The Complicated Relation Between News Frames and Political Trust: A Case Study of Romania

Roč.18,č.2-3(2016)

Abstrakt
This study tests through an experiment the hypothesis that heavy emphasis on conflicts in the news undermines political trust and has an impact on citizens’ cynicism and political participation. Findings do not support a uniform negative impact of the conflicts covered in the news but demonstrate a cumulative effect of their levels of intrusiveness and incivility. In addition, we found consistent evidence that personal characteristics influence people’s reactions to conflicts. For extrovert individuals, who are typically more assertive in public matters, have higher levels of political knowledge and feel more politically efficacious, exposure to conflict frames does not necessarily result in lower political trust.

Klíčová slova:
Conflict Frames; Political Trust; Issue Obtrusiveness; Civility; Extroversion; Political Knowledge; Political Efficacy
Biografie autora

Madalina Botan

National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, 30 Expozitiei Street, 012103, Bucharest, Romania. Contact e-mail for all three authors: madalina.botan@comunicare.ro.

Nicoleta Corbu

National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, 30 Expozitiei Street, 012103, Bucharest, Romania. Contact e-mail for all three authors: madalina.botan@comunicare.ro.

Dani Sandu

National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, 30 Expozitiei Street, 012103, Bucharest, Romania. Contact e-mail for all three authors: madalina.botan@comunicare.ro.
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