This process also incorporates new information into existing knowledge. In other words, in schematic thinking, the person recalls any information on the particular news topic and determines, based on their knowledge of the topic, what is new, redundant or not relevant. The individual then has the knowledge based on information pieces, not large amounts of factual data. Therefore, most people are unable to process details for news they have recently processed. Despite the sorting of data, some details are still retained due to the repetition of information from the media.
Most people tend to acquire generalizations and specific knowledge despite forgetting.
The article noted that despite a halfhearted interest in the news, average Americans want to keep informed because it is considered part of their civic responsibility. The public has also learned to regard news as a form of entertainment. For these reasons, it is vital for the media to cover essential stories that will capture the attention of the public because of their decision to select news or reject it based on its appeal or significance. The results of the study indicate that the public can manage to extract substantial amounts of political knowledge from the flood of news information to perform basic citizenship functions that are expected. The panelists in the study paid selective attention to news and used schematic thinking.