Religious conservatives and TV news: Are they more likely to be religiously offended?

Abstract

Partisan selectivity of news media and attitudinal polarization are linked, yet the bulk of research focuses on the role of political attitudes while neglecting religious dispositions. We consider the degree to which both network and cable news media offend viewers in terms of both politics and religion. Using data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey, we find that white evangelicals have higher odds than mainline Protestants of reporting taking offense from the evening news, as well as higher odds than religious non-affiliates of being offended by both types of news. The primary divide, however, was between affiliates and non-affiliates, as biblical literalism and religious exclusivism at least partially mediated differences between white evangelicals and mainliners in taking offense from the evening news. Religious service attendance at least partially mediated differences between affiliates and non-affiliates in taking offense from both types of news, but while political conservatism explained differences in being offended by the evening news, it was not a significant predictor of taking offense from cable news. We suggest that this is due to processes of media differentiation that make cable news an equal-opportunity offender.