Structural Influences on the News Finds Me Perception: Why People Believe They Don’t Have to Actively Seek News Anymore

Nadine Strauß, Brigitte Huber, Homero Gil de Zúñiga

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
JournalSocial Media and Society
Volume7
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Cultural Studies
  • Communication
  • Computer Science Applications

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