Page 249 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

238 McLEOD, KOSICKI, McLEOD

Sprague, 1995; McLeod, Daily, et al., 1996). Size of discussion networks
influence traditional participation not only directly but also indirectly by
stimulating public affairs media use, issue discussion and reflection about
the content of news, and issue talk (McLeod et al., 2001). The diversity or
heterogeneity of network composition also affects these communication
processes and knowledge of local affairs (McLeod et al., 2001; Sotirovic &
McLeod, 2001).
Beyond the effects of microsocial discussion networks, the contexts of
the larger neighborhood and community may have consequences for indi-
vidual citizens’ media use and participation. The level of community sta-
bility, the contextual aggregation of residential stability (low likelihood and
desire to move) across all individuals sampled in a community, was associ-
ated with higher levels of trust and participation after all individual level
variables had been introduced (Shah, McLeod, & Yoon, 2001). Further, con-
textual community stability interacted with individuals’ level of Internet
information exchange use to bolster participation. Newspaper hard news
reading interacted with two contextual variables, institutional confidence
and connectedness, to foster participation. Media impact depends on
where we live collectively as well as how we live individually.
Evidence of political stratification depicts a political world sharply
divided into a small group of sophisticated, involved citizens and a much
larger group of uninterested and relatively uninformed citizens (Neuman,
1986). This stratified model of the political system may need qualification.
Popkin (1991) has argued that increases in education have not deepened
but nonetheless have broadened the number of issues seen as relevant to
citizens’ lives. It is likely that television news deserves some credit for this
(Blumler & McLeod, 1974). Broadening may have led to an increase in the
number of issue publics, that is, relatively small groups with intense inter-
est in a particular issue but with much less interest in most other issues.
Issue specialization poses problems for political party mobilization and
for coverage by news media increasingly constrained in resources.

MORE-COMPLEX MODELS OF POLITICAL EFFECTS

Recent political communication effects research provides ample evidence
that media impact is likely to be conditional rather than universal. Effects
depend on orientations of audiences as well as on exposure to media con-
tent stimuli. They take the form of O-S-O-R models (Markus & Zajonc,
1985). The first O represents the set of structural, cultural, cognitive, and
motivational characteristics the audience brings to the reception situation
that affect the impact of messages (S). They are often referred to as indi-
vidual differences, although they are likely to be socially determined.