This study attempts to replicate recent findings suggesting a reversal of the standard knowledge gap, i.e., that the relationship between television news use and knowledge is greater among those with less than with more education. We also extend this approach to examine need for cognition and campaign interest as additional moderators beyond the standard education-based analysis. Our results reveal mixed support for the general hypothesis that the pattern of interaction between these moderators and news media use varies depending on whether the medium of interest is television news or print newspapers.

This study examined the relationships between video game play motivations identified by Yee (2006), social capital (measured by social trust and neighborliness), political participation, and civic engagement. Results of a survey of 465 college students in the United States showed that the Social motivation for video game play was positively associated with neighborliness. A factor consisting of Discovery/Role-playing/Customization, subcomponents of the Immersion motivation, was positively associated with civic engagement. Also, two marginally significant associations were found: a positive one between the Achievement motivation and civic engagement, and a negative one between Escapism, a subcomponent of the Immersion motivation, and trust. Implications were discussed.

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