Exposure to Political News Accompanying Violent Demonstrations as Reflected in Adopting Conspiracy View Against Egypt

Mohamed A. Fadl Elhadidi

Abstract


A field study was conducted at time of violent events that accompanied demonstrations against the Military Council who assumed the power to govern Egypt after 25th January Revolution to determine the effects of exposure to political news on three dependent variables; public opinion belief in conspiracy theory against Egypt, tolerance and affect towards the two parties of the violence (rebels and the Military Council) through the interim transition of military rule. The study found that Egyptian journalism, other political factors and demographic variables predicted the public's adoption of foreign and domestic conspiracy view whether positively or inversely. Unlike newspapers and online journalism, TV satellite channels were the only source predicting public's tolerance and affect. The study also found correlations between respondents' adoption of conspiracy theory and their tolerance judgments and feelings toward the parties of the conflict. 


Keywords


Conspiracy theory; Affect; Tolerance; Political efficacy; Political involvement; Political participation

Full Text:

PDF

References


Aarts, K., & Semetko, H. (2003). The divided electorate: Media use and political involvement. Journal of Politics, 65(3), 759–784.

AL-Kandari, A. J. (2010). Arab news networks and conspiracy theories about America: A political gratification study. Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, 3(1, 2), 59-76.

Althaus, S. L., & Tewksbury, D. (2002). Agenda setting and the “new” news: Patterns of issue importance among readers of the paper and online versions of the New York Times. Communication Research, 29, 180-207.

Austin, E. W., Van-de-Vord, R., Pinkleton, B. E., & Epstein, E. (2008). Celebrity endorsements and their potential to motivate young voters. Mass Communication & Society, 11, 420–436.

Bobo, L., & Licari, F. C. (1989). Education and political tolerance: Testing the effects of cognitive sophistication and target group affect. Public Opinion Quarterly, 53(3), 285-308.

Boyle, M. P., Schmierbach, M., Armstrong, C. L., Cho, J., McCluskey, M. R., McLeod, D.M., & Shah, D.V. (2006). Expressive responses to news stories about extremist groups: A framing experiment. Journal of Communication, 56, 1-18.

Bunt, G. (2003). Islam in the digital age: E-jihad, online fatwas and cyber Islamic environment. New York, NY: Bluto Press.

Cantijoch, M., Jorba, L., & San-Martin, J. (2008, August 28-31). Exposure to political information in new and old media: Which impact on political participation? Paper presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of The American Political Science Association, Boston, MA.

Chaffee, S. H., & Kanihan, S. F. (1997). Learning about politics from the mass media. Political Communication, 14, 421-430.

Chew, F. (1994). The relationship of information needs to issue relevance and media use. Journalism Quarterly, 71, 676–688.

Cigler, A., & Joslyn, M. ( 2002). The extensiveness of group membership and social capital: The impact on political tolerance attitudes. Political Research Quarterly, 55(1), 7-25.

Coleman, S., Morrison, D. E., & Svennevig, M. (2008). New media and political efficacy. International Journal of Communication, 2, 771-791.

Cooper, S. D. (2000). An effect of the medium in news stories: “The pictures in our heads”. The New Jersey Journal of Communication, 8, 173-188.

Cornfield, M. (2003). Adding in the net: Making citizenship count in the digital age. In D. M. Anderson & M. Cornfield (Eds.), The civic web: Online politics and democratic values (pp.97–112). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Delli-Carpini, M. X., & Keeter, S. (2003). The Internet and an informed citizenry. In D.M. Anderson, & M. Cornfield (Eds.), The civic web: Online politics and democratic values (pp.129–153). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Dovidio, J. F., Gaertner, S. L., & Kawakami, K. (2003). Intergroup contact: The past, present and future. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 6(1), 5-21.

Douglas, K.M., & Sutton, R. M. (2008). The hidden impact of conspiracy theories: Perceived and actual influence of theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana. Journal of Social Psychology, 148, 210–222.

Fazio R. H. (2001). On the automatic activation of associated evaluations: An overview. Cognition and Emotion, 15(2), 115–141.

Fu, H., Mou, Y., Miller, M. J., & Jalette, G. (2011). Reconsidering political cynicism and political involvement: A test of antecedents. American Communication Journal, 13(2), 44-61.

Gaasholt, Ø., & Togeby, L. (1995). Interethnic tolerance, education, and political orientation: Evidence from Denmark. Political Behavior, 17, 265-285.

Gentzkow, M. A., & Shapiro, J. M. (2004). Media, education and anti-Americanism in the Muslim world. Journal of Economic Perspective, 18(3), 117-133.

Gibson, J. L., & Bingham, R. D. (1982). On the conceptualization and measurement of political tolerance. American Political Science Review, 76, 603-620.

Goertzel, T. (1994). Belief in conspiracy theories. Political Psychology, 15, 731–742.

Golebiowska, E. A. (1999). Gender gap in political tolerance. Political Behavior, 21(1), 43-66.

Graber, D. A. (2002). Mass media and American politics (6th ed.). Washington, DC: CQ Press.

Graber, D. A. (1988). Processing the news. New York, NY: Longman.

Hall, J. (2006). Aligning darkness with conspiracy theory: The discursive effects of African American interest in Gary Webb’s “Dark Alliance”. The Howard Journal of Communications, 17(3), 205–222.

Hardy, B. W., & Scheufele, D. A. (2005). Examining differential gains from Internet use: Comparing the moderating role of talk and online interactions. Journal of Communication, 55, 71–84.

Harrell, A. (2010). Political tolerance, racist speech, and the influence of social networks. Social Science Quarterly, 91(3), 724-740.

Hello, E., Scheepers, P., Vermulst, A., & Gerris, J. R. M. (2004). Association between educational attainment and ethnic distance in young adults: Socialization by schools or parents? Acta Sociologica, 47(3), 253-257. Retrieved from http://asj.sagepub.com/content/47/3/253

Huckfeldt, R., Mendez, J. M., & Osborn, T. (2004). Disagreement, ambivalence, and engagement: The political consequences of heterogeneous networks. Political Psychology, 25(1), 65-95.

Jennings, M. K., & Zeitner, B. (2003). Internet use and civic engagement: A longitudinal analysis. Public Opinion Quarterly, 67, 311–334.

Just, M. R., Crigler, A. N., Alger, D. E., Cook, T. E., Kern, M., & West, D. M. (1996). Crosstalk: Citizens, candidates, and the media in a presidential campaign. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Kawakami, K., Dovidio, J. F., Moll, J., Hermsen, S., & Russin, A. (2000). Just say no (to stereotyping): Effects on training in trait negation on stereotype activation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(5), 871-888.

Kellner, D. (2004). 9/11, spectacles, of terror, and media manipulation: A critique of Jihadist and Bush media politics. Critical Discourse Studies, 1(1), 41–64.

Kellstedt, L. A., & Corwin, E. S. (1993). Doctrinal beliefs and political behavior: Views of the Bible. In D. C. Leege & L. A. Kellstedt (Eds.), Rediscovering the religious factor in American politics (pp.177-198). Amonk, NY: M. E. Sharp.

Kenski, K., & Stroud, N., J. (2006). Connections between internet use and political efficacy, knowledge, and participation. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 50(2), 173–192.

Keum, H., Hillback, E. D., Rojas, H., Gil-De-Zuniga, H., Shah, D. V., & Mcleod, D. M. (2005). Personifying the radical: How news framing polarizes security concerns and tolerance judgments. Human Communication Research, 31(3), 337-364.

Kushin, M. J., & Yamamoto, M. (2010). Did social media really matter? College students’ use of online media and political decision making in the 2008 Election. Mass Communication and Society, 13, 608–630.

Lantos, T., (2002). A new anti-Semitic myth in the Middle East media: The September 11 Attacks were perpetrated by the Jews. The Middle East Media Research Institute, Washington, D.C. Retrieved from www.memri.org

Lin, Y., & Lim, S. (2002). Relationships of media use to political cynicism and efficacy: A preliminary study of young South Korean voters. Asian Journal of Communication, 12, 25–39.

Lodge, M., & Taber, C. (2000). Three steps toward a theory of motivated reasoning.” In A. Lupia, M. McCubbins, & S. Popkin (Eds.), Elements of reason (pp.183-213). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Lodge, M., & Taber, C. (2005). The Automaticity of affect for political leaders, Groups, and issues: An experimental test of the hot cognition hypothesis. Political Psychology, 26(3), 455-82.

Lodge, M., Steenbergen, M. R., & Brau, S. (1995). The responsive voter. American Political Science Review, 89, 309-326.

Marcus, G. E., Sullivan, J. L., Theiss-Morse, E., & Stevens, D. (2005). The emotional foundation of political cognition: The impact of extrinsic anxiety on the formation of political tolerance judgments. Political Psychology, 26(6), 949-963.

Mccabe, J. (2010). Online news media use and political tolerance (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Wayne State University, USA. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/104

Morris, J., Squires, N., Taber, C., & Lodge, M. (2003). Activation of political attitudes: A psycho physiological examination of the hot cognition hypothesis. Political Psychology, 24(4), 727–745.

Moy, P., Torres, M., Tanaka, K., & McCluskey, M. R. (2005). Knowledge or trust? Investigating linkages between media reliance and participation. Communication Research, 32(1), 59-86.

Mutz, D. C. (2002). The consequences of cross-cutting networks for political participation. American Journal of Political Science, 46(4), 838-855.

Nelson, T. E., Clawson, R. A., & Oxley, Z. M. (1997). Media framing of a civil liberties conflict and its effect on tolerance. American Political Science Review, 91(3), 567–583.

Neuman, W. R., Just, M. R., & Crigler, A. N. (1992). Common knowledge: News and the construction of political meaning. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Nie, N. H., Junn., & Stehlik-Barry, K. (1996). Education and democratic citizenship in America. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Niemi, R. G., Craig, S. C., & Mattei, F. (1991). Measuring internal political efficacy in the 1988 National Election Study. American Political Science Review, 85, 1407–1413.

Nisbet, M. C., & Scheufele, D. A. (2004). Political talk as a catalyst for online citizenship. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 81, 877–896.

Norris, P. (2000). A virtuous circle? The impact of political communications in post-industrial democracies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,.

Norris, P. (2001). Digital divide: Civic engagement, information poverty, and the Internet worldwide. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Oliver, J. E., & Wood, T. J. (2012). Conspiracy theories, magical thinking, and the paranoid style(s) of mass opinion. Working paper series retrieved from http://political-science.uchicago.edu/faculty-working papers/

Owen, D., & Dennis, J. (1987). Preadult development of political tolerance. Political Psychology, 8(4), 547-562.

Peffley, M., & Rohrschneider, R. (2003). Democratization and political tolerance in seventeen countries: A multi-level model of democratic learning. Political Research Quarterly, 56(3), 243-257.

Pinkleton, B. E. (1999). Individual motivations and information source relevance in political decision making. Mass Communication and Society, 2, 65-80.

Pinkleton, B. E., & Austin, E. W. (2001). Individual motivations, perceived media importance, and political disaffection. Political Communication, 18, 321–334.

Pinkleton, B. E., & Austin, E. W. (2004). Media perceptions and public affairs apathy in the politically inexperienced. Mass Communication & Society, 7(3), 319-337.

Postman, N. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Reimer, S., & Park, J. Z. (2001). Tolerant (In) civility? A longitudinal analysis of white conservative protestants‘ willingness to grant civil liberties. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 40, 735-745.

Scheufele, D. (2002). Examining the differential gains from mass media and their implications for participatory behavior. Communications Research, 29(1), 46-65.

Schleifer, A. (2005). The impact of Arab satellite television on prospects for democracy in the Arab world. Transnational Broadcasting Studies, 15(2). Retrieved from http://www.tbsjournal.com/Archives/Fall05/Schleifer.html.

Schulz, W. (2005, September 8-10). Political efficacy and expected political participation among lower and upper secondary students: A comparative analysis with data from the IEA Civic Education Study. Paper prepared for the ECPR General Conference, Budapest.

Simon, D., Snow, C. J., & Read, S. J. (2004). The redux of cognitive consistency theories: Evidence judgments by constraint satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 814–837.

Simmons, W. P., & Parsons, S. (2005). Beliefs in conspiracy theories among African Americans: A comparison of elites and masses. Social Science Quarterly, 86(3), 582–598.doi: 10.1111/j.0038-4941.2005.00319.x.

Sotelo, M. J. (2000). Individual differences in political tolerance among adolescents. Social Behavior and Personality, 28(2), 185-192.

Stempel, C., Hargrove, T., & Stempel, G. (2007). Media use, social structure, and belief in 9/11 conspiracy theories. Journalism and Mass communication Quarterly, 84(2), 353–372.

Sullivan, J., Pierson, J. E., & Marcus, G. E. (1982). Political tolerance and American democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Sullivan, J. L., Walsh, P., Shamir, M., Barnum, D. G., & Gibson, J. L. (1993). Why politicians are more tolerant: Selective recruitment and socialization among political elites in Britain, Israel, New Zealand, and the United States. British Journal of Political Science, 23, 51-76.

Sunstein, C. R., & Vermeule, A. (2008) Conspiracy theories. Social Science Research Network [Preliminary draft]. Retrieved from http://ssrn.com/abstract=1084585.

Swami, V., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2010). Unanswered questions: A preliminary investigation of personality and individual difference predictors of 9/11 conspiracist beliefs. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 749–761.

Tewksbury, D., Hals, M., L., & Bibart, A. (2008). The efficacy of news browsing: The relationship of news consumption style to social and political efficacy. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 85(2), 257-272.

Tewksbury, D., & Althaus, S. L. (2000). Differences in knowledge acquisition among readers of the paper and online versions of a national newspaper. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 77, 457-479.

Tewksbury, D., Weaver, A., & Maddex, B. (2001, Autumn). Accidentally informed: incidental news exposure on the World Wide Web. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 78, 533–554.

Tuckett, K. (2004). Conspiracy theories. New York: Berkley Books.

Verba, S., Schlotzman, L., & Brady, H. (1995). Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in American politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Vaughan, J. (2002). Propaganda by proxy? Britain, America, and Arab radio broadcasting, 1953–1957. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 22(2), 157–172.

Walma-van-der-Molen, J. H., & Van-der-Voort, T. H. A. (2000). Children’s and adults’ recall of television and print news in children’s and adult news formats. Communication Research, 27, 132-160.

Wood, M. J., Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2012). Dead and alive: Beliefs in contradictory conspiracy theories. Social Psychological and Personality Science, Sci. 3, 767–773.10.1177/1948550611434786 [Cross Ref].

Wood, M. J., & Douglas, K. M. (2013). What about building 7? A social psychological study of online discussion of 9/11 conspiracy theories. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 409. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00409




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/%25x

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2014 Mohamed A. Fadl Elhadidi

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Share us to:   

Reminder

  • How to do online submission to another Journal?
  • If you have already registered in Journal A, then how can you submit another article to Journal B? It takes two steps to make it happen:

1. Register yourself in Journal B as an Author

  • Find the journal you want to submit to in CATEGORIES, click on “VIEW JOURNAL”, “Online Submissions”, “GO TO LOGIN” and “Edit My Profile”. Check “Author” on the “Edit Profile” page, then “Save”.

2. Submission

Online Submission: http://cscanada.org/index.php/ccc/submission/wizard

  • Go to “User Home”, and click on “Author” under the name of Journal B. You may start a New Submission by clicking on “CLICK HERE”.
  • We only use four mailboxes as follows to deal with issues about paper acceptance, payment and submission of electronic versions of our journals to databases: caooc@hotmail.com; office@cscanada.net; ccc@cscanada.net; ccc@cscanada.org

 Articles published in Cross-Cultural Communication are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY).

 CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION Editorial Office

Address: 1055 Rue Lucien-L'Allier, Unit #772, Montreal, QC H3G 3C4, Canada.
Telephone: 1-514-558 6138 
Website: Http://www.cscanada.net; Http://www.cscanada.org 
E-mail:caooc@hotmail.com; office@cscanada.net

Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture