New Media, New Relationship to Participation? A Closer Look at Youth News Repertoires and Political Participation

Stephanie Edgerly*, Emily K. Vraga, Leticia Bode, Kjerstin Thorson, Esther Thorson

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

116 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study extends past research on the relationship between news use and participation by examining how youth combine news exposure across an array of media devices, sources, and services. Results from a national survey of U.S. youth ages 12 to 17 reveal four distinct news repertoires. We find that half of youth respondents are news avoiders who exhibit the lowest levels of participation. The other half of youth respondents are characterized by one of three patterns of news use, each distinct in how they seek out (or avoid) using new media platforms and sources for news, and in their levels of participation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)192-212
Number of pages21
JournalJournalism and Mass Communication Quarterly
Volume95
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2018

Funding

The author(s) declared receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by grants from the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and the Journal Foundation.

Keywords

  • audience
  • mobile
  • news repertoires
  • news use
  • participation
  • social media
  • youth

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Communication

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