Media Use and Civic Participation in the African-American Population: Exploring Participation among Professionals and Nonprofessionals

Abstract

Empirical research has shown a positive relationship between local news media use, community integration, and political participation for the general population. This study examined whether the media serve such functions for African-American professionals and nonprofessionals. Both samples included fairly heavy media users; however, there was no significant relationship between local media use and civic participation. Church involvement, however, was a strong predictor of participation. Two major findings emerged: (1) local news media do not serve the civic information needs of African Americans, and (2) when compared with local news media, interpersonal networks more strongly influence African Americans' civic participation.

Wave of Hope: African American Youth Use Media and Engage More Civically, Politically Than Whites

“…Our study challenges the psychological and material theories' argument that African Americans tend to be resource poor (Mastin, 2000), and this contributes to the fact that they have been less politically engaged than Whites. Our study, in controlling for gender and particularly for income, demonstrates a complex, nuanced relationship between race and political interest at a very important age, among other findings.…”

“…For researchers who focus on race and argue that it does matter, the material theory (someone's education and experience) and the psychological theory (a person's sense of efficacy and civic duty and interest in politics) are used to explain African American political participation (Mastin, 2000). This theoretical perspective unique to African Americans notes that participation is more likely to occur for higher-status individuals who believe they ''(a) have a stake in politics, (b) are efficacious, and (c) are politically aware'' (Mastin, 2000, p. 117).…”

Toward a Measure of Community Journalism

“…Imagined community can be grounded in some shared physical characteristic, such as identification with ethnic group (e.g., Fraley & Lester-Roushanzamir, 2004;Ganje, 1998;Gavrilos, 2002;Heinz, 2005;Mastin, 2000;Viswanath, 2000), immigrant issues (Coole, 2002;Shi, 2005;Trasciatti, 2003), sexual orientation (Hicks & Warren, 1998), and shared health problems (Hoffman-Goetz, Friedman, & Clarke, 2005;Marks, Reed, Colby, & Ibrahim, 2004).…”

A Link To The Future: A Pilot Study Look At How Historically Black Colleges And Universities With Journalism And Mass Communications Units Use The Internet In Recruiting

“…The report did bring to light how African-Americans and Whites used information with the "news media portrayed the 1967 riots as black-white conflicts rather than placing them in the context of people stressed by deteriorating economic and living conditions" (Mastin, 2000). The challenge in 2011 is in keeping democracy strong with full access for everyone with high-speed Internet connections.…”