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Politics & Media

The News Media and New Media: The Internet’s Effect on Civic Engagement

Jed D. Brensinger, Rebecca Gullan and Janis Chakars Gwynedd-Mercy University   Abstract This study utilized a self-report survey method to score participant’s feelings of civic engagement after having viewed the news media in print, online, or not at all for a period of 15 minutes. Participants were 359 undergraduate students who completed the experimental procedure during part of an allocated class time. The measure of civic engagement consisted of 3 different scales gauging civic responsibility, empowerment, and ability to dissent. The results indicate that having viewed the news media produces a significant difference is respondents’ civic responsibility (α=.01) and ability ...

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