Citizens, Knowledge, and the Information Environment.

Variations in the quantity and quality of media coverage affect what citizens know about politics. Using data from 41 cross-sectional surveys, a series of multilevel models show that previously documented relationships between socioeconomic characteristics and knowledge vary as a function of the information environment. The difference in knowledge between citizens with low and high levels of income and education grows as the volume of information and the level of expert commentary increases. By contrast, knowledge gaps based upon income and age shrink considerably when the environment provides contextual coverage. Differences in knowledge due to race and gender are unaffected by the environmental measures used in this study. Thus, the environment does not have a uniform effect. It works selectively, increasing the advantages that accrue to certain segments of the population and leveling differences that exist between others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]