Using data from a two-wave panel survey among 18 countries worldwide, this study investigates the individual- and country-level antecedents of the “News Finds Me” perception (NFM). Results show that older, more educated, and individuals belonging to the ethnic majority are less prone to develop the NFM. However, social media (news) use, incidental news exposure, discussion frequency, and group affiliations lead to a higher NFM. In contrast, information elaboration as well as news use online were found to weaken the NFM. Testing various country-level factors, only gross domestic product was found to be negatively related to the NFM. The findings form a theoretical and empirical basis for future studies that aim at investigating news use in today’s high-choice media environment.

本研究使用来自全球 18 个国家/地区的两波面板调查的数据，调查了“新闻发现我”感知 (NFM) 的个人和国家层面的前因。结果表明，年龄较大、受教育程度较高且属于多数族裔的个人不太容易发生 NFM。然而，社交媒体（新闻）的使用、偶然的新闻曝光、讨论频率和群体隶属关系会导致更高的 NFM。相比之下，发现信息阐述以及在线新闻使用会削弱 NFM。测试各种国家层面的因素，发现只有国内生产总值与 NFM 呈负相关。这些发现为未来旨在调查当今高选择媒体环境中新闻使用的研究奠定了理论和经验基础。