In Partisan Media We Trust: Does Incivility Exacerbate Levels of Programmatic and Institutional Media Trust in Partisan Viewers?

Abstract

Using oppositional media hostility, an extension of hostile media effect (HME), this study explores how perceptions of bias influence individuals’ trust in the media when viewing political cable news programming, particularly when the content of the programming is uncivil. I argue that when partisans watch outgroup political cable news programming, they will perceive it as containing higher levels of bias, which will then relate to lower levels of trust in the specific news program and the media as an institution. I also contend that when there is incivility in the program, these effects will be exacerbated. To test this argument, I conducted a survey experiment in which participants were randomly assigned to watch a short video clip from a news program on CNN or Fox News in which the content was either civil or uncivil. The findings demonstrate that although partisans viewing outgroup political cable news programming did indeed have higher levels of bias, which then resulted in lower levels of programmatic and institutional media trust, it did not make a difference whether the content of the program was civil or uncivil. This suggests that while partisanship plays a large role in perceptions of bias and levels of media trust, it is not quite clear how exactly incivility in the media effects the electorate.