Written by Christian Vaccari (Loughborough University), this chapter of A Political Science Experiment explores the following questions:

– How do we understand the political influence of the media?
– How much information is available to us and why does it matter?
– What kind of information stands a better chance to reach us and influence us?
– How do we manage to not become overloaded by too much information?
– Does repetition increase communication’s effectiveness?
– Do election campaigns matter?
– How do political messages influence political attitudes?
– Do different media encourage participation or apathy?
– How important are social media to contemporary social movements and protests?