Traditional media (e.g., newspapers, radio, and television) and new media (e.g., the Internet, SNS, and mobile devices) are equally important in individuals’ access to political news about governmental performance and social problems. This study is aimed at examining the effects of political news media use on civil happiness. The mediation effects of public trust in government (GT) and their perceived social risks (PSR) are considered. Specifically, GT concerns people’s trust that government functions in the public interest and fulfills its promises, while PSR is individuals’ perception of the risks of social problems. A total of 3,561 samples were used in the final data analysis. In line with theoretical arguments, the empirical evidence showed that the influence of political news exposure through traditional media (PTMU) and new media use (PNMU) on happiness differed. For example, PTMU increased happiness by enhancing GT, but it was not the case in PNMU. PNMU decreased happiness by enhancing PSR; however, its effect on PTMU was insignificant. The results suggest that the accessibility of political news should be enhanced, and the level of public trust in the government should be increased to promote civil happiness.

中文翻译：

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政治新闻与幸福：传统媒体与新媒体使用之间的区别

传统媒体（例如报纸，广播和电视）和新媒体（例如互联网，SNS和移动设备）在个人获取有关政府绩效和社会问题的政治新闻方面同样重要。这项研究旨在检验政治新闻媒体的使用对公民幸福的影响。考虑了公众对政府信任（GT）的调解效果及其感知的社会风险（PSR）。特别是，GT涉及人们对政府为公共利益运作并兑现其诺言的信任，而PSR是个人对社会问题风险的感知。在最终数据分析中总共使用了3,561个样品。与理论观点一致，实证证据表明，通过传统媒体（PTMU）和新媒体使用（PNMU）进行政治新闻曝光对幸福的影响是不同的。例如，PTMU通过增强GT来增加幸福感，但PNMU并非如此。PNMU通过增强PSR降低了幸福感；但是，它对PTMU的影响很小。结果表明，应增强政治新闻的可及性，并应提高公众对政府的信任程度，以促进公民幸福。