Media, Polarization, and Social Networks: Key Concepts and Theories

What is selective exposure?

a theory that describes how people tend to favor information that confirms their existing beliefs and avoid information that contradicts them.

What are echo chambers?

Echo chambers happen when your network is all similar to you and when you have selective exposure to homophonous information, leading to polarization.

What is the hypothesis linking echo chambers and polarization?

Network homophily plus homophonous selective exposure leads to echo chambers, which results in polarization.

What is increased issue extremity?

Increased issue extremity refers to people being either a 1 or a 100 on a topic, resulting in a loss of middle ground.

strong ties

close, emotionally-intense relationships

• lots of trust, frequent communication, high emotional support, usually people similar to you

Weak ties

more distant or casual relationships

• lower emotional intensity, less frequent communication, connects you to different social circles

How does media affect issue extremity?

Media does not affect increased issue extremity.

What is affective phenomena?

the dislike, distrust, and animosity partisans feel towards the opposing political party, shifting the focus from policy disagreements to emotional, identity-based divisions

How does media contribute to perceived polarization?

Media contributes to perceived polarization and somewhat to affective phenomena.

What is the rising importance of social networks?

they reflect the amount of varying information that we are exposed to depending on the amount (and type) of ties we have

What is group conformity?

The tendency for people to adjust their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors to match those of the group around them

What is purpose marketing?

when a brand ties itself to a purpose and markets the product based on its relationship to that purpose.

What are some dos in purpose marketing?

authenticity, clear brand connection, living the purpose through the business, and taking action before claiming to have done so.

What is the agenda-setting function of the press?

media’s power to influence publci p

What evidence supports the agenda-setting function?

Studies show that voters cared about the same topics present in the media, and different newscasts changed viewers' opinions accordingly.

What is the difference between agenda setting and agenda building?

Agenda building is creating the agenda, while agenda setting analyzes the effects of it.

What is framing?

placing information in an unique context so that certain elements of the issue get a greater allocation of an individual’s attention

What is an effective frame?

An effective frame defines what is happening, signals the cause of a problem, suggests solutions, and generates a sense of us and them.

What is priming?

we don't use all available information when making a decision, but rather on accessible information (we rely on mental shortcuts)

What is chronic activation in priming?

over time patterns of messages result in establishing a more permanent association between concepts

What are the early press conceptualizations?

Authoritarian, libertarian, communist, and social responsibility models describe different approaches to the role of the press in society.

What is the libertarian press model?

emphasizes the importance of freedom of the press for informing citizens to make decisions.

What is the social responsibility model of the press?

asserts that the press has a responsibility toward the community, which is more important than mere freedom of the press

• allows people to participate in the government decision making

What is advocacy journalism?

Journalism that promotes a particular political agenda or viewpoint.

What are the three media systems?

Liberal, Polarized pluralist, Democratic corporatist.

What characterizes the Liberal model of media?

Market dominated, mass circulation, neutral journalism, strong professionalism.

What characterizes the Polarized pluralist model of media?

Strong state intervention, elite circulation, advocacy journalism, weak professionalism.

What characterizes the Democratic corporatist model of media?

State intervention for independence, mass circulation, neutral journalism, strong professionalism.

How is press freedom conceptualized?

it is decreasing

Are press and internet freedoms increasing globally?

No, it has shrunk worldwide

• the independence of media is more critical than ever, as political systems have a harder time fulfilling social expectations and economic sytems resolving collective problems

What are common ways to limit press freedom?

Financially draining lawsuits, enforcement of laws, threats against journalists, and government-backed ownership takeovers.

What is cultivation in media?

the media shows us patterns in television and we take those and apply them to the real world → we think television is now looking like the real world but its really the opposite

What is the mean world syndrome?

We take what we are seeing on TV and apply that to our mindset around the real world

• we end up overestimating the meanness of the real world

What is mainstreaming in media?

The phenomenon where heavy TV viewers become more similar in their views, despite the fact of living in different contexts

How does cultivation persist in a fragmented media environment?

heavy exposure still shapes worldview — but now algorithms and personalized feeds intensify it by repeatedly showing users the same kind of content. People now develop their own internet bubbles based on their platform they use

What is the spiral of silence?

we tend to speak less when we think we are in the minority in terms of public opinion

What is power distance in cultural differences?

The extent to which less powerful members expect and accept power differences.

What is uncertainty avoidance?

The degree to which people in a culture feel uncomfortable with uncertainty

How do different cultures orient towards time?

Cultures may have long-term or short-term orientations towards time.

What is social impact storytelling?

Storytelling that shows an effect on people as a result of an action.

What are the characteristics of social impact storytelling?

Authenticity, empathy, and honesty.

What is the uses and gratifications approach?

Why people use actively choose a media to meet their needs (entertainment, information, identity, social connection, habit)

What is the knowledge gap hypothesis?

The idea that not all social groups learn from media at the same rates.

What is the news gap?

The difference between what media offers and what people want.

What is artificial intelligence in the context of newsrooms?

Technology that can learn to complete tasks using human-like intelligence.

How is AI used in newsrooms?

For editing, background work, providing sources, and story ideation.

What are the democratic implications of AI use in newsrooms?

Opportunity to reevaluate journalism's needs and reduce expenses.

How is AI used in advertising agencies?

To provide strategic evidence and budgeting/advertising charts.

Individualism

Values: personal freedom, self-expression, Individual rights, personal achievements, “I” thinking

EX: common western countries like the US

Collectivism

Values: Harmony, consensus, shared responsibility, maintaining group responsibility, “we” thinking

EX: Asian, African, and Middle Eastern countries

Power distance

we are more willing to accept inequalities of power vs other societies where there is a smaller power distance

Uncertainty avoidance

people who tolerate more uncertainty are more willing to engage in protests

Short-term orientation

Live in the now; traditions, quick results, immediate rewards

EX: US, most African nations, many European countries

Long term orientation

Future focused; planning ahead, saving, patience, persistence

EX: China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore

LA effect

Convergence of national culture around western values

• logic of hollywood to the world

Taliban effect

• Polarization of national cultures → people resisting the global values to protect their traditional values

Bangalore effect

Fusion of national cultures → we have hybrid cultures where people are consuming different cultures through available media content

Conditional effects

• Firewall model of conditional ethics

What are cosmopolitan communications

How open countries are to allowing goods and services to flow?

• people being exposed to media, ideas, and cultures from all around the world because of globalization and digital technology BUT you as a consumer make choices about what you do and don’t consume

Information diets

the mix of news, media, and content a person regularly consumes

Framing as perspective

how a story is told changes the way people think about it

• done by journalists because they decide what to cover

Framing as foundation

the person’s foundational thoughts, values, and experiences and how they apply those beliefs to the media and information we are getting

• done by the audience

News finds me perception

rather than have surveillance motivation, you start relying on the algorithm to push “what you need to know” your way

Authoritarian theory of press

the government controls the media to educate and push their motivegs/agenda

Libertarian Theory

freedom of press with free market

• the medias role is to inform, entertain, educate, sell, and act as a “watch-dog” on the government with minimal regulation

Communist Theory

the press becomes a party organ and operates under the logic of educating people and sending them towards the goals of the party

• can criticize the administration

Which scenario best illustrates selective exposure in a political context?

A voter chooses to follow only social media accounts that support their preferred party

According to priming theory, how does media exposure influence political evaluations?

By shaping which considerations come to mind when people judge political actors

According to cultivation theory, heavy television viewing tends to

Lead viewers to adopt beliefs that reflect the most frequently recurring media messages

Episodic framing

most people tend to blame the individual rather than what happened

Thematic framing

there are societal causes for these actions