Political Events in a Partisan Media Ecology: Asymmetric Influence on Candidate Appraisals

ABSTRACT

Political campaigns often feature jarring revelations against candidates. This study examines how audiences come to understand major campaign events, the extent to which they shape evaluations of candidates, and how their impact is filtered through an increasingly partisan news media environment. Using national rolling cross-sectional survey data collected over the 2016 U.S. presidential election period, we show partisan asymmetries in the way major campaign events influenced candidate appraisals. Event effects during the 2016 campaign were dependent on various media use patterns and concentrated among Independents. In particular, the reopening of the investigation into Clinton’s email server by James Comey reduced her favorability, especially when paired with liberal and conservative partisan media use. By providing a nuanced picture of partisan selective exposure and campaign effects, our findings reinforce that the role of campaigns in candidate appraisals should be understood at the intersection of media use, partisanship, and specific events during a contentious race.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website

Notes

¹ The study was approved by University of Wisconsin-Madison’s institutional review board (IRB) on September 14, 2016.

² We treated leaners as partisans (see Baker & Renno, 2019).

³ Our ANOVA test confirms no systematic bias in our sample, F(48, 4846) = 1.157, p = .213.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York; Journal Foundation Walter Jay & Clara Charlotte Damm Fund; and Reynolds Journalism Institute.

Notes on contributors

Jiyoun Suk

Jiyoun Suk (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Connecticut.

Dhavan V. Shah

Dhavan V. Shah (Ph.D., University of Minnesota) is the Maier-Bascom Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin and Director of the Mass Communication Research Center.

Leticia Bode

Leticia Bode (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison) is an associate professor in the Communication, Culture, and Technology master’s program at Georgetown University.

Stephanie Edgerly

Stephanie Edgerly (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison) is an associate professor in the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University.

Kjerstin Thorson

Kjerstin Thorson (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison) is an associate professor in the Department of Advertising + Public Relations and the School of Journalism at Michigan State University.

Emily Vraga

Emily Vraga (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison) is an associate professor in the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota.

Chris Wells

Chris Wells (Ph.D., University of Washington) is an associate professor in the Emerging Media Studies at Boston University.

Jon Pevehouse

Jon Pevehouse (Ph.D., Ohio State University) is Vilas Distinguished Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.