Media Shapes Public Austerity Views: How Framing Influences Mass Attitudes

This article examines how media framing affects popular attitudes toward austerity policies in Britain between 2010 and 2015.

British Election Study Data & Methods

Survey responses from the British Election Study during this period reveal that deficit attitudes systematically vary with the source of news consumption, even after controlling for party identification. This indicates that media exposure plays a crucial role in shaping voter perspectives.

Structural Topic Modeling Analysis

Examining reporting patterns across two major newspapers demonstrates significant variation in how they cover public borrowing. These differences strongly correspond to reader interests and political leanings within their audiences.

Survey Experiment on Causality

A survey experiment provides evidence of direct causation from media presentation to deficit attitudes, showing that voters' preferences change based on how information about government deficits is presented in the news.

These findings collectively show that governments cannot effectively implement austerity policies without considering their popular appeal and addressing media influence.