Campaign-specific information and media effects

Abstract

Background This article aims to revisit the role of digital media in acquiring campaignspecific information. Analysis We use datasets from the Making Electoral Democracy Work project that include campaign-specific questions to analyze six regions in three democracies (Canada, Spain, and France). Conclusion and implications Results demonstrate that voters have a moderate level of campaign-specific knowledge and that traditional media are, at first glance, more useful to acquire political information. Nevertheless, when in interaction with partisanship, traditional media display a surprisingly greater selection bias effect and appear less useful to acquire information. We thus argue that digital media are in fact not more vulnerable to potential echo chambers that would lead to a homogenous information environment.