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Article
Fanning the Flames: Religious Media Consumption and American Politics
American Politics Research
  • Brian Newman
  • Mark Caleb Smith, Cedarville University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2007
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1532673x07302335
Abstract

Both religion and mass media are politically important in the United States. However, little is known about the political role of religious media. Religious media might be politically influential because they help translate religion into political thinking and because their consumers are likely to internalize the political cues these media provide. We find that almost a quarter of the public claims to have relied on religious media when making voting decisions in 2000. Religious media users felt significantly closer to George W. Bush and Pat Buchanan and farther away from Al Gore and were more likely to vote for Bush and Republican House candidates than nonusers, even after controlling for a host of religious and political variables. These findings reflect more than self-selection effects and suggest that religious media have a polarizing effect on the candidate evaluations and voting behavior of their core audience of political conservatives.

Keywords
  • Politics,
  • United States,
  • media,
  • religion
Citation Information
Brian Newman and Mark Caleb Smith. "Fanning the Flames: Religious Media Consumption and American Politics" American Politics Research Vol. 35 Iss. 6 (2007) p. 846 - 877
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mark_caleb_smith/31/