Replication Data for: Beyond Partisan Filters: Can Underreported News Reduce Issue Polarization?

Abstract: While many news outlets strive for impartiality, two-thirds of Americans perceive a partisan slant in their news and believe that their preferred political news sources often provide only one side of the narrative. This paper asks: can exposing individuals to the stories that their political opponents focus on mitigate polarization? I randomized the content of a real-world political newsletter that was sent to participants who had specifically opted to receive news revealing media coverage biases. In this experiment, one news story prompted respondents to re-evaluate their policy stances. This led to alterations in their issue positions and diminished the distinctions they drew between Democrats and Republicans. These results suggest the need for future research to tease apart the conditions under which cross-partisan exposure can alter political attitudes.

摘要：尽管诸多新闻机构均致力于秉持中立报道原则，但三分之二的美国民众认为其接收的新闻存在党派偏向，且坚信自己所青睐的政治新闻来源往往仅呈现事件叙事的单一面向。本研究提出如下核心问题：让个体接触其政治对立阵营所关注的报道内容，能否缓解政治极化现象？本研究对一份真实的政治新闻通讯的内容进行随机化处理，并将其发送给主动选择接收揭露媒体报道偏见内容的参与者。在本次实验中，一则特定新闻报道促使受访者重新审视自身的政策立场，这使得受访者的议题立场发生调整，并削弱了其对民主党与共和党之间固有差异的认知。上述研究结果表明，未来有必要开展进一步研究，以厘清跨党派接触报道能够改变政治态度的具体情境条件。