LATINOS’ USE OF MEDIA AND THE MEDIA’S INFLUENCE ON POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE AND PARTICIPATION: Findings from the 1989 Latino National Political Survey

The belief that mass media influence the political dynamics of the electorates is probably as old as the first newspapers themselves. Research assessing the impact of the media on American politics also has a long history (Nimmo and Sanders, 1981; Kaid, 2004). While the results of the numerous studies conducted throughout the decades on the subject of media effects on politics are not always very conclusive, there is nevertheless merit to the proposition that media can be influential (see works cited in chapters 2-3).