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This study investigated the effects of strategic television news coverage of a routine political issue in a nonelectoral context on political cynicism, issue evaluation, and policy support. An experimentally manipulated television news story about the en-largement of the European Union was produced in a strategy version and an is-sue-framed version, which were embedded in an experimental bulletin of a national news program. Results showed that exposure to strategic news fuelled political cyni-cism and activated negative associations with the enlargement issue. Politically knowledgeable participants displayed higher levels of cynicism and were more nega-tive in their evaluation. Strategic news did not suppress policy support. A 2-wave ex-perimental design with a second posttest was employed to test the longevity of effects. The effects of exposure to strategic news on political cynicism muted between the im-mediate and delayed posttest. These findings suggest that effects may not persist un-less participants are exposed to additional news framed in a similar way. News is the key source of information about politics and the economy for a major-ity of citizens in Western democracies. Previous studies of the impact of news on public perceptions of and engagement in politics have produced mixed results. These studies are characterized by a number of features, such as a strong focus on American politics during elections and often-assumed long-term effects on demo-
Claes H. de Vreese (2004) studied this question.
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