A weeklong diary study (N = 460) into the exposure to news of Belgian (Flemish) adult media users (aged 25–45) shows that their information consumption is currently relatively diverse. An explanation for the observed diversity is that news consumers in Dutch-speaking Belgium have a wide array of internally balanced news titles and channels at their disposal, which they also actively consult. In addition, the study demonstrates that news consumption patterns span across all media platforms. This study thus illustrates that there is a weak influence of ideological attitudes and psychosocial dispositions on news consumption, measured in time of consumption per media title or channel. These findings call for a revision of theories of selective exposure that disregard the influence that the diversity of information supply can have on the selection procedures of recipients.
AltemeyerB (1998) The other ‘authoritarian personality’. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology30: 47–92.
2.
BeckersKVan AelstP (2018) Look who’s talking: An analysis of actors in television news (2003-2016). Journalism Studies. Epub ahead of print 13 April. DOI: 10.1080/1461670X.2018.1463169.
3.
BellahRNMadsenRSullivanWM, et al. (eds) (1987) Individualism & Commitment in American Life. Readings on the Themes of Habits of the Heart. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row.
4.
BurtonG (2010) Media and Society: Critical Perspectives. Berkshire: Open University Press.
5.
ChampionK (2015) Measuring content diversity in a multi-platform context. The Political Economy of Communication3(1): 39–56.
6.
De VreeseCHBoomgaardenH (2006) News, political knowledge and participation: The differential effects of news media exposure on political knowledge and participation. Acta Politica41(4): 317–341.
7.
d’HaenensLIchauEVandenbergheH, et al. (2018) Media diversity and pluriformity: Hybrid ‘regimes’ across Europe. In: d’HaenensLSousaHTrappelJ (eds) Comparative Media Policy, Regulation and Governance in Europe: Unpacking the Policy Cycle. Bristol: Intellect, pp. 250–267.
8.
ElchardusMDerksA (1998) Discourses about the relationship between the individual and society in Flanders. The consequences of individual challenges in a collectivist culture. Ethical Perspectives5(2): 109–126.
9.
ElchardusMSiongersJ (2007) Ethnocentrism, taste and symbolic boundaries. Poetics35(4–5): 215–238.
10.
ElchardusMSpruytB (2012) The contemporary contradictions of egalitarianism: An empirical analysis of the relationship between the old and new left/right alignments. European Political Science Review4(2): 217–239.
11.
FlaxmanSGoelSRaoJ (2016) Filter bubble, echo chambers and online news consumption. Public Opinion Quarterly80(Special Issue): 298–320.
12.
GarrettRK (2009) Politically motivated reinforcement seeking: Reframing the selective exposure debate. Journal of Communication59(4): 676–699.
13.
GreenbergBSEastinMSSkalskiP, et al. (2005) Comparing survey and diary measures of Internet and traditional media use. Communication Reports18(1–2): 1–8.
14.
HardyJ (2014) Critical Political Economy of the Media: An Introduction. London: Routledge.
15.
HelbergerN (2011) Diversity by Design. Journal of Information Policy1: 441–469.
16.
HendrickxJRanaivosonHR (2019) Why and how higher media concentration equals lower news diversity – The Mediahuis case. Journalism. Epub ahead of print 18 December. DOI: 10.1177/1464884919894138.
17.
HesmondhalghD (2013) The Cultural Industries, 3rd edn.London: SAGE.
18.
HineDWReserJPMorrisonM, et al. (2014) Audience segmentation and climate change communication: Conceptual and methodological considerations. WIREs Climate Change5: 441–459.
19.
HolbertRLLambeJLDudoAD, et al. (2007) Primacy effects of The Daily Show and national TV news viewing: Young viewers, political gratifications, and internal political self-efficacy. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media51(1): 20–38.
20.
HunzakerF (2016) Cultural sentiments and schema-consistency bias in information transmission. American Sociological Review81(6): 1223–1250.
21.
KarppinenK (2009) Rethinking media pluralism and communicative abundance. Observatorio11: 151–169.
22.
Knobloch-WesterwickSJohnsonBK (2014) Selective exposure for better or worse: Its mediating role for online news’ impact on political participation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication19(2): 184–196.
23.
Knobloch-WesterwickSMengJ (2009) Looking the other way: Selective exposure to attitude-consistent and counter-attitudinal political information. Communication Research36(3): 426–448.
24.
McChesneyR (2008) The Political Economy of Media: Enduring Issues, Emerging Dilemmas. New York: Monthly Review Press.
25.
MetzgerMJHartsellEHFlanaginAJ (2015) Cognitive dissonance or credibility? A comparison of two theoretical explanations for selective exposure to partisan news. Communication Research47: 3–28.
26.
MoellerJDe VreeseCEsserF, et al. (2014) Pathway to political participation: The influence of online and offline news media on internal efficacy and turnout of first-time voters. American Behavioral Scientist58(5): 689–700.
27.
NapoliP (2011) Audience Evolution: New Technologies and the Transformation of Media Audiences. New York: Columbia University Press.
28.
NeisserU (1978). Perceiving, Anticipating, and Imagining. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
29.
NelsonJLWebsterJG (2017) The myth of partisan selective exposure: A portrait of the online political news audience. Social Media + Society3(3): 205630511772931.
30.
PariserE (2011) The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You. London: Penguin Books.
31.
PriorM (2005) News vs. entertainment: How increasing media choice widens gaps in political knowledge and turnout. American Journal of Political Science49(3): 577–592.
32.
PriorM (2009) Improving media effects research through better measurement of news exposure. The Journal of Politics71(3): 893–908.
33.
RaatsTVan Den BulckHd’HaenensL (eds) (2016) Een VRT voor morgen, of geen VRT meer morgen? (A VRT for tomorrow or no more VRT tomorrow?). Kalmthout: Pelckmans Pro.
34.
ShermanJWMacraeCNBodenhausenGV (2000) Attention and stereotyping: Cognitive constraints on the construction of meaningful social impressions. In: StroebeWHewstoneM (eds) European Review of Social Psychology11, pp. 145–175.
35.
SlaterMD (1996) Theory and method in health audience segmentation. Journal of Health Communication1(3): 267–284.
36.
StirlingA (2007) A general framework for analysing diversity in science, technology and society. Journal of the Royal Society Interface4: 707–719.
37.
StirlingA (2010) Multicriteria diversity analysis: A novel heuristic framework for appraising energy portfolios. Energy Policy38(4): 1622–1634.
38.
StraussCQuinnN (1997) A cognitive theory of cultural meaning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
39.
StrömbäckJDjerf-PierreMShehataA (2013) The dynamics of political interest and news media consumption: A longitudinal perspective. International Journal of Public Opinion Research25(4): 414–435.
40.
StroudN (2010) Polarization and partisan selective exposure. Journal of Communication60: 556–576.
41.
SunsteinCR (2017) Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
42.
TewksburyD (2005) The seeds of audience fragmentation: Specialization in the use of online news sites. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media49(3): 332–348.
43.
TewksburyDHalsMLBibartA (2008) The efficacy of news browsing: The relationship of news consumption style to social and political efficacy. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly85(2): 257–272.
44.
VaisleyS (2009) Motivation and justification: A dual-process model of culture in action. American Journal of Sociology114(6): 1675–715.
45.
Van CuilenburgJ (1999) On competition, access and diversity in media, old and new: Some remarks for communications policy in the information age. New Media & Society1(2): 183–207.
46.
Van HoutTVan LeuvenS (2016) Investigating ‘Churnalism’ in real time news. In: FranklinBEldridgeSA II (eds) Routledge Companion to Digital Journalism Studies. City of St. John’s, NL, Canada: Routledge, pp. 117–125.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
