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Abstract

As the news continues to become softer across the globe, concerned journalists and journalism scholars have made vociferous voices over its potential destructive impact on public life. However, an increasing number of scholars have risen up to argue otherwise. In line with the industry’s position in the debate, they argue that softening the news is the way for the media to continue to well serve democracy because, in an age of media richness and audience fragmentation, soft news helps keep attention-scarce publics with the news. This paper sets out to review and test the tenets of these claims. Using data from a national survey in Australia, it will investigate the relationship between soft news and public attachment to the news, especially among those demographic groups that have been inattentive to the news. The data provide little evidence of any significant effect of the former on news attachment among the general public as well as the six sex-by-age sub-groups that the news industry often target in their market strategies (males 18-34, males 35-49, males 50+, females 18-34, females 35-49, and females 50+). While soft news might be good for business in the short term, it is not for democracy, both in short and long terms.

Available Versions of this Item

• Effects of soft news tastes on public attachment to the news: is infotainment good for democracy? (deposited 03 Jan 2012 10:49)
  • The efffect of soft news on public attachment to the news: is infotainment good for democracy? (deposited 01 May 2012 09:04) [Currently Displayed]