Media Use and Reliance--How Do They Interact in Affecting Knowledge Level.

A phone survey of 450 Ohioans was completed over the three-week period before a state-wide election on November 8, 1983, to examine three types of orientation to newspapers and television. The types were frequency of media use focusing on state and local politics, frequency of media use for news in general, and the presence or absence of primary reliance on a given medium. Respondents were asked to summarize pro and con arguments relating to a pair of referenda on state revenues and taxes. Major dependent variables were the number of arguments reported as favoring a respondent's own pro or con position, the number of arguments opposing that position, and total arguments given. Each of these factors was interpreted as indexing a type of knowledge level. Results revealed that focused television news use correlated more positively with knowledge of the issues than did general news use; however, newspaper use showed positive correlation for both types of news consumption. In addition, focused media use correlated with knowledge of arguments against one's own position for newspaper dependent respondents but not for television dependent respondents. Finally, it was found that focused media use correlated with knowledge of arguments, but that media reliance did not. (HOD)