News Media Exposure and Self‐Perceived Knowledge: The Illusion of Knowing
Abstract
International Journal of Public Opinion Research Vol. ï±ï³ No. ï´ ï°ï¹ïµï´âï²ï¸ï¹ï²/ï¹ï¹ $ï³.ï°ï° RESEARCH NOTES NEWS MEDIA EXPOSURE AND SELF-PERCEIVED KNOWLEDGE: THE ILLUSION OF KNOWING Cheong-Yi Park Despite claims of the importance of news media for informing audiences, a substantial body of empirical ï¬ndings suggests this does not work so well. Public knowledge about some of the most publicized issues is often low (Bennett ï±ï¹ï¸ï¸) and the correlation between newspaper reading and public aï¬airs knowledge is, at best, moderate (McLeod et al. ï±ï¹ï·ï¹, Robinson and Davis ï±ï¹ï¹ï°). In addition, prior political knowledge (Price and Zaller ï±ï¹ï¹ï³) and cognitive skill (Crigler et al. ï±ï¹ï¹ï´) turn out to nullify the impact of newspaper exposure on knowledge acquisition. News media exposure might not increase actual knowledge as much as it might enhance the impression of oneâs own knowledge, or self-perceived knowledge. For instance, Mondak (ï±ï¹ï¹ïµ) found that exposure to local newspapers did not enhance knowledge of national or international politics, but contributed to self-perceived knowledge regarding local political campaigns. Hollandâs data (ï±ï¹ï¹ïµ) indicated that exposure to TV and newspaper had a stronger correlation with self-perceived than with actual campaign knowledge. As exposure increases, media audiences may increasingly recognize frequently portrayed events as