Media use and public confidence in democratic institutions

Content analyses have documented media negativity toward democratic institu tions, and survey data have confirmed increasingly negative perceptions of these institutions. This study examines the impact of various media on conf idence in democratic institutions - the Office of the Presidency, Congress, the criminal court system, the news media, the police, and the public scho ol system. After accounting for the impact of respondent demographics, know ledge (expertise), and political partisanship, the results revealed limited influence of media use on perceptions of these institutions. Contrary to e xpectations, television news viewing predicted positively to perceptions of the news media and public schools, and newspaper reading was associated wi th favorable evaluations of the criminal court system and schools. Signific ant interaction effects were found for the news media and public schools, w ith listening to political talk radio eliciting lower levels of confidence among stronger Republican partisans. The only negative main effect found wa s that of non-traditional news sources (television tabloids, television ent ertainment talk shows and television political talk shows) on perceptions o f the police.