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This study examines program ordering effects derived from viewing CNN television news relative to The Daily Show on the political gratifications associated with both types of information sources. Internal political self-efficacy is assessed as an individual-difference moderator. Main primacy effects are found on the gratifications associated with both national television news viewing and The Daily Show viewing. However, The Daily Show primacy effect on the political gratifications associated with national television news viewing was isolated among those participants who retain low internal political self-efficacy. Ramifications for these findings are outlined and future lines of research are summarized., The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has become a fixture on the U.S. political landscape (Mutz, 2004). There is much discussion within the popular press as to the legitimacy of [...]

This study uses 2000-2002 American National Election Study (ANES) panel data to assess the influence of national television news viewing on opinions concerning the need for federal involvement in social issues reflective of postmaterialist values. This relationship is analyzed in coordination with the testing of perceptions of the proper role of government in society as a potential mediator. In addition, political party identification (Democrat, Republican, and Independent) is assessed as a potential moderator. This study reveals 3 distinct processes of mediation (or the lack thereof) across the party identification groups, with the perceived role of government serving as a full mediator for Democrats, a simple mediator for Republicans, and not serving as a mediator for Independents., The relationship between a citizenry and its representative government is embodied within individuals' perceptions of the importance of public institutions to a well-functioning democracy. America's political leaders are constantly extolling [...]

This essay addresses the need for media effects researchers to decompose their structural equation models. We highlight the importance of studying specific indirect effects within a conditional effects framework and discuss how the lack of analysis of this type of effect in structural equation modeling does not fit well with the discipline's theoretical foundations. We summarize several classes of mediation formulas and make recommendations for the estimation and testing of mediating relationships. Finally, an argument is made that the study of mediation is a necessary but not sufficient condition for better understanding media influence., Empirical media effects research is a diverse field that continues to expand its theoretical, methodological, and analytical boundaries. As McLeod, Kosicki, and Pan (1996) have stated, 'more complex models of [...]

This study merges insights from cultivation and uses and gratifications to examine the relationship between environmental concern, five forms of television viewing, and pro-environmental behaviors. This research considers both the direct effects of various forms of television viewing and their potential mediating roles in the relationship between environmental attitudes and behaviors. Analysis of 1999 and 2000 DDB Life Style Study data reveals that television news and nature documentary use are predicted by environmental concern and contribute to pro-environmental behaviors, whereas three forms of entertainment television use are not consistently linked to these variables. Implications for future research are discussed., The study of media and the environment is long standing within the field of mass communication, with researchers examining media treatment of the environment from a wide range of epistemological [...]