New Article in press in JMCQ

Knobloch-Westerwick, S., Robinson, M., Frazer, R., & Schutz, E. (in press). “Affective News” & Attitudes: A Multi-Topic Experiment of Attitude Impacts from Political News and Fiction. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly.

ABSTRACT: Popular entertainment often involves political messages, and entertainment elements are now commonly used in politics coverage. This study examines how suspense drives impacts of narrative structure in political entertainment on attitudes, building on the “affective news” extended model. Hypotheses were tested with four texts on controversial political issues (within-subjects), presented in a linear or inverted-pyramid structure, either as news or fiction. The resulting 2x2x3x4 online experiment (N = 227) showed linear texts produced greater suspense and attitude change than inverted-pyramid texts. Suspense mediated attitude impacts. Both news and fiction versions influenced attitudes, with impacts still detectable one day after exposure.