Real News about the News: Media and British Politics

What role does the media play in British politics? There is growing concern that the media environment is biased, and that online news and social media spread fake news, conspiracy theories, propaganda, and foreign interference. Examining TV, radio, newspapers and the internet, Kenneth Newton unravels the real effects of the mainstream and alternative news media. With abundant evidence, Newton demonstrates that, contrary to popular belief: newspapers neither win nor lose elections; nor set election agendas; most citizens have a fairly mixed news diet and do not inhabit echo-chambers; social media influences on political attitudes are generally small and actually expand the range of news people get; impartial and reliable public service news still provides the bulk of the nation's news diet. Evidence shows that the main media effects on political attitudes and behaviour are positive and inform and mobilise citizens rather than influencing their voting choice.

媒體在英國政治中扮演什麼角色？人們越來越擔心媒體環境存在偏見，並且網絡新聞和社交媒體傳播假新聞、陰謀論、宣傳和外國干預。肯尼斯·紐頓（Kenneth Newton）通過研究電視、廣播、報紙和互聯網，揭示了主流和替代新聞媒體的真實影響。紐頓以豐富的證據表明，與普遍觀點相反：報紙既不贏得選舉也不輸掉選舉；也不設定選舉議程；大多數公民的新聞來源相對混雜，並非生活在回聲室中；社交媒體對政治態度的影響通常很小，實際上擴大了人們獲取新聞的範圍；公正可靠的公共服務新聞仍然佔據國家新聞來源的大部分。證據表明，媒體對政治態度和行為的主要影響是積極的，它們能夠向公民提供信息並動員他們，而不是影響他們的選擇投票。