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This cross-national study explores the relationship between exposure to attention-inducing content in the news and two types of political knowledge dynamics. Drawing on panel surveys and content analysis in three countries the study investigates this link regardless of medium type, coverage type or country-related differences. Several content factors of relevance to attention are specified at the issue and story level, and examined for their influence on political knowledge. The study shows that exposure to news outlets with higher visibility and prominence of an issue and focusing more on conflict and human interest styles increases the odds of learning from news as opposed to exposure to outlets with less presence of these features. Further, both knowledge types can be affected in a uniform direction and there is inconsistent evidence that close-mindedness moderates this relationship. The results are discussed in the light of research on media effects and political communication. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]