Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The manner in which the American public watches television news has changed in the last few decades. Today, people watch TV news at more intermittent intervals, and often in a distracted or disinterested state. Also, electronic multitasking has become commonplace in mainstream America, especially among young adults. The television news consumer has more options and has become more skilled at navigating the media environment. This “news grazing” phenomenon is largely due to the diffusion of the remote control, the expanding number of viewing alternatives on the television, and the consequent market competition and audience segmentation among news media providers. News consumers have countless news opportunities that are constantly updated and easily accessible on cable television and the Internet. News grazers are individuals who take advantage of this new media environment to check in on the news from time to time with no set patterns and a passive eye toward information and events that may grab their fancy. Along the same lines, news grazers tend to follow the news on television, with their remote control in hand, “flipping” to other channels when they become disinterested (Pew Research Center 2004).
The emergence of the news grazing population in America prompts us to consider how consumption of news via this method influences public opinion and political engagement in America. This paper presents and theory of news grazing in America and profiles the political attitudes and behavior of the news grazer. News grazers seek different news in different ways than non-grazers, and the consequences are significant. News grazers gravitate toward those sources of news that best fit they newsgathering style—cable news. However, even with a significantly higher level of exposure to cable news than non-grazers, news grazers display some troubling characteristics with regard to quality democratic citizenship. When controlling for several demographic factors, news grazers are less knowledgeable about politics and less engaged in the political process than non-grazers. Overall, they also display higher levels of cynicism and an aversion to a policy-oriented political news.