Picture Power? The Contribution of Visuals and Text to Partisan Selective Exposure
Today’s high-choice media environment allows citizens to select news in line with their political preferences and avoid content counter to their priors. So far, however, selective exposure research has exclusively studied news selection based on textual cues, ignoring the recent proliferation of vis...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cogitatio
2019-07-01
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| Series: | Media and Communication |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/1991 |
| _version_ | 1811343525882626048 |
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| author | Thomas E. Powell Toni G. L. A. van der Meer Carlos Brenes Peralta |
| author_facet | Thomas E. Powell Toni G. L. A. van der Meer Carlos Brenes Peralta |
| author_sort | Thomas E. Powell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Today’s high-choice media environment allows citizens to select news in line with their political preferences and avoid content counter to their priors. So far, however, selective exposure research has exclusively studied news selection based on textual cues, ignoring the recent proliferation of visual media. This study aimed to identify the contribution of visuals alongside text in selective exposure to pro-attitudinal, counter-attitudinal and balanced content. Using two experiments, we created a social media-style newsfeed with news items comprising matching and non-matching images and headlines about the contested issues of immigration and gun control in the U.S. By comparing selection behavior of participants with opposing prior attitudes on these topics, we pulled apart the contribution of images and headlines to selective exposure. Findings show that headlines play a far greater role in guiding selection, with the influence of images being minimal. The additional influence of partisan source cues is also considered. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:30:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4b9be95005a240428367c4d392921a77 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2183-2439 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:30:57Z |
| publishDate | 2019-07-01 |
| publisher | Cogitatio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Media and Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-4b9be95005a240428367c4d392921a772022-12-22T02:33:11ZengCogitatioMedia and Communication2183-24392019-07-0173123110.17645/mac.v7i3.19911100Picture Power? The Contribution of Visuals and Text to Partisan Selective ExposureThomas E. Powell0Toni G. L. A. van der Meer1Carlos Brenes Peralta2Amsterdam School of Communication Science, University of Amsterdam, AmsterdamAmsterdam School of Communication Science, University of Amsterdam, AmsterdamCentre for Political Science, University of Costa Rica, Costa RicaToday’s high-choice media environment allows citizens to select news in line with their political preferences and avoid content counter to their priors. So far, however, selective exposure research has exclusively studied news selection based on textual cues, ignoring the recent proliferation of visual media. This study aimed to identify the contribution of visuals alongside text in selective exposure to pro-attitudinal, counter-attitudinal and balanced content. Using two experiments, we created a social media-style newsfeed with news items comprising matching and non-matching images and headlines about the contested issues of immigration and gun control in the U.S. By comparing selection behavior of participants with opposing prior attitudes on these topics, we pulled apart the contribution of images and headlines to selective exposure. Findings show that headlines play a far greater role in guiding selection, with the influence of images being minimal. The additional influence of partisan source cues is also considered.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/1991balanced contentexperimental researchimageselective exposuretextvisual communication |
| spellingShingle | Thomas E. Powell Toni G. L. A. van der Meer Carlos Brenes Peralta Picture Power? The Contribution of Visuals and Text to Partisan Selective Exposure Media and Communication balanced content experimental research image selective exposure text visual communication |
| title | Picture Power? The Contribution of Visuals and Text to Partisan Selective Exposure |
| title_full | Picture Power? The Contribution of Visuals and Text to Partisan Selective Exposure |
| title_fullStr | Picture Power? The Contribution of Visuals and Text to Partisan Selective Exposure |
| title_full_unstemmed | Picture Power? The Contribution of Visuals and Text to Partisan Selective Exposure |
| title_short | Picture Power? The Contribution of Visuals and Text to Partisan Selective Exposure |
| title_sort | picture power the contribution of visuals and text to partisan selective exposure |
| topic | balanced content experimental research image selective exposure text visual communication |
| url | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/1991 |
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