MEDIA REACH, MEDIA INFLUENCE?
THE EFFECTS OF LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNET NEWS
ON PUBLIC OPINION INFERENCES
Abstract
This paper presents the results of two experiments comparing perceptions of local, national and
Internet news articles on two U.S. environmental policy issues: oil drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge and ratification of the Kyoto treaty on global warming. Of interest were the
potential effects of perceived news article reach and slant on estimates of public opinion
regarding the two issues. While perceptions of bias in news articles proved to be a robust
predictor of opinion judgments, support for an effect of perceived news article reach was mixed.
Deconstructing perceived reach into access and exposure assumptions should produce an opinion
inference model that is more sensitive to the differing influences of local, national and Internet
news.