Cognitive strategies for media use during a presidential campaign

This study investigates whether attention to political news and attention to debates during a presidential campaign are affected by audience members' cognitive schemata concerning media and politics and the information-processing strategies they claim to use when encountering the media. Data come from a telephone survey of a probability sample of 706 registered voters in a metropolitan area. Hierarchical regression using political and sociological controls provides support for the general hypothesis. Four sets of cognitive constructs are studied: images concerning how the news media work and why; campaign information-processing strategies such as reading between the lines or reflecting on the news; schema-based orientations toward or preference for particular types of campaign-related information; and patterns of salience for each set of cognitive constructs. Some support is found for the hypothesis that audiences compensate for perceived shortcomings in the media by increased attention to the news and more time spent watching the debates. Support is found for the idea that schemata lead to information seeking and hence higher attention, and that salience itself increases attention.