Is the Media Biased Against Me? A Meta-Analysis of the Hostile Media Effect Research

Abstract

A considerable number of studies have provided empirical evidence of people's perception of media bias—the hostile media effect (HME). This study conducts a meta-analysis of 34 HME studies. HME, in which individuals perceive news coverage as biased against their own side, is observed in diverse contexts with a moderate effect size. Involvement is a moderating variable of the effect: The effect size was significantly higher as people became more involved with the topic. Nonetheless, the phenomenon also manifests under relatively low involvement conditions. The meta-analysis also indicates that there is no statistical evidence to suggest that the media format (e.g., newspaper or television) or study design (i.e., experimental or survey) moderates HME.

Keywords:

• Hostile Media Effect
• Hostile Media Perception
• Media Bias
• Meta-Analysis

Notes

Note. R ² = .351; F(3, 30) = 5.41, p < .01. Standard errors are shown in parentheses.

*p < .05.

Note. The Involvement column indicates the level of participant involvement: high (H), medium (M), or low (L). The Newspaper column denotes if the media format was newsprint: N = no and Y = yes. The Experiment column indicates if the study was an experimental design: N = no and Y = yes. Misc. = miscellaneous; GMF = genetically modified food.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Glenn J. Hansen

Glenn J. Hansen (PhD, University of Missouri, 2004) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma.

Hyunjung Kim

Hyunjung Kim (PhD, Oklahoma University, 2010) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma.