Access Attitudes: A Social Learning Approach to Examining Community Engagement and Support for Press Access to Government Records

Abstract

This survey-based study examines public attitudes toward press access to government records, deriving a political model predicting support for freedom of information based on social learning theory and testing whether support for press access is best explained by societal power, media importance, or political attitudes. Findings indicate that support is tied most closely to political attitudes such that the strongest predictors are community engagement and support for press rights, regardless of age, income, education, newspaper reading, or other variables. The results offer insights to help journalists, scholars, and citizens understand—and perhaps influence—public attitudes toward freedom of information.