Reinforcing Cycles? Empirical Reflections on the Relationship Between Media Cynicism and Political Cynicism

The prevalence of animosity toward both the news media and politics has been on the rise. Such cynicism toward media and political institutions poses a significant threat to democracy, undermining the integrity and functionality of these establishments. While earlier studies highlighted a positive correlation between media and political cynicism, they did not establish clear causal links, leaving gaps in our understanding of this relationship. To more thoroughly examine the causal and reciprocal dynamics between these variables, we utilized two datasets: one from a two-wave panel of the 2020 U.S. presidential election (Study 1) and another from a three-wave panel of the 2022 Korean presidential election (Study 2). We employed various path model specifications to examine the interplay between media and political cynicism. In Study 1, we found a reciprocal relationship between media and political cynicism, with media cynicism exerting a slightly stronger and more consistent influence on political cynicism than the reverse. However, this pattern did not hold in more rigorous statistical analyses in Study 2, warranting a careful interpretation of our findings. In conclusion, we wrap up the paper by emphasizing the adoption of a rigorous methodological approach to infer causality and discussing the broader implications for democracy.