Media Trust and Civic Participation

Very generally speaking, I am interested in the differences between people who vote and people who do not. I am curious about what sets these two groups apart - demographically, psychologically, economically, etc. Ultimately, I would like to understand what needs to change to encourage more people to participate in this most basic way. While I have no intention of answering that question in this assignment, I am hoping to shine a little light on the relationship between trust in the media and civic participation. To stay within the parameters of the assignment, I know I need to pursue this answer with an eye to the future, and I am curious about how newly emerging media sources contribute to trust in the media. I am still trying to pin point the scope that will keep this project in the 2,500 word range.

This is how I put it in last week's post: Given the myriad sources of news and information, how can we know whom to trust and what to believe? And, how does this confusion impact public participation?

If you have ideas or suggestions - I would be grateful for your advice. Decisiveness is not my strong suit.

Here are three of the dozens of articles that touch on this collection of subjects:

Why Americans Don’t Trust the Media -- A preliminary analysis
Analyzing data from a 2000 National Election Study, Jones finds a connection between government mistrust and lack of trust in the media in general. As he puts it, "... the media’s lowly stature may be more related to general political malaise than to the many shortcomings of contemporary news coverage." The analysis also indicates that talk radio listeners and people who turned to the Internet for election coverage have a far greater distrust of media; however no partisan divide in media trust was indicated.

Mediated Politics and Citizenship in the Twenty-First Century
After collecting focus group and interview data, Graber concludes that the media (collectively) deliver the information necessary for informed civic participation and that citizens are efficient at sorting through the information to learn what they need to know.

Net Gains in Political Participation -- Secondary effects of Internet on community
Kavanaugh et al found that somewhat "politically passive citizens" engage in online political activities at about the same level as those who are "politically active." However, this does not translate in increased political participation offline for members of the "passive" group.