Lying press: Three levels of perceived media bias and their relationship with political preferences

Publications: Contribution to journalArticlePeer Reviewed

Abstract

In the context of decreasing media trust as well as the rise of populist movements in many Western Democracies, this study sets out to revisit the relationship between political preferences and perceived media bias. It investi-gates perceived bias of the entire media system, the perceived bias of individual outlets as well as perceived beneficiaries of this favorable coverage. Analyses are based on an online survey in Austria in 2015 (n ~ 1,679) and compare citi-zens’ perceived biases towards eight newspapers and television outlets. Results show that media system bias in Austria is strongly related to right-wing but not to left-wing extremism. Furthermore, there are not only differences between single outlets but also between media genres, as particularly tabloids are less afflicted by right-wing perceptions of bias. Finally, there is evidence of hostile media perceptions irrespective of actual media exposure.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5-32
Number of pages28
JournalCommunications: the European journal of communication research
Volume44
Issue number1
Early online date6 Mar 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Mar 2019

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 508009 Media research

Keywords

  • perceived media bias
  • media credibility
  • hostile-media phenomenon
  • NEWS MEDIA
  • IMPACT
  • SKEPTICISM
  • COVERAGE
  • PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS
  • TRUST

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