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The present investigation combines cognitive dissonance theory with entertainment-education frameworks to study selection and effects of news. Selective exposure to satirical and partisan news was examined with online clips to test hypotheses on overcoming resistance to persuasive messages. An experiment (n = 146) presented news choices, varied in stance (conservative vs. liberal) and format (serious partisan news vs. satirical news). Results show political interest fosters selection of serious partisan news. Clips with partisan alignment were more frequently selected; only for the satirical news clips, Democrats did not exhibit such confirmation bias. Selecting satirical news affected internal political efficacy, and selecting online news clips induced attitude reinforcement according to message stance.
Knobloch‐Westerwick et al. (Tue,) studied this question.