ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the level of political information that citizens are exposed to in the news media and on social media varies over time, markedly increasing during election time. It examines how saturated the news media is with political information and whether the amount of political information varies over the time of the investigation. The chapter also examines whether the amount of political information that citizens are exposed to in the news media and on social media differs across generations. It further examines how each generation’s political involvement (i.e., their political engagement and participation) is related to their exposure to political information in the media. The chapter identifies different patterns across generations, not everyone is equally likely to be exposed to political information in the news and on social media. According to the Engagement-Participation-Information-Generation model, political interest, knowledge, and efficacy are all expected to be positively related with news media use.
