Future research should assess LCC intended versus altered use and create culturally relevant intervention measures.

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In 2008, Nielsen Media Research reported that between 50 million and 70 million people watched each of the presidential and vice presidential debates. Although the debates are some of the most-watched political moments, the influence of the context of debate viewing has received little attention. This study focuses on the reactions of younger Americans to watching the debates in different contexts. In particular, the authors consider the influence of three contexts on political cynicism and reactions to the debates: playing bingo, taking notes on an issue grid, and simply viewing a debate. After viewing a debate in these contexts, participants were asked to create a hypothetical headline about the debate and to answer questions about cynicism. Although there were no significant differences between conditions in terms of writing headlines containing a strategic or cynical interpretation of the debate, the language participants used documents a propensity to view the debates through a strategic lens. Furthermore, the results suggest that including an activity can help to reduce participants’ focus on the debate winner and that debate viewing is helpful for reducing cynicism.

Traditionally, gatekeeping theory has been used to examine how journalists, editors, and publishers write, edit, and position information to become news. The opportunity for interactivity in online news outlets, however, creates space for audience members to play this role as well. Even though many in the journalism profession are worried about a shift in control from the front page to the home page, researchers have yet to analyze, systematically, the textual characteristics of the stories that online news-seekers select and deem most popular. This chapter compares the tone and scope of the stories appearing on the print front pages and those appearing in the online most read lists in twelve elite and regional news outlets. The findings show that news-seekers prefer serious soft news articles, stories that position readers prominently, and fact-laden updates. The chapter interprets these trends in light of an elitist approach to gatekeeping versus a more egalitarian mindset, and concludes that the articles promoted by news-seekers are far less frivolous than feared.

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