News Effects on Bonding and Bridging Social Capital: An Empirical Study Relevant to Ethnicity in the United States

摘要

In an effort to advance decades of mass communication research on social capital and related indicators of social ties and civic engagement, this study provides an empirical assessment of social capital's often discussed, but rarely tested, bonding and bridging dimensions. It examines how usage patterns of traditional news media (i.e., newspaper and TV news) and online news media (i.e., Internet news) are associated with bonding and bridging neighborliness, as defined by ethnicity. Analysis of data from a 2007 national survey demonstrates that traditional news media use-but not online news media use-is significantly associated with bonding neighborliness and bridging neighborliness. In addition, the relationship between traditional news media use and bonding neighborliness, as well as that between online news media use and bonding neighborliness, is more positive for Whites and Asians than for Blacks and Latinos. Results are discussed in terms of bonding and bridging social capital, ethnic media portrayals, and journalism and ethnicity in the United States.