Inhaltszusammenfassung

Research has suggested that high-choice media environments allow individuals to fit their media diets to their preferences, effectively decreasing the number of news viewers to those interested in it. The dissertation examines the proposed mechanisms of changes in news behavior connected to environmental developments on the one hand and explores the group of news-avoiders on the other. As a theoretical basis, the concept of news avoidance is defined as well as the high-choice thesis and it...Research has suggested that high-choice media environments allow individuals to fit their media diets to their preferences, effectively decreasing the number of news viewers to those interested in it. The dissertation examines the proposed mechanisms of changes in news behavior connected to environmental developments on the one hand and explores the group of news-avoiders on the other. As a theoretical basis, the concept of news avoidance is defined as well as the high-choice thesis and its criticism delineated. The first manuscript asks whether two phases of increasing media choice led to increases in news avoidance and what role public service broadcasting and political interest played. The results point towards an increasing number of news-avoiders when the Internet offered an abundance of media choices. Only political interest had an impact on news avoidance, although not increasing over time. The second manuscript asks whether different news user groups, among them news-avoiders, adapt their news behavior in the context of short-term changes in the media environment, namely election campaigns. The results show that news-avoiders react to changing conditions of their environment in most years, increasing their use as the election date approaches. In the third manuscript, the focus is laid on news-avoiders motivation and the intentionality of their behavior. The findings show, that dependent on whether avoiders stay away from the news intentionally or unintentionally, their motives vary and that, motives are driven by different characteristics. Taken together, the manuscripts show that long-term, as well as short-term environmental changes, can be connected to changes in news use or avoidance and that news avoidance is a complex phenomenon, where intentionality plays an important role. The dissertation then turns to an overarching discussion of findings, as well as an assessment of theoretical and practical implications. Finally, the work offers a look into limitations and directions of future research.» weiterlesen» einklappen

Autoren

Klassifikation

DDC Sachgruppe:
Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie