Second Screening Donald Trump: Conditional Indirect Effects on Political Participation

Abstract

As second screening becomes more widespread, this study addresses its mediating role on the impact of TV news in political participation online and offline, and how this impact varies across groups. We expand the existing line of research by assessing the moderating role of support for Donald Trump on the established mediated model. Through a cross-lagged autoregressive panel survey design applied to the communication mediation model, our results support the link between second screening and political participation—but the mediating role of second screening is contingent upon attitudes towards Trump. For those who do not view Trump favorably, second screening during news leads to a decrease in political participation, both online and offline. As such, this article adds to the communication mediation model by suggesting that discussion and elaboration may not always be positive antecedents to political participation. When individuals disagree with the message dominating TV news and social media, deliberation via second screening leads to political disengagement.

Acknowledgments

We thank Tom Johnson, Magdalena Saldana, the Digital Media Research Program and the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas for supporting this project.

Funding

Financial support was received from the Digital Media Research Program (DMRP) and the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas.

Notes

^1. For the independent variables, the measures are from time 1.

^2. The sample is slightly more educated than the general U.S. population. See Appendix I.

^3. Though post-election analysis suggests turnout was a problem among Democrats. See https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/voter-turnout-fell-especially-in-states-that-clinton-won/ and https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/opinion/sunday/the-democrats-real-turnout-problem.html

Additional information

Funding

Financial support was received from the Digital Media Research Program (DMRP) and the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas.

Notes on contributors

Shannon C. McGregor

Shannon C. McGregor (M.A., University of Florida) is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, and she will start as an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Utah in fall 2017. Her research interests are political communication, social media, gender, and public opinion.

Rachel R. Mourão

Rachel R. Mourão (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at Michigan State University. Her research interests are journalism studies, political communication, new media, and Latin American studies.