To Laugh or Not to Laugh: How Comedy News Versus Hard News Interacts with Individuals’ Levels of Political Cynicism and Political Efficacy to Impact the Agenda-Setting Effects

Authors

  • Jennifer Kowalewski Georgia Southern University
  • Chip Stewart Texas Christian University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58997/smc.v28i2.57

Abstract

This experiment investigated how the same information presented as either hard news or comedy news interacted with individuals’ levels of cynicism and levels of efficacy to impact the agendasetting effects. The results indicated individuals who received the comedy news story and had increased levels of cynicism accepted the media’s agenda more than those who received the same information presented as hard news. However, individuals who received the hard news story and had increased levels of efficacy were more likely to cite the issue they received as compared to those who received the same information presented as comedy news.

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Published

2019-06-18

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