There is a plethora of political news channels available to the public in the modern Internet age, and many of them are new to them. These unidentified media sites are interesting since they offer possible sources of false information and coverage with a unique perspective. We explore how source familiarity affects political communication using two sizable survey experiments. This shows that, although the public is reluctant to absorbing news from foreign media, conditional on exposure to them—unknown local and foreign media sources can impact public opinion to an amount comparable to established mainstream news channels on the same problems.
This similar efficacy results from public perceptions of the legitimacy of foreign news sources and their somewhat low confidence in established mainstream media. The main thing restricting their political impact is avoidance of unfamiliar news sources, not opposition to their coverage.
High barriers of entry for news producers and a limited set of options for news consumers defined the twentieth century media environment, which was dominated by print and television media (Hamilton Reference Hamilton 2004; Mutz and Martin Reference Mutz and Martin 2001; Prior Reference Prior2007). These obstacles to entry and restrictions on choice have disappeared in the Internet era, leading to a great increase in the number of easily available news sources (Hindman Reference Hindman2008; Metzger et al. Reference Metzger, Flanagin, Eyal, Lemus and McCann2003; Munger Reference Munger2020; Pennycook and Rand Reference Pennycook and Rand2019; Van Aelst et al. Reference Van Aelst, Strömbäck, Aalberg, Esser, de Vreese, Matthes and Hopmann2017). The public can now view political coverage from a great range of media—local, national, even foreign news outlets—many of which they are not familiar with.
Unknown media outlets are noteworthy in part because they reflect possible sources of false information and slanted coverage not previously available in many environments (Guess, Nyhan, and Reifler Reference Guess, Nyhan and Reifler 2020; Lazer et al. Reference Lazer, Baum, Benkler, Berinsky, Greenhill, Menezer and Metzger2018).
Here we concentrate on newly accessible, mostly unknown local and foreign media channels that have brought unique political news coverage into local and national politics. The fall of newspapers (Darr, Hitt, and Dunaway Reference Darr, Hitt and Dunaway2018; Hayes and Lawless Reference Hayes and Lawless2015; Reference Hayes and Lawless2018; Peterson Reference Peterson2021) in local politics corresponds with the development of networks of hyperpartisan local news websites.
Often absent in the neighbourhoods they claim to cover, these channels propagate a political agenda (Mahone and Napoli Reference Mahone and Napoli2020). Online news use in national politics allows foreign propaganda to readily find American viewers. This motivated the United States. Department of Justice demands RT, an English-language news channel funded by the Russian government, to register as a foreign agent in 2017 (Stubbs and Gibson Reference Stubbs and Gibson 2017).
Although the rise of foreign news sources is relevant in many political environments, the consequences of public interactions with them are yet unknown. Previous research mostly take into account sources with known credibility.
Media reputation is very important, so how does the public react to unidentified news sources without clear profiles? We examine two facets of the political communication process whereby source familiarity affects two elements. The first are choices of whether or not to read news from a particular source. Second are reactions to its political coverage. At both phases we hypothesise that persons more prone to shun their coverage and more resistive to messages it carries will be disadvantaged relative to familiar media.
See Arceneaux and Johnson Reference Arceneaux and Johnson2013; de Benedictis-Kessner et al. Reference de Benedictis-Kessner, Baum, Berinsky and Yamamoto2019; Levendowicz Reference Levendowicz 2013; patient preference design; see Arceneaux and Johnson Reference Arceneaux and Johnson 2013; de Benedictis-Kessner et al. Reference de Benedictis-Kessner, Baum, Berinsky and Yamamoto2019; Levendowicz Reference Levendowicz 2013; This allows us to quantify the impact of coming across foreign news sources on public opinion, assess the people’s readiness to search for news from other media, and compare it with the influence of a familiar media outlet on the same topic.
The studies show that news choice is much influenced by source familiarity; consumers are much less likely to choose coverage from foreign media than from sources they know. Conditional on exposure, though, the experiment reveals that local and foreign media sources can affect public perception. When aggregating the five investigations into a summary estimate, the effects of exposure to these unknown sources are somewhat similar to those of mainstream media with much more familiarity than our expectations. Furthermore, the impact of foreign news sources transcends those who actively search for them. Even among those who would rather avoid foreign media, exposure to their coverage shapes viewpoint.
Our findings greatly advance knowledge of political communication in the modern high-choice media environment. Previous research emphasises media outlet reputations matter due to how they condition responses to news coverage showing, for instance, the public’s resistance to messages from media they consider as untrustworthy (Druckman Reference Druckman2001; Miller and Krosnick Reference Miller and Krosnick2000; Zaller Reference Zaller1992).
After being exposed to their coverage, we instead discover that unusual news sources are just as successful in changing public opinion as well-known media with established reputation. We credit two innovations for this. First of all, the public assesses these foreign news sources in a neutral, instead of negative, perspective. Second, over the past several decades, consistent losses in media confidence have lower the premium for known media relative to unknown sources. Instead of opposition to news from unknown sources, we find avoidance of unfamiliar news channels to be the main element restricting their modern political influence.
Media Effects and Source Receptions
Holding a speaker’s message constant, an extensive literature finds that communicators regarded as credible and likeable are more persuasive than those that lack these traits (Aronson, Turner, and Carlsmith Reference Aronson, Turner and Carlsmith1963; Chaiken Reference Chaiken1980; Hovland and Weiss Reference Hovland and Weiss1951; Lupia and McCubbins Reference Lupia and McCubbins1998; Mondak Reference Mondak1993; Pornpitakpen Reference Pornpitakpen 2004).
Studies of political media provide more evidence for such general claims on the value of source reputation. Those low in media trust are less receptive to messages found in political coverage, according to Miller and Krosnick (Reference Miller and Krosnick2000) and Ladd (Reference Ladd2010). According to Druckman (Reference Druckman2001), issue frames from an unreliable news source (the National Enquirer) are ineffective, while the same frames delivered by a trustworthy source (the New York Times) can change public opinion (see also Chong and Druckman Reference Chong and Druckman2007; Petty and Cacioppo Reference Petty and Cacioppo1986). Relatedly, source reputations matter inasmuch as the public opposes messages delivered by media they see as inconsistent with their political predispositions (Hopkins and Ladd Reference Hopkins and Ladd 2014; Levendowicz Reference Levendowicz 2013; Zaller Reference Zaller1992).
Other studies examine how news exposure is affected by reputation. Partisan cable channels draw people bearing their party designation and exclude out-party members (Levendusky Reference Levendusky2013; Martin and Yurukowicz Reference Martin and Yurukowicz2017; Stroud Reference Stroud2011). Online outlets with unique reputations also show a partisan split in their audiences (de Benedictis-Kessner et al. Reference de Benedictis-Kessner, Baum, Berinsky and Yamamoto2019; Iyengar and Hahn Reference Iyengar and Hahn2009; Tyler, Grimmer, and Iyengar Reference Tyler, Grimmer and Iyengar20211). Affinity for copartisan media seems to operate via perceived trustworthiness; people continue to rely on copartisan outlets in news selection experiments when monetary incentives are introduced for correctly answering political knowledge questions (Luca et al. Reference Tyler, Grimmer and Iyengar2021).
Common to studies on news use and communication effects is an emphasis on media with established reputation.
Unknownness as a component of media reputation
Although established media are valuable information sources, the ease of access to the digital media terrain has greatly expanded the number of relevant political news options (Hindman Reference Hindman2008; Metzger et al. Reference Metzger, Flanagin, Eyal, Lemus and McCann2003; Munger Reference Munger2020; Pennycook and Rand Reference Pennycook and Rand2019). The variety of media the public currently comes across greatly exceeds the list of sources they know about. This makes, like trustworthiness, unfamiliarity a feature of media reputation that deserves consideration.
This is shown in a 2019 Pew Research Centre study (Jurkowitz et al. Reference Jurkowitz, Mitchell, Shearer and Walker 2020). Pew asked a nationally representative sample regarding their knowledge of thirty news sources reflecting popular political media from all political orientations. For 31% of these sources, the typical respondent knew nothing. Many brand reputations were not broad even among these well-known political news sources since only 11 sources were known by 80% or more of respondents (see also Pennycook and Rand Reference Pennycook and Rand 2019).
This limited awareness of media reputations coexists with a news environment where consumers could possibly come across a great variety of media outlets. Although exact numbers of sources pertinent for modern news consumption are challenging to define, current research reveal the range of choices. Dilliplane, Goldman, and Mutz (Reference Dilliplane, Goldman and Mutz 2013) track exposure to 49 distinct political television shows. According to Reference Flaxman, Goel, and Rao 2016 Open Directory Project listings about 8,000 web domains offering news coverage.
Using lists of well-known news websites, Peterson, Goel, and Iyengar (Reference Peterson, Goel and Iyengar2021) evaluate online traffic to 355 political news domains and Gentzkow and Shapiro (Reference Gentzkow and Shapiro2011) do so for 1,329 news outlets. Examining content sharing trends for 500 news websites on Facebook Bakshy, Messing, and Adamic (Reference Bakshy, Messing and Adamic2015) find Though news use is still concentrated among notable outlets (Guess Reference Guess2021; Hindman Reference Hindman2008; Reference Hindman2018; Tyler, Grimmer, and Iyengar Reference Tyler, Grimmer and Iyengar2021), this shows media sources with plausible political relevance now number in the hundreds, if not thousands, far beyond the set of news outlets with clear public reputations.
Source familiarity and news choice
Our study addresses how political communication—including exposure to news and responses to media coverage when it is encountered—proceeds when include unfamiliarity as a component of media source reputations. First we discuss how news choice is influenced by familiarity. While some may shun familiar media they mistrust (Tsfati and Cappella Reference Tsafi and Capella 2003) or be oblivious to media reputation, past study indicates the lack of an established brand is a hurdle for unfamiliar news sources competing against more familiar alternatives.
Metzger, Flanagin, and Medders (Reference Metzger, Flanagin, and Medders 2010) argue mere familiarity with a news organization’s logo and name will enhance its credibility relative to unknown media outlets (see also Sundar Reference Sundar, Metzger and Flanagin2008). Based on the “recognition heuristic,” in which people make positive inferences about an object’s traits based on recognising it (Goldstein and Gigerenzer Reference Goldstein and Medders 2010), Metzger, Flanagin, and Medders This implies negative evaluations of their legitimacy will make information sources from unknown media channels less enticing. Moreover, unlike foreign sources, established media outlets have had the chance to occupy a regular spot in people’s news diets, acting as a default when they decide which news source to utilise (Mutz and Young Reference Mutz and Young 2011; Stroud Reference Stroud 2008).
Ideological issues can also benefit media with different partisan brands. News sources in the highly segmented media environment of today satisfy political opinions ranging across the ideological spectrum (Mullainathan and Shleifer Reference Mullainathan and Shleifer 2005). This means that some of the well-known sources that people use for media coverage will have developed good reputations, thereby providing an advantage over outlets without a profile given the expected friendliness of their news coverage.
Empirically, Iyengar and Hahn ( Reference Iyengar and Hahn2009) show the importance of well-known news source reputations. First, they discover that individuals still rely on popular political media brands—even for coverage of nonpolitical subjects—see also Stroud Reference Stroud2011. Second, interest in news items is reduced when they are given without a source. The challenge anonymous news stories highlight in drawing attention points to comparable problems for other media sources.
Reacting to News from Unfamiliar Sources
We also take into account how source familiarity influences responses to political news coverage beyond news exposure. When the public comes across news from unidentified media outlets, what follows? Two points of view surface from earlier studies on source credibility that investigate the problem in several settings.
Here the recognition heuristic proposes foreign sources will be judged as untrustworthy and, so, useless in changing public opinion. Aligning with how Metzger, Flanagin, and Medders (Reference Metzger, Flanagin, and Medders 2010) found people discussed in their focus groups, Pennycook and Rand (Reference Pennycook and Rand 2019) crowd-source assessments of online news sources and find unfamiliar hyperpartisan outlets as less credible than mainstream media. Indicative of the ineffectiveness of unidentified sources, Weisbuch, Mackie, and Garcia-Marques (Reference Weisbuch, Mackie and Garcia-Marques 2003) show a speaker an audience has seen before is more impactful than an unidentified speaker. Among those not familiar with them, Coan et al. (Reference Coan, Merolla, Stephenson and Zechmeister2008) find little cue effects from minor parties—that is, the Green party). Whereas renowned foreign leaders can influence public opinion, Dragojlovic (Reference Dragojlovic2013) notes that cues from unknown foreign leaders are useless.
Others assert that unknown sources are assessed objectively, so helping them to convince the audience. Campaign ads from an unidentified interest group are more effective than attributing them to an established, but polarising, interest group, according to Weber, Dunaway, and Johnson (Reference Weber, Dunaway, and Johnson 2012; see also Brooks and Murov Reference Brooks and Murov 2012; Jungherr et al. Reference Jungherr, Wuttke, Mader and Schoen20211). Even without knowing the group’s stance, Broockman, Kaufman, and Lenz (Reference Broockman, Kaufman and Lenz2021) find that people react favourably to interest group candidate endorsements. This results from their assuming the positions of foreign groups fit their own.
Most closely related to our topic, several studies ask participants to evaluate the credibility of fictional or foreign news sources.
Finally, even studies stressing the relevance of source credibility find situations in which unreliable sources influence opinion.
Expectations: Influence of Familiar and Unknown Media
When a news item is credited to either familiar or unfamiliar news sources, our expectation is that this will affect opinion. This follows from past experiments that positive source reputations enable influence for familiar sources (Druckman Reference Druckman2001; Hovland, Janis, and Kelley Reference Hovland, Janis and Kelley1953). Although the expectation for foreign media is less clear, past work supports the idea that unfamiliar news sources may influence opinion not because they have acquired a positive reputation but rather because they lack an overly negative one (Weber, Dunaway, and Johnson Reference Weber, Dunaway and Johnson 2012). This generates our second and third conjectures.
