Research Article Open Access

Inter-Media Interaction and Effects in An Integrated Model of Political Communication: India 2014

Abstract

Online social media has become an integral part of the mediated-mass communication process. Hence, a new political communication model is developed by integrating traditional mass media and mass opinion with online social media. Based on the model, a set of hypotheses is generated and tested using empirical data gathered during the 2014 Indian parliamentary elections. In an integrated media environment, high levels of interaction (aggregate political opinion exchange) is observed to exist between mass media (leading English newspapers published from India) and the social media (Twitter and Facebook), augmenting their effect on the masses. Social media was found to mediate the positive effect of the English press on mass political preference. We also find evidence for a reciprocal relationship between the online social media and the masses.

Francis Philip Barclay

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