TY - JOUR
T1 - A left-right divide? Alternative news use and political trust, populist attitudes, and populist vote intentions in the case of Denmark
AU - Brems, Miriam
PY - 2024/11/30
Y1 - 2024/11/30
N2 - Many western democracies have witnessed an upsurge of partisan alternative media that explicitly challenge the legitimacy of mainstream media and politics alike and promote populist discourses. Accordingly, alternative media are often discussed in relation to lower levels of political trust and support for populist parties. Yet, only a limited number of studies have investigated these relationships empirically. Drawing on survey data representative of the Danish adult population (n = 1,518) collected in January/February 2023, this study investigates how using alternative media is related to political trust, populist attitudes, and populist vote intentions. Unlike previous studies, it distinguishes between left-wing and right-wing alternative media users and finds notable differences: Users of right-wing alternative media have lower political trust, hold more populist attitudes, and have greater predicted probability of intending to vote for a right-wing populist party than non-users, but similar results were not found for users of left-wing alternative media. The study discusses potential explanations for this and how (different) alternative media might impact democracy.
AB - Many western democracies have witnessed an upsurge of partisan alternative media that explicitly challenge the legitimacy of mainstream media and politics alike and promote populist discourses. Accordingly, alternative media are often discussed in relation to lower levels of political trust and support for populist parties. Yet, only a limited number of studies have investigated these relationships empirically. Drawing on survey data representative of the Danish adult population (n = 1,518) collected in January/February 2023, this study investigates how using alternative media is related to political trust, populist attitudes, and populist vote intentions. Unlike previous studies, it distinguishes between left-wing and right-wing alternative media users and finds notable differences: Users of right-wing alternative media have lower political trust, hold more populist attitudes, and have greater predicted probability of intending to vote for a right-wing populist party than non-users, but similar results were not found for users of left-wing alternative media. The study discusses potential explanations for this and how (different) alternative media might impact democracy.
KW - Denmark
KW - alternative media
KW - alternative news users
KW - political trust
KW - populism
KW - populist attitudes
KW - populist party choice
KW - survey
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85210747648&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/19401612241301647
DO - 10.1177/19401612241301647
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1940-1612
JO - The International Journal of Press/Politics
JF - The International Journal of Press/Politics
ER -