Ferejohn and Fiorina, 1974), rational choice (Feddersen,
2004); and the size, competition and underdog effects (Levine and Palfrey, 2007).

Riker and Odershook identified the positive satisfactions of voting:

the satisfaction from compliance with the ethic of voting. [A citizen socialized into
the democratic tradition will consider it positive when he votes and negative when
he does not];
the satisfaction from affirming allegiance to the political system;
the satisfaction from affirming a partisan preference. [The most important aspect
of voting for many voters].
the satisfaction of deciding, going to the polls, etc.; and
the satisfaction of affirming one’s efficacy in the political system (28).
Ferejohn and Fiorina apply the concept of maximum utility in which a person estimates
the probabilities of events and utilities of outcomes: “Each action is viewed as a lottery with
choice dependent on the expected utility of each action-as-lottery... The person sees himself in
each possible future state of the world and looks at how much in error each of his available
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actions could be, given that state. Then he chooses that action whose maximum error over the
states of nature is least.” On the other hand, the maximin person determines the worst possible
payoff and chooses the strategy with the worst payoff. Maximin decision makers, they say, do
not vote.

To Niemi (1976) many voting costs are exaggerated, and the benefits downplayed. In
fact, he says, voting is relatively costless in the sense of opportunity costs.

Feddersen said that in a large election, the probability that an individual vote might
change the election outcome is vanishingly small. If each person only votes for the purpose of
influencing the election outcome, then even a small cost to vote-like a minor schedule conflict or
mildly bad weather-should dissuade anyone from voting (99). He cited the weather, registration
requirements, time required to think about the voting decision, and distance to the polling place
as factors that could encourage or discourage a voter from going to the polls.

Levine and Palfrey (2007) make three predictions: the larger the electorate, the lower the
turnout; elections expected to be close will register higher turnouts, and citizens supporting the
less popular option are more likely to vote.

Measuring NE and PK

News exposure was generally measured by determining the frequency of use of the
various news media: TV news, newspapers, news magazines, (Conway et al., 1981; Garramone
and Atkin, 1986) and the Internet (Lee and Wei, 2008); the types of programs consumed:
network, local, public TV and radio, news interviews, (Lee, 2005). Atkin and Gantz
(1978),whose respondents were school children, limited their study to frequency of exposure to
national news programs and the Saturday children’s news segments.

Atkin and Gantz’s (1978) questionnaire consisted of 10 items reflecting concrete

elements of the basic themes, personalities, and long-term news developments featured in news
programs.

Conway et al. (1981) asked children 17 questions about political institutions, political
parties, and the electoral process, while Mondak (1995) also asked 17 items on current events,
campaign news, and the candidates’ policy positions.

Garramone and Atkin (1986) created a fundamental [political] knowledge index by

summing together eight items concerning historical facts or trends relevant to more current
events. To make a current events knowledge index comparable to the fundamental knowledge
index, they selected eight current news items to match as closely as possible those measured in
the fundamental knowledge index.

Lucas and Schmitz (1988) asked about both “general” or “background” information
(political geography, recognition of names of world leaders, long-term environmental issues,
etc.) and time-specific news events. In the latter case, they drew questions from news reports
 Mariano p. 7 of 18

prominently featured by the media within a 60-hour period preceding the survey.

Delli Carpini and Keeter (1993) pruned a 1991 National Election Study questionnaire that
initially asked 13 items on people, and party and civic processes, to five (party control of the
House, veto override percent, party ideological location, judicial review, the Vice President).
They said these five items were sufficient to measure PP.

There were also attempts to improve the scale, especially when some respondents resort
to guessing. Mondak (2001) says that providing “Don’t Know Responses” encourages such
responses, thus infusing the PK scale with a systematic error. But Sturgis et al. (2007) dispute
this, saying there was no problem with encouraging DK responses.

Some Data Relevant to the Philippines

As of July 20, 2009, the Commission on Elections reported that 43,936,105 were
registered for the 2010 election. This figure does not include yet those who enlisted as of the
October 2009 deadline. This represents almost half of the 2007 national population of
88,574,614 (NSO, 2008). According to SWS, 81% voted in the 2004 election.

Newspaper readership, among the upper crust of Philippine society, was up from 56% to
64% (Synovate, 2009). But generally, it has been sliding down, from 20% in 2006 to 15% in
2008 (Yahoo-Nielsen Net Index, 2009). TV reach is much higher, although also following a
slide, from 98% in 2007 to 92% in 2008. Registering upward trends are radio (69% in 2006, 80%
in 2008) and the Internet (21% in 2006, 28% in 2008). Yahoo-Nielsen respondents of the age
group 15-29 reported a low affinity for newspaper (21.5%), high for TV (92%) and radio (82%),
and moderate for the Internet (52%).

The East Asia Barometer’s eight-nation comparative survey on democracy allows us to

look at summary data on social trust, interest, political efficacy, interpersonal discussion, media
use, and political participation. The Philippine data (N=1200), provided by SWS, are as of 2005.

Low social capital. Respondents trusted their relatives and neighbors more than the
government, and other people the least. (Table 1.) Trust in political and state institutions and
officials, particularly the national government and the president, was from low to moderate.
Social capital and trust are the opposite of political cynicism (or skepticism) which in turn
translate to disaffection or disengagement.
 Mariano p. 8 of 18

Quite a lot of trust in All ages 17-35

Relatives 90.2% 93.9%
Neighbors 77.1% 75.4%
Local government 58.4% 54.1%
Civil service 54.4% 56.8%
Military 52.8% 54.9%
Police 51.0% 51.5%
Courts 45.8% 44.3%
National government 41.6% 40.8%
President 40.6% 40.3%
Parliament 39.9% 41.7%
Political parties 32.6% 33.4%
Most people can be trusted 8.0% 9.8%
Trust in TV 73.3% 73.8%
Trust in newspaper 65.4% 67.3%

Table 1. Social capital (trust). Source: East-Asia Barometer (2005)

Low newspaper use. Nearly two-thirds said they followed political news at least several
times a day, but mostly on TV and radio. News consumption was slightly higher among the 17-
35 age group than the general figure. (Table 2.) As in the Yahoo-Nielsen study, people said they
trusted TV slightly more than the press. The Internet was negligible as a primary source of news,
at 1.1%, which is consistent with the American experience (Mindich, 2005).
All ages 17-35
Follow news about politics and government 62.5% 61.7% several times a week
Main source: TV 84.1% 86.1%
Main source: radio 46.5% 42.3%
Main source: newspaper 29.1% 30.5%
Main source: Internet 1.2% 2.3%

Table 2. Media use. Source: East-Asia Barometer (2005)

Moderate interest, low efficacy. Interest in politics was moderate at 54% (compared with
the 57% finding of SWS [2007]). (Table 3.) Likewise, more than three-quarters of respondents
said they at least moderately discuss politics with family and friends. Despite that, only slightly
over a quarter believed they had the ability (efficacy) to participate in politics.

All ages 17-35

Interest in politics 53.7% 53.3% somewhat interested
Frequency with which discuss political matters
with family members or friends 77.3% 75.1% occasionally
I think I have the ability to participate in politics 28.3% 28.0% somewhat agree
Sometimes politics and government seems so
complicated that a person like me can’t really
understand what is going on 59.4% 60.0% somewhat agree

Table 3. Interest, discussion, and efficacy. Source: East-Asia Barometer (2005)

High voter turnout. More than 80% said they voted in 2004, and 83.1% said they voted in
most, if not all, elections. (Table 4.) But voting, writes Levine (2007), is not the “alpha and
 Mariano p. 9 of 18

omega” of political engagement.

However, it seems that for the majority of Filipinos, political participation was limited to
going to the polls. All those other activities mentioned by Verba et al. (1993) and Claggett (2006)
were quite foreign to the respondents. Particularly interesting is how very few people ever
contacted government officials, particularly those occupying elective positions. Yet, nearly half
believe that active civic participation was important.

Most respondents expressed an interest in politics yet lacked the confidence that would
allow them to participate meaningfully in politics.

Regression analysis does not show significant causal relationships between the main
variables and voting behavior among Filipinos (Table 5). Three variables mentioned in the
literature review did show predictive properties with respect to Asian Barometer data: trust in
people (other than relatives and neighbors), political discussions with family and friends, and
marital status.
All ages 17-34
Voted in most elections 83.2% 68.7%
Voted in last election 81.7% 69.7%
Contacted government official 34.0% 30.6% at least once
Attended a campaign rally 23.8% 19.7%
Tried to persuade 19.7% 18.3%
Contacted higher officials 17.6% 14.7%
Helped party 15.8% 15.8%
Contacted party officials 12.0% 8.9%
Got together with others to raise an issue or sign a petition 9.2% 8.5%
Contacted elected officials 8.6% 6.0%
Attended a demonstration or protest march 6.5% 6.6%
Used force or violence for a political cause 2.6% 2.7%
A citizen who does not actively participate in the affairs of
his local and national community is not performing his duties 48.7% 44.4% Somewhat agree

Table 4. Political Participation. Source: East-Asia Barometer (2005)

The trust angle is interesting, because voting for a politician is placing trust in someone
who is usually neither one’s relative of neighbor.

A cross-tabulation of marital status and voting behavior shows that 62% of those who
considered themselves frequent voters were married. This appears to be consistent with
Wolfinger and Wolfinger’s (2008) findings, but the negative coefficient is puzzling.

Because of the absence of data on political knowledge, the level of PK among Filipinos
can only be inferred partially from the low newspaper use, or the amount of trust given them.
Given their interest, it can be said that their knowledge comes mostly from discussions with
family and friends, rather than NE fueling discussion (see Garramone and Atkin, 1986), and how
such discussions are possibly of a low-knowledge nature. Along with a feeling of low political
efficacy, we can see why despite a high voter turnout, Filipinos have low social capital because it
 Mariano p. 10 of 18

appears that they do not make an informed choice come election time.

Trust in b Std. Error

Most people 0.125675* 0.035679
Relatives 0.075245 0.068711
Parliament 0.040711 0.047540
Political parties 0.033111 0.047360
Military 0.023478 0.066025
Newspaper 0.019284 0.051199
Television 0.014815 0.057840
National government 0.005790 0.050939
Civil service 0.005687 0.042857
Neighbors -0.093933 0.059851
Local government -0.080217 0.043611
Police -0.036711 0.066132
President -0.022173 0.047905
Courts -0.013946 0.047677
Adjusted R²= .00542967
Following the news
In general -0.027300 0.035214
Newspapers 0.226215 0.130295
Radio 0.133292 0.096730
Internet -0.260585 0.215682
Television -0.023065 0.107922
Adjusted R²= .00372892
Interest, discussion and efficacy
Discussion with family and
friends 0.328428* 0.056929
Interest in politics 0.010306 0.039094
Political efficacy 0.004146 0.036037
Adjusted R²= .02577296
Demographics
Monthly income 0.001278 0.002793
Education 0.000409 0.019893
Marital status -0.656630* 0.092762
Gender -0.052537 0.095568
Adjusted R²= .03812784
Table 5. Effects on Political Participation. *significant at p <.05

Hypotheses

Given the preliminary data, it is possible to hypothesize

• that neither NE nor PK are significant determinants of young Filipinos’ decision to vote
(PP). (Or, if the neither news exposure nor political knowledge correlated significantly
with their voting turnout.). And

• that political discussions among family and friends contribute little to PK.
 Mariano p. 11 of 18

Gaps and Opportunities

The Asian Barometer survey is an extensive undertaking involving more than a hundred
questions asked from a large sample. While this allows us an idea as to how NE and PP connect,
there is a need to develop a customized instrument that would measure PK among young
Filipinos. If the object of the proposed study is to find out whether young Filipino voters are
making an informed choice, PK must be measured according to what would make a citizen
efficacious as a voter. That means asking questions that would determine knowledge of the
political offices at stake in an election from the national level all the way down to the barangay,
the candidates seeking them, and what these candidates stand for. A more sophisticated NE index
must also be developed.

Note

This paper was written for a prospective Ph.D. dissertation that will explore the voting behavior
of young Filipinos (ages 18-30) in relation to their news exposure and political knowledge.

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