Correctives of the Mainstream Media? A Panel Study on Mainstream Media Use, Alternative Digital Media Use, and the Erosion of Political Interest as Well as Political Knowledge

Abstract

Alternative digital media typically provide a counter-public sphere by opposing the contents generated by the mainstream media as well as political elites. While previous research has mainly explained the usage of alternative digital media, we particularly lack research on its association with key political outcomes relevant to democracy. Using two-wave panel data (N = 524), we looked at over-time relationships of alternative digital media as well as mainstream media use on political interest and political knowledge. Furthermore, we also examined the interplay of alternative digital media and mainstream media use. We found that alternative digital media use is positively related to political interest over time, confirming the mobilizing nature of alternative digital media. More importantly, our findings suggest that alternative digital media use erodes political interest in mainstream media users. Therefore, mainstream media audiences may gradually become disinterested in politics when they are heavily exposed to alternative digital media. Both alternative digital media and mainstream media use were unrelated to political knowledge, yet political interest was positively related to political knowledge over time. Implications are discussed.