Growing into citizenship: The differential role of the media in the political socialization of adolescents

This chapter presents the results of a study of the effects of targeted political information that aimed to increase the political involvement of adolescents. In the discussion concerning the lack of political engagement of adolescents, the media are usually regarded as part of the problem rather than a potential solution. Based on regression analysis preformed on data collected from a representative sample of 15to 18-year-olds in the Netherlands (N=1653), this study shows that exposure to targeted media content can significantly increase adolescents’ political engagement, especially among those with low political interest. To achieve this effect, the program focuses on topics that are relevant to the target group, includes young protagonists, and offers various opportunities for adolescents to become politically active both onand offline. The results are discussed in light of recent developments related to media malaise theory and the media’s potential to engage youths in politics. 88 | TV PROGRAMMING FOR ADOLESCENTS Adolescents’ general lack of political interest and engagement has been a point of concern in the scientific world and beyond (Putnam 2000; Delli Carpini 2000). Compared to older cohorts, teenagers show little political engagement, particularly with traditional forms of political engagement (e.g., voting, party membership, volunteering in political campaigns, Norris, 2003), and little interest in current events (Mindich, 2005; Patterson, 2007), even if the information is presented in new media (Subrahmanyam et al., 2001). Although most of the empirical evidence in the field originates from the USA, European studies indicate that the phenomenon might be universal to Western, established democracies. In Germany, adolescents are less likely to engage in political parties (Niedermayer, 2006) or even to develop a preference for one (Mößner, 2006). Henn and Weinstein (2006) observe a comparable alienation of adolescents from politics in the UK. In the Netherlands, Spangenberg and Lampert (2009) conclude that adolescents have turned their backs on societal responsibilities and call them the “unlimited” generation, after analyzing repeated cross-sectional data of a representative sample of the population. The consequences of adolescents lack of political engagement for democracy are severe, as political attitudes that individuals develop in preadolescence and adolescence are likely to persist over the course of their lives (Prior, 2010; Sears & Levy, 2003). In a worst case scenario, this may mean that the generation that is growing up in the first decennium of the 21st century will remain distant to the political realm, implying that a large share will exclude themselves from political decision-making processes for their entire lives. However, there is also evidence to the contrary: in the past two elections in the USA, participation among young voters increased for the first time in almost 20 years (CIRCLE), and adolescents are more likely to engage in voluntary community service than their parent generation at their age (Sears & Levy, 2003). Nevertheless, the majority of the empirical evidence concerning adolescents’ political engagement and inclusion in politics indicates that youths of today are “tuned out” (Mindich, 2005). Although adolescents’ lack of engagement in politics TV PROGRAMMING FOR ADOLESCENTS | 89 and the potential consequences have been studied extensively, very few studies propose solutions to the problem. This study fills this gap in the literature by investigating whether targeted political information in the form of a TV program aimed at a young audience can increase adolescents’ involvement in the political world. In this regard, this chapter is different from the two previous chapters of this dissertation. Whereas these previous chapters were dedicated to analyzing the patterns and dynamics of media effects in a real-world situation, this study investigates the effects of an intended deviation from “normal” media use in an intervention study. The media as a cause of the political alienation of adolescents In the discussion concerning adolescent’s lack of political interest and motivation to participate in politics, the media are usually not considered to be part of the solution. On the contrary, the mass media are often even partially blamed for the political alienation of youths. In the academic debate, this claim is substantiated by three lines of reasoning that link media exposure to political engagement. The first is a time budget argument (Putnam, 2000): teenagers spend more time using media than any other cohort on an average day, 8 hours on an average day (Strasburger, Wilson, & Jordan, 2009). In fact, they spend more time using media than they spend in school (Huntemann & Morgan, 2001). Moreover, they are more likely to do so for entertainment or recreational purposes (Shah, Kwak, & Holbert, 2001). Thus, the amount of time that could be spent on acquiring political information, let alone engaging in civic or political activities, is reduced. Hence, according to this argument, media exposure does not actively change adolescent’s attitudes toward politics but takes up time that could have been invested in activities that otherwise stimulate political engagement. However, this line of reasoning has been contested. In a survey of 1501 14to 22-year-olds, Pasek et al. (2006) observe that this argument only holds for heavy users of media content. Occasional media use, even if it is completely unrelated to politics, is found to facilitate youths’ political engagement in this study. 90 | TV PROGRAMMING FOR ADOLESCENTS The second argument concerns the effect of the general negative style of reporting in political media coverage. In line with media malaise theory (for an overview, see Holtz-Bacha, 1990), the basis of this argument is that politics are often presented in a negative light, as political media coverage tends to focus on conflicts, scandals and the Machiavellian game of power rather than issue-oriented policy debates. Being confronted with the failures rather than the virtues of politics, the audience becomes increasingly more cynical toward politics and ultimately refrains from engaging in the political world (Cappella & Jamieson, 1997). Yet, empirical evidence indicates that this theory does not entirely hold for adolescents. Elenbaas and de Vreese (2008) study the effects of exposure to strategy-framed media content among adolescents and observe a significant effect of such media content on adolescents’ level of cynicism. The more strategy-framed news is, the more cynical they become toward the political system. However, higher levels of cynicism did not translate into a lack of political engagement. On the contrary, it has been repeatedly shown that news use positively affects adolescents’ political interest and engagement (Esser & de Vreese, 2007; HoltzBacha, 1990). The third and last line of reasoning, the exclusion argument, relates to adolescents’ situation in the political system and is therefore particularly valid. According to this theory, adolescents’ lack of political engagement results from their exclusion from the political world. This argument was first put forward by Katz (1993) in an article in Rolling Stone magazine. Buckingham (1998) revisits the argument and develops it further. He specifies two dimensions of youths’ exclusion from politics: the political system and political communication. The system dimension concerns minors’ exclusion from institutional political power in democratic systems. Adolescents, who have not reached voting age, are omitted from all formal decision-making processes, e.g., voting and petitions. They are, therefore, an unattractive target group for decision makers, as policy concessions to minors cannot directly translate into electoral support. This has two consequences: a) policy issues that are most relevant to adolescents are often not TV PROGRAMMING FOR ADOLESCENTS | 91 on the agenda, and b) political decisions are frequently not made in favor of this particular age group. The second dimension concerns the communication of politics. Again, the exclusion of minors from the public debate is twofold: first, youths’ voices are excluded from the news as protagonists, in interviews or talk shows; and second, the language of political debates is frequently incomprehensible to a young audience. Thus, the presentation of news and current affairs in the media does not match the style and tastes of adolescents. That is, youths of today are ‘tuned out’ because the media does not offer political information on their wave-length. In this chapter, I investigate whether a change in the communication of politics is able to increase the inclusion of minors in politics. If adolescents are featured in a political information outlet as important and relevant political actors and the focus is on topics that are relevant to the age group, can this affect the inclusion of minors in the political system? If the lack of young protagonists, comprehensible language and an appealing style in news and the public debate about politics is in fact part of the reason for their alienation from the political world as Buckingham (1997) argues, will an explicit inclusion of these elements in a political TV show positively affect the political engagement of adolescents? Inclusive TV programming for adolescents An ideal inclusive political TV show, according to Buckingam’s standards, would appeal to a young audience in more ways than by merely including them in the political debate and political process. A program that matches youths’ tastes with regard to protagonists, topics, and style would trigger several mechanisms of media effects that are known in the literature. Young and attractive protagonists enable the audience to positively identify with the characters on television. This, however, stimulates model learning according to Bandura’s (2009) Social C