Memorable encounters: Ideology, information acquisition, and television news

Many consumers of television news perceive the ideological position held by certain networks as being either consonant with, or dissonant from, their own political beliefs. This raises the question of how the perceived consonance or dissonance of media sources influences the viewer's ability to acquire and recall information. It is possible that being exposed to a consonant media source could lead an individual to pay more attention, whereas the individual would be more inclined to dismiss a dissonant media source. In contrast, however, it is also possible that an individual may pay extra attention to the dissonant media source because it presents a perspective that differs from the one that individual currently holds. Utilizing an experimental research design, I am able to demonstrate that individuals are better able to acquire and recall information presented to them by a media source that they perceive to be ideologically dissonant from their own political position.

► I investigate the influence of perceived media consonance and dissonance on information acquisition and retention.
► Respondents exposed to an ideologically dissonant media source are able to correctly recall more factual information than those exposed to an ideologically consonant media source.
► These effects do not depend on an individual's political ideology.