In Viewership We Trust? Exploring Relationships Between Partisan Cable News and Mass Partisan Sentiment

Abstract

Prior literature has identified several simultaneously occurring trends: namely, sharply intensifying negative partisanship, partisan patterns of media trust, increasingly partisan content on cable news networks, and increased viewership of these networks. A large portion of this literature, as well as journalistic research, has predominantly focused on individuals' consumption, rather than trust, of particular political media sources. I explore to what degree the nature of how individuals are consuming partisan media (be it trustingly, skeptically, etc.) plays a role in the relationship between partisan media consumption and partisan sentiment. Using OLS regression models across three ANES samples, I test the relationship between individuals' viewership and trust levels of particular partisan cable news sources (Fox News and MSNBC) and corresponding partisan sentiment, taking into account individuals' own partisan leanings. I find those who consume like-minded partisan media to express more partisanship (both for their own political group and against the other). I additionally find that trust, as opposed to just viewership, of these partisan networks correlates strongly with partisan sentiment. In light of these findings, I conclude that future research on this topic should more clearly distinguish between trust and viewership of political media.