Traditional and Online Media: Relationship between Media Preference, Credibility Perceptions , Predispositions, and European Identity

Abstract

The present study investigates the relationship between people’s preference of either traditional or online media for news consumption, credibility evaluation of media and their sense of European identity. In order to do so, the study draws on the Social Identity Theory and the findings of social psychologists which situate European identity a concept that corresponds to an individuals’ subjective assignment to a collective and their affective and evaluative attachment to it. The analysis based on Eurobarometer survey data reveals that preferences of both online and traditional media for political news positively affects European identity. However, such an effect is dependent on people’s pre-existing attitudes towards the EU and if they perceive the media to be neutral and credible.

Redefining the Communication Dynamics in Bolsonaro’s Brazil: Media Consumption and Political Preferences

“…Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that they tend to prefer social media to fact check information they find suspicious, while other voters prefer legacy media channels. Future research on the Brazilian case should aim to unravel the complex paths different groups adopt for accessing and verifying information, possibly combining social and legacy media, as explored by Ismail et al (2019) and Ejaz (2021) in other contexts.…”

“…Studies that focus on the supply of information, such as Amani Ismail's case study on the interplay between social networks and local traditional media during the extremeright protests in Ferguson (2014) and Charlottesville (2017), demonstrate that journalistic coverage can be significantly influenced by agendas and themes originating from social networks (Ismail et al 2019). On the demand side, there is evidence that, nowadays, social networks and traditional media jointly influence the formation of political preferences and identities (Ejaz 2021).…”