Just Laugh! You Don’t Need to Remember: The Effects of Entertainment Media on Political Information Acquisition and Information Processing in Political Judgment

This study investigates whether the entertainment media produce different patterns of political information acquisition and information processing (i.e., online- vs. memory-based information processing) in making political judgments (i.e., evaluation of a political actor) compared to the news media. Using an adult sample (aged 18–64 years), the study adopts an experimental design using the collections of real news and entertainment programs (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) on the topic of the U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Chief Justice nomination processes in addition to a baseline group exposed to science documentaries. The results indicate that compared to news media, entertainment media are less effective in acquiring factual information, particularly in retaining issue and procedure knowledge. The study, for the first time, reveals that entertainment media facilitate online-based political information processing, whereas news media promote memory-based political information processing. The implications for the methodological and theoretical development of the impact of entertainment media and for citizen competence and participation in the recent changes in the political information environment are discussed. Resume Ris! Tu n’as pas a t‘en souvenir. Les effets des medias de divertissement sur l’acquisition de l‘information politique et le traitement de l’information dans le jugement politique Cette recherche etudie la question a savoir si, comparativement aux medias d‘information, dans la formation de jugements politiques (par exemple, l’evaluation d’un acteur politique), les medias de divertissement produisent des schemas differents d‘acquisition de l’information politique et de traitement de l‘information (par exemple, un traitement en direct par rapport a l’utilisation de la memoire). Cette etude utilise un echantillon d‘adultes (18-64 ans) et adopte un modele experimental par l’utilisation de collections d’emissions d‘informations reelles et de divertissement (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) au sujet des processus de designation d’un juge de la Cour supreme des Etats-Unis et juge en chef, en plus d‘un groupe de reference exposea des documentaires scientifiques. Les resultats indiquent que comparativement aux medias d’information, les medias de divertissement sont moins efficaces pour l‘acquisition d’information factuelle, particulierement pour ce qui est de retenir des connaissances quant au sujet et aux procedures. Pour la premiere fois, cette etude revele que les medias de divertissement facilitent un traitement de l‘information politique en direct, tandis que les medias d’information promeuvent un traitement de l‘information politique qui utilise la memoire. Les consequences pour le developpement methodologique et theorique de l’impact des medias de divertissement et pour la competence et la participation citoyenne aux changements recents dans l‘environnement de l’information politique sont commentees. Abstract Lach nur! Du brauchst dich nicht daran erinnern. Die Wirkung von Unterhaltungsmedien auf politische Informationsaneignung und -verarbeitung bei politischen Entscheidungen Die Studie untersucht, ob Unterhaltungsmedien bei der politischen Entscheidungsfindung andere Muster politischer Informationsaneignung und -verarbeitung (z.B. on-line vs. erinnerungsbasierte Informationsverarbeitung) produzieren (z. B. die Bewertung eines politischen Akteurs) als Nachrichtenmedien. In einem Experiment wurden erwachsene Studienteilnehmer (18-64 Jahre) entweder einer Zusammenstellung von realen Nachrichten und Unterhaltungsprogrammen (Daily Show with Jon Stewart) zum Nominierungsprozess der Richter des U.S. Supreme Court oder einer Kontrollgruppe (Wissenschaftsdokumentationen) zugeteilt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Unterhaltungsmedien bei der Aneignung von Faktenwissen insbesondere dem Behalten des Themas und Prozesswissen weniger effektiv sind als Nachrichtenmedien. Die Studie zeigt zum ersten Mal, dass Unterhaltungsmedien eine on-line Informationsverarbeitung fordern. Die Folgen fur die methodische und theoretische Entwicklung zum Einfluss von Unterhaltungsmedien und die Kompetenz von Burgern und Partizipation im Hinblick auf aktuelle Veranderungen der politischen Informationslandschaft werden diskutiert. Resumen Solo Rie! No Tienes que Recordarlo Los Efectos de los Medios de Entretenimiento sobre la Adquisicion de Informacion Politica y el Procesamiento de la Informacion en el Juicio Politico Este estudio investiga si los medios de entretenimiento producen pautas diferentes de adquisicion de informacion politica y de procesamiento de informacion (a saber, on-line versus procesamiento de informacion basado en la memoria) en la produccion de juicios politicos (a saber, evaluacion de un actor politico) comparadas con los medios de noticias. Usando una muestra de adultos (18-64), este estudio adopta un diseno experimental utilizando la coleccion de noticias reales y de programas de entretenimiento (el Daily Show con Jon Stewart) sobre el tema de la Corte Suprema de Justicia de los EE.UU. y los procesos de nominacion del Jefe de Justicia, ademas de un grupo de linea de base expuesto a documentales de ciencia. Los resultados indican que, comparados con los medios de noticias, los medios de entretenimiento son menos efectivos en la adquisicion de informacion factual, particularmente en la retencion del asunto y el conocimiento de procedimiento. Este estudio, por primera vez, revela que los medios de entretenimiento facilitan el procesamiento on-line de informacion politica, mientras que los medios de noticias promueven la base de memoria sobre el procesamiento de informacion politica. Las implicancias para el desarrollo metodologico y teorico sobre el impacto de los medios de entretenimiento y la competencia de los ciudadanos y la participacion en los cambios recientes en la informacion politica sobre el medioambiente son discutidas. ZhaiYao Yo yak

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