Ogan explores how the media shapes perceptions of immigrants’ deservingness
Data from a 2018 U.S. national survey indicate that exposure to immigration news on Fox News is associated with higher levels of polarization among Republicans and Democrats, while exposure to such content on CNN is not. “Media Use and Affective Political Polarization: What Shapes Public Perceptions of Immigrants’ Deservingness?” published in the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media explores the connections between partisan news exposure, affective political polarization, perceived threats from migrants, and immigrant deservingness.
The study found that polarization correlates with Republicans perceiving more threats from migrants, while Democrats perceive fewer. As well as Republicans with higher levels of polarization are more likely than polarized Democrats to believe that migrants should have specific qualifications to be considered deserving.
The research was published in February by former IU journalism faculty member Lars Willnat, MA’91, PhD’92, of Syracuse University, Professor Emerita Christine Ogan, and Jian Chi of Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies and the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration.