Raquel Marvez Sesmero

Faith and News: a Quantitative Study of the Relationship Between Religiosity and TV News Exposure Raquel Marvez Sesmero

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between religiosity andbroadcast news usage. This study examines the level of religiosity of individuals and itscorrelation to broadcast news exposure. The correlation between religiosity andperceptions of violence on broadcast news was also measured. Two theories were applied in this study. Uses and Gratifications asserts the activecharacter of the audience to choose what they watch, how often, etc., and SelectiveExposure defends the ability of the individual to select media that coincides with personalvalue systems. These two theories complement each other and provide support in theevaluation of religiosity and broadcast news exposure. A survey was posted on-line through various message boards. Twenty-five questionswere used to determine religiosity, broadcast news exposure, broadcast news and perceptions ofviolence on broadcast news. In sum, all hypotheses were supported and the general idea that asreligiosity increases broadcast news exposure decreases was confirmed.