ABSTRACT

Democracies around the world are facing a rising wave of right-wing populism and new nationalism, which often relies on strategic exploitation of anti-immigration sentiments. While media have long been acknowledged as important channels of anti-immigration rhetoric, the evidence of the actual impact of news consumption on attitudes to migration and support for populist parties is still inconclusive, and largely limited to pre-digital media ecologies. Combining a representative two-wave panel survey (N=819), digital tracking of real-time electronic measurement of television, radio and online media exposure, and an analysis of news content, this study explores the effect of news consumption on anti-immigration attitudes and electoral behaviour during the EP2019 election campaign in the Czech Republic. Our analysis reveals that being exposed to news about migration – particularly on websites and on commercial television stations – increases the likelihood of voting for populist parties, while exposure to public service media leads to less negative attitudes towards immigration. At the same time, being exposed to more news sources intensifies, rather than reduces, anti-immigrant attitudes. This result challenges the assumption that a more diverse news media diet could serve as an antidote to selective exposure and “echo chambers”, commonly linked with radicalization of political views.

摘要

世界各地的民主国家正面临着右翼民粹主义和新民族主义的浪潮，这往往依赖于对反移民情绪的战略利用。尽管媒体长期以来一直被认为是反移民言论的重要渠道，但新闻消费对移民态度和对民粹主义政党支持的实际影响的证据仍然没有定论，并且主要限于数字媒体之前的生态。本研究结合具有代表性的两波面板调查（N=819）、对电视、广播和网络媒体曝光的实时电子测量的数字跟踪以及对新闻内容的分析，探讨了新闻消费对反移民的影响。 EP2019 捷克共和国竞选期间的态度和选举行为。我们的分析表明，接触有关移民的新闻——尤其是在网站和商业电视台上——会增加投票给民粹主义政党的可能性，而接触公共服务媒体会减少对移民的负面态度。与此同时，接触更多的新闻来源会强化而不是减少反移民的态度。这一结果挑战了这样一种假设，即更多样化的新闻媒体饮食可以作为选择性曝光和“回声室”的解毒剂，这通常与政治观点的激进化有关。接触更多的新闻来源会加剧而不是减少反移民的态度。这一结果挑战了更多样化的新闻媒体饮食可以作为选择性曝光和“回声室”的解毒剂的假设，这通常与政治观点的激进化有关。接触更多的新闻来源会加剧而不是减少反移民的态度。这一结果挑战了这样一种假设，即更多样化的新闻媒体饮食可以作为选择性曝光和“回声室”的解毒剂，这通常与政治观点的激进化有关。