Why Partisans Perceive News Media as Biased?: The Role of Motivation and Political Discussion

김균수 한국언론학회 2012 Asian Communication Research Vol.9 No.1,2

The hostile media perception is an interesting twist to media bias studies because it shows that individuals’ own characteristics, such as their ideological standpoints and partisanship, can contribute to their perception of media bias in a biased manner. Using global warming as a political issue in the United States, this study seeks to examine the role of motivations (i.e., preservation vs. accuracy goals) in hostile media perception and investigate political discussion as an antecedent of hostile media perception. The results consistently support the conceptualization of hostile media perception as a preservationmotivated skepticism by indicating a significant decrease of hostile media perception when partisans had an accuracy motivation. Neither safe nor dangerous discussion (i.e. conversations with ideologically similar persons vs. talk with ideologically different people) themselves has influences on the biased perception of media bias. However, an interesting interaction between dangerous discussion and partisan motivations in hostile media perception has been found. Practical implications were discussed by suggesting ways to reduce hostile media perception.

Why Partisans Perceive News Media as Biased?

Kyun Soo Kim 한국언론학회 2012 Asian Communication Research Vol.9 No.1,2

The hostile media perception is an interesting twist to media bias studies because it shows that individuals’ own characteristics, such as their ideological standpoints and partisanship, can contribute to their perception of media bias in a biased manner. Using global warming as a political issue in the United States, this study seeks to examine the role of motivations (i.e., preservation vs. accuracy goals) in hostile media perception and investigate political discussion as an antecedent of hostile media perception. The results consistently support the conceptualization of hostile media perception as a preservation-motivated skepticism by indicating a significant decrease of hostile media perception when partisans had an accuracy motivation. Neither safe nor dangerous discussion (i.e. conversations with ideologically similar persons vs. talk with ideologically different people) themselves has influences on the biased perception of media bias. However, an interesting interaction between dangerous discussion and partisan motivations in hostile media perception has been found. Practical implications were discussed by suggesting ways to reduce hostile media perception.

언론사의 정파성 인식과 수용자의 정치성향에 따른 편향적 매체지각

송인덕(Indeok Song) 한국언론학회 2014 커뮤니케이션 이론 Vol.10 No.3

본 연구는 기존의 ‘적대적 매체지각’(hostile media perception) 개념이 내포하고 있는 편향 지각의 일방향성에 대한 문제를 제기하고, 이를 바탕으로 ‘편향적 매체지각’(biased media perception) 개념을 제시하였다. 실증적으로는 언론의 보도내용을 수용자들이 인지적으로 처리하는 과정에서 적대적 뿐만 아니라 우호적 매체지각도 발생할 수 있음을 검토하였다. 온라인 실험방법을 통해 수집한 총 360명의 데이터를 분석한 결과, 중립적 내용의 신문사설에 대해 정치성향이 보수 또는 진보적으로 강한 개인이 중도적 정치성향의 개인에 비해 동일한 사설내용을 보다 적대적 또는 우호적으로 지각하는 경향이 높은 것을 확인하였다. 이러한 편향적 매체지각에 수용자들이 인식하고 있는 신문사의 정파성이 미치는 효과는 확인되지 않았으나, 개인의 정치성향과 신문의 정파성 간의 상호작용 효과가 발견되었다. 개인의 정치성향과 신문의 정파성이 일치하는 경우에는 우호적 매체지각 경향이, 대립하는 경우에는 오히려 적대적 매체지각 경향이 상대적으로 강하게 나타났다. 이러한 연구결과를 바탕으로 국내 주요 언론사를 통한 사회적 소통의 근원적 한계를 논의하고 관련 후속연구를 위한 연구문제를 제시하였다. The present study brings forth a question about the unidirectional tradition inherent in the existing concept of ‘hostile media perception’ and suggests to extend the concept to ‘biased media perception’. It is examined in the empirical way that not only hostile media perception but also friendly media perception can occur through audiences’ cognitive processes of media reports. Data were gathered from a total of 360 participants through an online experiment. The results shows that those who have strong political dispositions, either in conservative or liberal way, tend to perceive a neutral newspaper editorial as more hostile or friendly to themselves than those who are in the moderate political disposition. Although the main effect of media partisanship on the biased media perception was not found, the interaction effects between media partisanship and individual political disposition were found to be statistically significant. While friendly media perceptions were more prominent when individual’s political disposition corresponded with the media partisanship, hostile media perceptions were relatively more dominant when audience’s political disposition was in discord with the media partisanship. Based on these results, this study discusses the underlying limitations of social communication through the media and suggests a few heuristic questions for the future research.

재난이슈에서 적대적 미디어 지각의 발생에 영향을 미치는 요인 연구

김남두(Namdoo Kim),황용석(Yongsuk Hwang) 한국언론학회 2017 한국언론학보 Vol.61 No.5

This study explored the relationship between issue involvement and the hostile media perception related to the president through the news on Sewol ferry disaster. This study used the survey data which was conducted in the 2014 local elections. We have found that a negative relationship between opinions about whether the responsibility for the disaster is in the president and the perceptions of the media coverage on the president. This study also analyzed how the concept of issue involvement affects the hostile media perception. The concept of the involvement is unclear in the existing study of the hostile media perception. (1) whether there was a proportional relationship between the issue involvement and the individual opinion on the responsibility of the present, and (2) whether the hostile media perception increased as the involvement increased. As a result, Issue involvement has affected the hostile media perception in the critical group toward president. On the other hand, in the advocacy group, there was a negative relationship between the involvement of the disaster issue and the hostile media perception. This analysis implies that the involvement of disaster issues is inadequate as a proxy indicator of involvement type that induces hostile media perception, and suggests that the relationship between the issue involvement and the hostile media perception may be more complex than conventional assumption.

한국 정파언론 환경의 특수성은 보수와 진보 수용자의 매체 태도와 이용에 차별적 영향을 미치는가? 적대적 및 우호적 매체에 대한 정파성 지각이 매체 신뢰와 이용에 미치는 영향

현기득,서미혜 한국언론학회 2019 한국언론학보 Vol.63 No.2

Partisan media system in Korea is characterized by the predominance of conservative media in media market and public sphere, and according critical media discourse about powerful conservative media. This study examines how this structural and discursive asymmetry between conservative and progressive media relates to partisan audiences’ perception, trust and use of hostile and friendly partisan news media. The analyses of survey data showed that compared to conservative audiences, progressive audiences perceived stronger disagreeable partisanship and had less trust of hostile media. At the same time, only in the progressive group, stronger disagreeable partisan perception of hostile media was directly and negatively associated with the use of hostile media. In addition, agreeable partisan perception and trust of friendly media showed significant direct effects on friendly media use among progressive audiences. However, the same patterns were not found in the conservative group. The findings imply that the unique partisan media environment of Korea can cause partisan differentiation between conservative and progressive audiences in media attitudes and media use. 이 연구는 한국 정파언론 환경의 특징을 진보매체에 대한 보수매체의 구조적 비교우위와 매체비판 담론장에서 보수매체에 집중된 비판으로 보고, 이러한 특수성이 보수적 수용자와 진보적 수용자의 우호적 및 적대적 정파매체에 대한 정파성 지각과 규범적 평가, 정파매체 이용에 어떤 영향을 미치는지 탐색했다. 설문조사 자료 분석 결과, 진보적 수용자는 보수적 수용자에 비해 자신의 정치성향에 반하는 적대적 매체의 정파성을 더 크게 인식하고, 신뢰도는 더 낮게 평가했다. 이 두 요인과 적대적 매체 이용 간의 부적 관계 또한 진보적 집단에서 더 크고 일관되게 나타났다. 우호적 매체 태도와 이용에서도 두 집단 사이에 차이가 발견되었다. 진보적 수용자들의 경우 우호적 매체의 정파성을 크게 지각하고 신뢰할수록 우호적 매체를 많이 이용했지만, 보수 집단에서는 이러한 경향이 나타나지 않았다. 이와 같은 결과는 한국의 특수한 정파언론 환경에서 진보-보수 수용자 집단의 언론 태도는 상이한 방식으로 형성되고, 이는 정파매체의 선택적 노출에도 영향을 미칠 수 있음을 시사한다.

이주 소수자의 미디어 이용, 대인 커뮤니케이션, 그리고 적대적 지각

민영(Young Min) 한국언론학회 2012 한국언론학보 Vol.56 No.4

Attending to North Korean refugees, this study investigated how immigrant minorities’ perceptions of hostile media coverage and public opinion influence their psychological adaptation, especially their social alienation and life satisfaction in the host country. This study also examined the direct or indirect effects of media uses and interpersonal communication on immigrants’ hostile media perceptions and psychological adaptation. According to a face-to-face survey of a total of 316 refugees who had been stayed more than 2 years in South Korea, it was first found that either Korean media uses or interpersonal contacts with South Korean people or other North Korean refugees did not significantly influence the respondents’ hostile media perceptions. Second, hostile media perceptions negatively affected the refugees’ psychological adaptation to South Korean society through hostile opinion perceptions. In other words, the more the refugees perceived the Korean mainstream media as hostile toward themselves, the more likely they were to assume that South Korean people would hold a negative and biased view of North Korean refugees. Furthermore, such hostile opinion perceptions significantly increased the refugees’ social alienation while marginally decreasing their satisfaction with the life in South Korea. Third, television viewing significantly increased the sense of alienation among the refugees, whereas informational and affective support from the interpersonal contacts with South Korean people decreased it. On the other hand, both newspaper reading and interpersonal communication with South Korean people had positive impacts on the refugees’ life satisfaction.

TV 뉴스에 대한 적대적 매체지각과 인터넷 뉴스의 대안적 이용가능성

김영지(Young-Ji Kim),하승태(Sung-tae Ha) 부산울산경남언론학회 2014 지역과 커뮤니케이션 Vol.18 No.2

본 연구에서는 언론의 정치적 편향성 논란을 적대적 매체지각 관점에서 설명하려는 노력의 일환으로 지상파 TV 뉴스에 대한 적대적 매체 지각 수준을 관찰하고 적대적 매체지각의 행위적 결과를 제3자 효과 및 대안적 뉴스이용으로서의 인터넷뉴스 활용양태와 연관지어 살펴보았다. 이를 위해 2012년 4월 실시된 19대 총선기간 수도권 및 영호남 지역의 유권자들을 대상으로 여론조사를 실시했다. 주요 연구결과를 보면, 우선 TV뉴스에 대한 제3자 효과 지각은 적대적 매체 지각과 높은 상관관계를 보이는 것으로 나타났다. 즉 자신과 미디어의 정치적 성향이 다르다고 생각하는 사람들은 자신은 그로부터 영향을 받지 않지만 타인, 특히 자신과 정치적 성향이 적대적인 타인에게 미치는 영향력은 더 높을 것이라고 생각한다는 것이다. 나아가 적대적 매체 지각의 정도에 따라 인터넷 뉴스 이용행태에 양적, 질적 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 적대적 매체지각 정도가 높을수록 인터넷 뉴스 이용 빈도가 높아졌을 뿐만 아니라 뉴스이용의 동기적 측면에서도 토론과 정보검색과 같은 보다 목적 지향적 경향을 보이는 것으로 분석되었다. 이러한 결과들은 현재 우리 사회에서 대두되고 있는 정치적 편향성과 연계된 언론의 신뢰 하락을 적대적 매체 지각을 통해 해석할 수 있음을 의미한다. As part of an effort to explain the controversy about news bias in terms of hostile media perception, this study examined the relationship between the behavioral outcomes of hostile media perception and the third-person effects and use of Internet news along with the general level of hostile media perception among voters. To reach this purpose, we carried a national survey during the 19th general election which was held in April, 2012. The major findings are, first, that the third-person effects were highly associated with hostile media perception. Respondents whose political inclination, they think, is different from that of media believe that they would not affected by the media while those who have opposite politicla inclination would be strongly influenced by the media. In addition, corresponding to the level of hostile media perception, respondents’ use of the Internet news shows different patterns. More level of hostile media perception leads to more use of the Internet news and furthermore more purpose-driven use of the news such as political discussion and information search. These findings suggest that the decline of trust in news media caused by their political bias can partly be explained by hostile media phenomenon.

트위터에서의 적대적 지각과 메시지 신뢰도

정지은(Jee-Eun Chung),진보래(Borae Jin),박남기(Namkee Park) 사이버커뮤니케이션학회 2015 사이버 커뮤니케이션 학보 Vol.32 No.4

이 연구의 목적은 뉴스 미디어를 중심으로 연구되어왔던 적대적 미디어 지각이 트위터에서도 발생하는지, 트위터 메시지에 대한 신뢰도와는 어떠한 관계를 보이는지 살펴보는 것이었다. 문헌 연구를 토대로 개인의 의견 강도, 이슈관여도, 메시지의 도달 범위에 대한 지각, 그리고 정보원에 대한 내⋅외집단 범주화가 적대적 미디어 지각에 영향을 미치는 요소로 설정되었다. 이러한 독립 변인들의 효과를 살펴보기 위해 ‘동성결혼 합법화’와 ‘고소득층 증세’에 관한 이슈를 트위터 메시지로 조작하여 실험 연구를 실시하였다. 실험 결과, 적대적 지각에는 의견 강도가 가장 강한 설명력을 갖는 예측 변인이었고, 신뢰도에는 정보원의 도달 범위와 적대적 지각이 유의미한 영향을 미쳤다. 즉, 해당 이슈에 대해 강한 의견을 가지고 있을수록 적대적 지각이 발생하였고, 정보원의 도달 범위가 클수록, 적대적 지각이 약할수록 신뢰도가 높아졌다. 덧붙여, 독립변인 간 상호작용 효과도 나타났는데, 의견 강도가 적대적 지각에 갖는 영향력은 정보원을 내집단이 아닌 외집단으로 범주화하였을 때, 그리고 고소득층 증세보다는 동성결혼 합법화에 보다 큰 것으로 나타났다. This study examined whether the phenomenon of hostile media perception occurs on Twitter, which was typically observed in news media. For an empirical test, the study utilized the issues of ‘same sex marriage’ and ‘tax increase from the rich’, while employing opinion strength, issue involvement, perception of message source’s power, and categorization of message source as the factors of hostile media perception. The experiment revealed that only the opinion strength significantly, positively predicted the hostile media perception on Twitter. Also, the predictability of opinion strength was stronger in the outgroup categorization and same sex marriage issue conditions than ingroup categorization and tax increase from the rich conditions, respectively. As for message credibility, message source’s power was a positive predictor, while the hostile media perception was a negative one. Implications and limitations of the study were discussed.

언론 보도에 대한 편향적 인식이 공정성 평가에 미치는 영향

이종혁(Jong Hyuk Lee) 한국언론학회 2015 한국언론학보 Vol.59 No.1

The purpose of this study is to explore news audience’s evaluation of media’s fairness in terms of biased media perception. In detail, this study examined how the attitude toward news media, political orientation, and the strength of political orientation influenced biased media perception and evaluation of the media’s fairness. Methodologically, an online survey was conducted to measure Korean news audience’s perception and evaluation on media’s coverage of 2012 presidential election. As results, this study found assimilation bias with congenial media and contrast bias with hostile media. However, neutral media was rated fairer than congenial media and hostile media. Furthermore, the respondents perceived that the more unfavorably congenial media covered the election, the fairer the media were, and that the more favorably hostile media covered the election, the fairer the media were. This indicates that news audience conduct objective judgement seeking accuracy rather than subjective evaluation when they evaluate the fairness of news media.

갈등 이슈에 대한 개인 의견과 특정 신문에 대한 태도가 기사 편향지각에 미치는 영향

황치성(Chi Seong Hwang) 한국언론학회 2007 한국언론학보 Vol.51 No.3

One of strongly distinctive feature of nowadays korean press is division and leaning, which is caused by political ideology. Thereupon, the press that audience accepted was preconcepted as conservative media verse progressive media or anti-government media verse pro-government media. This tendency spread extreme conflict about social issue. At this situation, this study want to systematically look into a cause and condition of audience's hostility about korean media. To achieve such goals hostile media perceptions theory was effected. To solve the research questions, I choose revision of the Private School Law in the study issue, and have done the field experiment targeting about step-members of private school and members of Korean Teachers and Education Wokers' Union. The result of study showed that partisans' personal opinion of controversial issue influence perceived bias of news content and report. Partisans who support or oppose revision of the Private School Law perceived the objective and fair news reporting to the neutral audience hostilely biased depend on their own opinion. And the attitude of individual newspaper and the patterns of media exposure about controversial issue influenced the perceived bias of news content and reporter.