This study seeks to understand how American youth (aged 12–17 years) learn to consume the news, with specific concern for which devices (television, computer, tablet, and mobile phone) they employ in consuming news. Using a national survey of parent–child dyads, we explore (1) the role of demographics in creating a home environment supportive of news use, (2) the importance of parental modeling of news use via different media devices and whether the effect of modeling is complicated by the shift from shared to individualized media consumption, and (3) the impact of other socialization agents, such as peers and schools, in promoting youth news consumption above and beyond characteristics of the home. Results indicate that parental modeling remains an important factor in socializing news consumption, even when modeling takes place via mobile devices. Additionally, we find consistent evidence for “matched modeling” between the devices parents use for news and those used by youth.
AnsolabehereSSchaffnerBF (2011) Re-examining the validity of different survey modes for measuring public opinion in the U.S.: findings from a 2010 multi-mode comparison. In: Proceedings of the American association of public opinion research (AAPOR) 66th annual conference, Phoenix, AZ, 12–15 May.
2.
AtkinCKGantzW (1978) Television news and political socialization. Public Opinion Quarterly42: 183–194.
3.
BanduraA (2001) Social cognitive theory: an agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology52(1): 1–26.
4.
BovillMLivingstoneS (2001) Bedroom culture and the privatization of media use. In: LivingstoneSBovillM (eds) Children and Their Changing Media Environment: A European Comparative Study. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 179–200.
5.
ChaffeeSHMcLeodJMAtkinCK (1971) Parental influences on adolescent media use. American Behavioral Scientist14: 323–340.
6.
ClarkLS (2011) Parental mediation theory for the digital age. Communication Theory21(4): 323–343.
EdgerlySThorsonK (2016) Developing media preferences in a post-broadcast democracy. In: ThorsonEMcKinneyMSShahDV (eds) Political Socialization in a Media Saturated World. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, pp. 375–391.
11.
HaddonL (2013) Mobile media and children. Mobile Media & Communication1(1): 89–95.
12.
JenningsMKStokerLBowersJ (2009) Politics across generations: family transmission reexamined. The Journal of Politics71(03): 782–799.
13.
LeeAMChyiHI (2014) Motivational consumption model: exploring the psychological structure of news use. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly91: 706–724.
14.
LeeNJShahDVMcLeodJM (2013) Processes of political socialization: a communication mediation approach to youth civic engagement. Communication Research40(5): 669–697.
15.
LiX (2013) Innovativeness, personal initiative, news affinity and news utility as predictors of the use of mobile phones as news devices. Chinese Journal of Communication6: 350–373.
16.
LivingstoneS (2007) From family television to bedroom culture: young people’s media at home. In: DevereuxE (ed.) Media Studies: Key Issues and Debates. London: SAGE, pp. 302–321.
17.
LullJ (1980) The social uses of television. Human Communication Research6: 197–209.
18.
McDevittMChaffeeS (2000) Closing gaps in political communication and knowledge: effects of a school intervention. Communication Research27: 259–292.
19.
McDevittMChaffeeS (2002) From top-down to trickle-up influence: revisiting assumptions about the family in political socialization. Political Communication19(3): 281–301.
20.
MakslACraftSAshleyS, et al. (2017) The usefulness of a news media literacy measure in evaluating a news literacy curriculum. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator. 72(2): 228–241.
21.
MinS (2010) From the digital divide to the democratic divide: internet skills, political interest, and the second-level digital divide in political Internet use. Journal of Information Technology & Politics7: 22–35.
22.
MindichDTZ (2005) Tuned Out: Why Americans under 40 Don’t Follow the News. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
23.
MitchellMGottfriedJBarthelM, et al. (2016) The modern news consumer. Pew Research Center Journalism & Media. Available at: http://www.journalism.org/2016/07/07/young-adults/ (accessed 15 December 2016).
24.
NathansonAI (2015) Media and the family: reflections and future directions. Journal of Children and Media9: 133–139.
25.
NiemiRGJenningsMK (1991) Issues and inheritance in the formation of party identification. American Journal of Political Science34(4): 970–988.
PoindexterPM (2012) Millennials, News, and Social Media. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
29.
PriorM (2007) Post-Broadcast Democracy: How Media Choice Increases Inequality in Political Involvement and Polarizes Elections. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
30.
RobertsDF (2000) Media and youth: access, exposure, and privatization. The Journal of Adolescent Health27(2): 8–14.
31.
StrömbäckJDjerf-PierreMShehataA (2013) The dynamics of political interest and news media consumption: a longitudinal perspective. International Journal of Public Opinion Research25(4): 414–435.
32.
VaalaSEBleakleyA (2015) Monitoring, mediating, and modeling: parental influence on adolescent computer and Internet use in the United States. Journal of Children and Media9: 40–57.
33.
VerbaSSchlozmanKLBradyHE (1995) Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics, vol. 4. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
34.
VragaEKBodeLYangJH, et al. (2014) Political influence across candidate evaluations in the 2008 election. Information, Communication & Society17: 184–202.
35.
WestholmA (1999) The perceptual pathway: tracing the mechanisms of political value transfer across generations. Political Psychology20: 525–551.
