Fair and Balanced News or a Difference of Opinion? Why Opinion Shows Matter for Media Effects
| Published date | 01 September 2013 |
| Date | 01 September 2013 |
| Author | Kathleen Searles,Glen Smith |
| DOI | 10.1177/1065912912465922 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
olitical Research QuarterlySmith and Searles
Regular Article
Political Research Quarterly
66(3) 671 –684
Fair and Balanced News or a
© 2012 University of Utah
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Difference of Opinion? Why Opinion
DOI: 10.1177/1065912912465922
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Shows Matter for Media Effects
Glen Smith1 and Kathleen Searles2
Abstract
In this article, we examine both the content and effects of opinion shows during the 2008 presidential election. First,
a content analysis shows that opinion shows devote most of their attention to attacking the opposition candidate,
rather than praising the like-minded candidate. Second, analyses of panel data show that exposure to opinion shows
made viewers less (more) favorable toward the opposition (like-minded) candidate. Finally, we use overtime analyses
to show that coverage of the opposition candidate affects attitudes toward both candidates, whereas coverage of the
like-minded candidate has negligible effects on attitudes toward either candidate.
Keywords
media effects, Fox News, 2008 presidential campaign, attitudes, National Annenberg Election Survey
Opinion shows have become a prominent part of the mod-
understanding of media effects in a diffuse and dynamic
ern media landscape. Conservative talk show hosts domi-
media environment in which the line between opinion and
nate political radio by opining to their listeners. Chief
news is increasingly blurred.
among the talk show hosts is Rush Limbaugh, who refers
to his listeners as dittoheads, because they are supposed to
Partisan Media Effects
listen up and “say ditto.” Meanwhile, consumers need
only to turn on their computers or their smartphones to
The expansion of the news media marketplace over the
access their favorite talking heads’ opinions on current
last thirty years has provided Americans with a variety of
events via the blogosphere or the twitterverse. Opinion
news sources. An important consequence of this transfor-
shows have even come to dominate 24-hour cable news.
mation was increased competition for audience share that
Perhaps the best evidence of their popularity is the prime-
makes it more profitable for news outlets to cater to niche
time placement of opinion shows on Fox News and
audiences (Mullainathan and Shleifer 2005).
MSNBC. Indeed, opinion shows are some of the most
Consequently, a large number of news outlets on televi-
successful shows on cable news outlets, with Fox News’
sion, radio, and the Internet appeal to political partisans
The O’Reilly Factor leading the way (Carter 2009).
by providing news coverage that has either a liberal or
Despite the popularity of opinion shows, scholars
conservative slant.
know very little about how those programs affect public
The rise of partisan news sources allows Americans to
opinion. What role do opinion shows play in media
get their news from ideologically consistent sources.
effects? Are opinion shows more persuasive than news
Recent research provides significant evidence that
shows? If so, how do opinion shows shape public opin-
Americans engage in selective exposure to partisan news
ion? These are the primary questions of this research. We
sources: Republicans tend to get their news from Fox
answer these questions by examining the independent
effect of watching opinion programs on cable news. We
1University of North Georgia, GA, USA
make the case that opinion show content has a distinct and
2Augusta State University, GA, USA
powerful effect for two reasons. First, opinion show con-
tent is more likely to be negative toward the opposition.
Corresponding Author:
Glen Smith, University of North Georgia, 3820 Mundy Mill Rd.,
Second, opinion show content is more likely to be one-
Oakwood, GA 30566, USA.
sided. Our findings seek to advance current empirical
Email: gsmith@gsc.edu
672
Political Research Quarterly 66(3)
News and Rush Limbaugh, whereas Democrats are more
watch. Differentiating between exposure to opinion
likely to watch MSNBC and CNN (Stroud 2008). In an
shows and straight news programs should provide a more
experimental setting, Iyengar and Hahn (2009) found that
complete understanding of how Fox News affects audi-
Republicans preferred news stories that were attributed to
ence attitudes.
Fox News—regardless of content—whereas Democrats
We address this shortcoming in the media effects lit-
preferred stories that were attributed to CNN. Thus, par-
erature by examining the distinct content and effects of
tisans prefer to consume news from like-minded news
news and opinion shows on cable news. Specifically, we
sources.
first compare the way news and opinion shows covered
Many scholars, pundits, and politicians have pointed
the election to determine whether opinion shows covered
to the dangers of a highly partisan news media. Partisan
the 2008 presidential candidates differently from news
news sources allow people to isolate themselves from
shows. We then test whether exposure to news or opinion
contrary arguments (Sunstein 2001), and this selective
shows—at the individual level of analysis—had a stron-
exposure can increase hostility and polarization because
ger effect on viewer attitudes during the 2008 presidential
neither side understands the rationale for opposing view-
election. As far as we know, this is the first study to exam-
points (Mutz and Martin 2001). Recent research suggests
ine the independent effects of opinion shows on viewer
that such fears regarding partisan news sources might be
attitudes in a natural setting.1
warranted. Both survey and experimental evidence dem-
To increase the robustness of our discussion, we also
onstrates right-wing talk radio affects the attitudes of lis-
incorporate overtime variations in partisan media cover-
teners (Barker 1999; Jamieson and Cappella 2008). In
age to explain changes in audience attitudes. If variations
addition, Natalie Jomini Stroud (2010) provided convinc-
in content precede audience attitude change in predictable
ing evidence that selective exposure increases polariza-
ways, it is safe to conclude that it was media content—and
tion, while the reverse was not supported. In other words,
not characteristics of the audience—that caused viewers
exposure to partisan news sources results in more polar-
to change their attitudes. We use the amount of coverage
ization, not the other way around.
on Fox News—concerning the two main presidential
Much of the research on partisan media effects centers
candidates—to predict subsequent changes in favorability
on Fox News, with a bevy of scholars showing its “Fair
toward the two candidates. Including media coverage in
and Balanced” coverage is actually conservatively overtime analysis allows for a stronger test of media
slanted. Aday (2010) found that Fox News was less likely
effects than most previous studies.
to report on negative news involving Iraq and Afghanistan
We chose to focus most of our attention on Fox News
than other sources during George W. Bush’s administra-
for methodological reasons. For one, Fox News had a large
tion. There is also evidence that Fox News was mostly
number of shows included in the survey we use for analy-
negative toward Democratic politicians (Morris and
sis, which allowed us to compare news shows with opinion
Francia 2010). Such one-sided coverage has been found
shows. In addition, Fox News released a press statement,
to significantly affect viewer attitudes (Morris 2007).
in which they make a clear distinction between their news
Morris and Francia (2010) found that Fox News viewers
and opinion programs (Stelter 2009). This classification
became less favorable toward John Kerry—and more
indicates the expectations of the Fox News Network in
favorable toward George W. Bush—following the 2004
regard to its programming. Although our primary interest
Party conventions. Furthermore, DellaVigna and Kaplan
is Fox News, we also examine MSNBC’s news and opin-
(2007) found that the introduction of Fox News into new
ion programs where possible to provide comparison. It is
media markets corresponded with increased vote shares
important to note that our conclusions about MSNBC are
for Republican candidates.
limited given the lack of an objective categorization of
Largely missing from recent research on partisan
news and opinion programs for this network.
media effects is the distinction between news shows and
opinion shows. This shortcoming is explained in part by
Theory: How Opinions
limitations that are characteristic of survey measures of
television news exposure. Media effects research often
Change Opinions
relies on telephone surveys to measure audience attitudes,
Opinion shows present one-sided content similar to opin-
but time limitations prevent researchers from measuring
ion columns and editorials in newspapers or political talk
all of the television sources respondents’ use on a regular
radio shows. More prominent newspapers such as the
basis. Consequently, researchers typically rely on respon-
New York Times or the Wall Street Journal present edito-
dents’ self-assessment of their primary news source on
rials that typically slant to the left and right, respectively.
television (Morris and Francia 2010; Stroud 2011).
An ideologically one-sided Op-Ed section can be
Unfortunately, measuring viewers’ primary news source
defended on the grounds that...
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