Selective exposure and agenda setting: exploring the impact of partisan media exposure on agenda diversity and political participation

A deliberative democracy calls for citizens who are well informed about a diverse range of public issues and a media system that shapes the public agenda for deliberation and consensus building. However, with the current proliferation of a high-choice media environment, citizens can engage in partisan selective exposure by only consuming news that matches their own political attitudes and dispositions. This study examines two under-researched effects of partisan selective exposure: (1) the reduction in the number of societal issues that individuals consider important (i.e., nominal agenda diversity) and (2) the reduction in the variety of issues (i.e., thematic agenda diversity). A national survey was conducted in Hong Kong, a transitional democracy with a highly partisan media environment. The results showed that although reading more newspapers is positively related to nominal agenda diversity and thematic agenda diversity, citizens who receive their news only from partisan newspapers are less likely to be interested in a range of public issues and are less able to name pressing societal issues. Moreover, both nominal and thematic diversities predicted political participation, though not political discussion. The findings provide supporting evidence that partisan selective exposure can lead to a fragmented public agenda.