Television News Repertoires, Exposure Diversity, and Voting Behavior in the 2016 U.S. Election

Abstract

This study explores the television news repertoires and voting behaviors of American citizens in the 2016 U.S. election. The results reveal notably different repertoires, some defined by ideologically driven selective exposure, others defined by political interest selective exposure (preference/disinterest in the news), and others that are seemingly neutral. In turn, both total news exposure and exposure diversity positively predict voter turnout, with exposure diversity demonstrating the stronger effect. Moreover, there was a clear relationship between exposure to partisan news media and voting in that respective party’s primary election.