Third-Person Effects of News Coverage: Orientations Toward Media

In: Journalism & mass communication quarterly: JMCQ, Volume 74, Issue 3, p. 525-540

Abstract

This research focused on empirical connections between third-person effects and media orientations - general beliefs about news and characteristic uses of the news media. The study examined the contributions of three groups of independent variables, including political factors, media schemas, and media use, to third-person effects. Results of regression analyses suggest that each of the three groups of variables is modestly related to the magnitude of third-person effects, but none individually has great predictive power or necessarily alters third-person effects in a given news scenario. Finally, the mechanisms by which different variables influence the magnitude of third-person effects clearly vary. Overall, the results suggest only modest connections between individual differences in media orientations and the tendency to exhibit third- person effects.