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Internet users friends of FOI?
Attitudes toward access to public records and the relationship to
television, newspaper, and online news use
Abstract
Citizen and press access to government records is essential for a strong
democracy. To better understand factors related to support for FOI, a
nationwide survey
of 614 college students measured media use in relation to support for
press access to
public records. The results indicate that television news use is
negatively related to
support for access, and newspaper and Internet are positively
related. Implications for
FOI and Internet users are discussed.
Internet use and FOI support 2
Jung-Sook Lee Competition
Internet use and FOI support 3
Jung-Sook Lee Competition
Internet users friends of FOI?
Attitudes toward access to public records and the relationship to
television, newspaper,
and online news use
Political communication scholars have long studied the relationship between
media use and public attitudes toward such democratic ideals as
political participation
and First Amendment rights (Atkin, 1981; Chaffee, Ward, & Tipton,
1970; McLeod,
Kosicki, & McLeod, 2002). Media critics blame television, in
particular, for growing
political disaffection, and some fear the Internet will continue the
trend (Norris, 2001;
Putnam, 2000).
Democracy requires that citizens and the press have access to
government records
to serve as a check on political institutions (Altschull, 1990;
Blasi, 1977; Cross, 1953;
Meiklejohn, 1948; Teeter, 1992). Yet during the past decade,
government officials have
closed records because of public and government concerns over
national security and
privacy invasion (Blanchard, 2002; Cassel, 2004; Davis, 2003;
Halstuk, 1999; Heath,
2004; Hoefges, Halstuk, & Chamberlin, 2003). As a result of the
increased secrecy,
journalists say they are unable to adequately monitor government or
expose societal
problems once possible as recently as the mid-1990s (American Society
of Newspaper
Editors, 2003; Barnett, 2001; Chircop, 2003; Reporters Committee,
2004; Weitzel, 2004).
If anything, the public appears to support efforts to protect their
personal privacy,
particularly online privacy, even if it means closing public records.
Nearly two-thirds of
Americans say the government collects too much personal information about them
Internet use and FOI support 4
(Freedom Forum, 2002). A national survey by the Pew Internet &
American Life Project
found that 84% of Americans are concerned about businesses or other
people getting
personal information about them and their family (Pew Internet &
American Life Project,
2000).
If people do not care about or participate in government, or support
the press's
ability to keep an eye on government, then it behooves communication
researchers to
figure out what is happening, why it is happening, and what can be
done about it. This
study examines whether varying levels of support toward press access
to government
records may be related to different media use, particularly Internet use.
Recent research has attempted to examine the potential effects of the
Internet on
civic engagement, coming to various conclusions (Jennings & Zeitner,
2000; Nisbet &
Scheufele, 2004; Putnam, 2000; Uslaner, 2004). This study explores an
area of research
in Internet news use that has yet to be examined: attitudes toward freedom of
information.
Political socialization through media
Most scholars agree that political socialization starts when children
are young and
continues through their lifetimes (Niemi & Sobieszek, 1977; O'Keefe &
Reid-Nash,
1987). Children typically get their first exposure to politics
through television and then
newspapers as they mature (Chaffee & Yang, 1990). Today, children are
more likely to
begin using the Internet than ever, as 19 million youths live in
homes with Internet
connections (Pew, 2003, 2005), and the implications of that new media
source on
attitudes is a subject of considerable contemporary research (Delli
Carpini, 2000;
Internet use and FOI support 5
Jennings & Zeitner, 2003; Shah, McLeod, & Yoon, 2001; Shah,
Schmierbach, Hawkins,
Espino, & Donavan, 2002; Shah, Cho, Eveland, & Kwak, 2003; Uslaner, 2004).
Researchers are interested in the socialization of people by the
media because of
the potential effects on political participation. The agenda-setting
framework suggests
that the social system affects media (reporters and editors), which
then affect media
audience members, affecting voter turnout and election choice, which
then affect the
social system, going full circle (Becker, McCombs, & McLeod, 1975).
As scholars began to notice decreasing voting turnout rates and
increased citizen
apathy, new terms began to surface in the literature, such as
"political disaffection,"
defined as the lack of confidence in and distrust toward the
political system, including
officials and institutions (Bandura, 1986). This has sometimes been
discussed as
cynicism, which has been found to be negatively related to voting
efficacy (Cappella &
Jamieson, 1997). Many scholars have examined the role media play in
relation to
political attitudes and participation. This study will focus on the
three main news sources
of interest in the field today: television, newspapers, and the Internet.
Television
While some research has found television use to be positively related
to political
participation and knowledge, particularly news-seeking television use
(Chaffee &
Schleuder, 1986; Johnson & Kaye, 1998; Wilkins, 2000), most research
has suggested
that television use is associated with less political participation
and trust in the media.
Superficial, image-oriented campaign coverage is blamed for political
disaffection and
voter apathy (Cappella & Jamieson, 1997; Crotty & Jacobson, 1980;
Pinkleton & Austin,
2004).
Internet use and FOI support 6
Also, people who watch television are less knowledgeable politically and less
likely to vote than those who read newspapers (Becker & Dunwoody,
1982; Chaffee,
Ward, & Tipton, 1970; Culbertson & Stempel, 1986; Eveland & Scheufele, 2000;
McLeod & McDonald, 1985; Pfau et al., 1998). Putnam states in his
book Bowling Alone
(2000) that increased viewing of television could be one reason for a
drop in civic
engagement, perhaps accounting for as much as 25% of the decline.
Newspapers
Research has long found that newspaper use is usually associated with greater
political knowledge and participation, including voting, than other
forms of media use
(Chaffee, Ward & Tipton, 1970; Kang & Kwak, 2003; Lee, Cappella, &
Southwell, 2003;
Norris, 1996; Pinkleton & Austin, 2004; Pinkleton, Austin, & Fortman,
1998; Stauffer,
Frost, & Rybolt, 1981; Wilkins, 2000).
Some studies indicate the mere form of the medium makes a difference. Because
of design cues from headlines and photos, newspaper pages are able to
capture readers'
attention for public affairs and political stories that would
normally be missed or not
covered on television (Fico, Heeter, Soffin, & Stanley, 1987; Graber,
1988; Tewksbury &
Althaus, 2000). Given the strength of research suggesting newspaper
use is related to
political participation and support for democratic principles, this
study proposes that a
similar relationship would be found for support for freedom of information.
Internet
Research involving online news is relatively new and evolving, and therefore
sometimes contradictory. For example, Putnam (2000) argued that
people who rely on the
Internet for political information are less likely to participate in
civic and political life
Internet use and FOI support 7
than those who rely on other media. Political knowledge retention on
the Web has been
found to be lacking when compared with other media, primarily because
of the cognitive
effort needed to use the Internet compared with watching television
(Eveland, Marton, &
Seo, 2004; Tewksbury & Althaus, 2000).
Yet a growing amount of research has suggested that Internet use is positively
related to information gathering, political participation and support
for democratic
principles (Ferguson & Perse, 2000; Johnson & Kay, 2003; Katz, Rice,
& Aspden, 2001;
Pierce & Lovrich, 2003; White, 1997). A longitudinal,
cross-generational study found
that Internet use is associated with greater civic engagement
(Jennings & Zeitner, 2003)
and likelihood to vote (DeFleur, Davenport, Cronin, & DeFleur, 1992;
Halpern, 1997).
Some studies have found that relationships between Web use and political
participation might depend on how the Internet is used. For example,
Eveland, Seo, and
Marton (2002) found that television was found to be superior to the
Web when it comes
to simple news recall, yet, online news was found to be better than
television and
newspapers in the comprehension of election information.
Working from uses and gratification theory, some scholars have examined the
differences in why and how people use different media, including the
Internet (Newhagen
& Rafaeli, 1996; Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000). For example, those who
use the Internet
for gathering information have higher social capital than those who
use it for recreational
purposes (Shah, Kwak, & Holbert, 2001; Shah, McLeod, & Yoon, 2001). Nisbet and
Scheufele (2004) suggest that political talk on the Internet might
lead to increased civic
engagement.
Internet use and FOI support 8
Finally, Internet users have been found to be less concerned about privacy
invasion through identity theft or online information than non-users,
and are more
trusting of information proliferation (Uslaner, 2004). It seems,
therefore, that people who
use the Internet for news-seeking purposes are more likely to exhibit
greater political
interest and potentially greater support for democratic principles
such as freedom of
information.
Support for access to public records
Access to government is a political concept, and people's attitudes toward
political participation and democracy would likely be related to
their opinions toward
freedom of information. However, very little scholarly research has
been conducted
specifically on attitudes toward access to government information.
The Freedom Forum commissions annual public opinion polls to gauge citizen
support for First Amendment issues. In 2002 the survey included
specific questions
asking people whether certain government records should be public.
The study concluded
that Americans overwhelmingly support their own access to health
inspection records
(96%), the names of sex offenders (94%), and transcripts from city
council meetings
(93%) (First Amendment Center, 2002). The researchers did not measure
media use, nor
did they include questions about records that include personal
information about the
typical citizen.
A 2002 survey of 402 Washington state adults found that levels of support for
access to public records appear to vary by type of record (Cuillier,
2004). On a scale of 1
to 4 with 1 representing less support, participants reported a mean
of 2.14 when asked if
they support press access to driver's licenses. On the other hand,
people reported a mean
Internet use and FOI support 9
of 3.97 for support for records describing crimes in their
neighborhood. Some records,
such as driver's licenses, may appear to be more personally invasive
and prying than
other government records, such as dam inspection data. Therefore,
attitudes toward
access to public records may vary by the type of record being
requested. This study
attempts to account for that distinction.
The public opinion literature regarding support for free expression
is useful for
providing some guidance for this research. Studies gauging the
public's support for free
speech and the media have been conducted since the 1930s, with levels
of support
fluctuating over time, usually dipping in times of war or crisis
(Erskine, 1970; Erskine &
Siegel, 1975; Prothro & Grigg, 1960; Stouffer, 1955). Researchers
have attempted to
identify factors that can help explain who supports free expression
and who does not.
Demographics
Most of the research has found that support for free expression is
greatest among
those who are young (Becker, Cobbey, & Sobowale, 1978; Bobo & Licari,
1989; Lambe,
2004; Stouffer, 1955), male (Andsager, 1992, 1995, 2002; Lambe, 2004;
Montero, 1975;
Stouffer, 1955), and highly educated (Andsager, 1992, 2002; Gaugler &
Zalkind, 1975;
McLeod, Sotirovic, Voakes, Guo, & Huang, 1998; Montero, 1975; Prothro & Grigg,
1960; Wilson, 1975; Wyatt, 1991). Income also has been associated
with support, the
higher the income the greater the support (Andsager, 2002; Wyatt, 1991).
Some researchers have examined the relationship of attitudes toward
support for
free expression. For example, those who hold liberal political views
are more likely to
support free expression (Andsager, 1995; Becker, Cobbey, & Sobowale,
1978; Bobo &
Internet use and FOI support 10
Licari, 1989) and people who are more religious are less likely to
support free expression
(Lambe, 2000; Lambe, 2002).
Media use and free expression
Newspaper readers have been found to be more supportive of free expression and
press rights than people who rely on television for their news and
information. Results for
Internet users have been inconsistent (Lambe, 2000, 2002, 2004).
Several theoretical
models can provide some guidance for examining support for access by
media use.
The media-use model has been suggested in light of cultivation theory
(Gerbner,
Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1982) that heavy television viewing
converge views
toward a moderate, mainstreaming attitude that is generally less
supportive of expressive
rights. Research has found that heavy television viewing is related
to lower support for
others to express themselves (Morgan & Shanahan, 1991; McLeod et al., 1991).
Therefore, theoretically television use should be negatively related
with support for
freedom of information and the press's right to access public
records, while newspaper
use should be positively associated with support for freedom of information.
A lack of research has been conducted regarding the relationship of
Internet use to
attitudes toward free expression and freedom of information.
Fear of privacy invasion
Cuillier (2004) found in the Washington state study that fear of
privacy invasion
is negatively related to First Amendment rights and support for press
access to records;
The greater the fear, the lower the support. However, the
relationship of media use was
not reported or analyzed in relation to support for access to public
records, or to fear of
privacy invasion.
Internet use and FOI support 11
Fear of privacy invasion has particular significance for the Internet
because it is
the only medium that can cause users to become victims of identity
theft and information
infiltration by the mere act of using it through online transactions.
Examples of computersavvy
thieves have been making headlines, such as a Tennessee man who was convicted
in 2002 of bilking $730,000 through the stolen identities of
newspaper publishers and
restaurant chain owners ("Identity theft," 2002). In November 2002,
authorities arrested
Philip Cummings, who allegedly sold credit reports and information
about 30,000
victims, totaling more than $2.7 million in consumer losses. It was
the largest identitytheft
bust in U.S. history (Kristof & Goldman, 2002).
Despite these examples, Internet users appear to be less worried than
non-users
about identity theft (Uslaner, 2004). Perhaps people who are less
fearful of privacy
invasion are more willing to use the Internet than those who are more
fearful. If that's
true, and fear of informational privacy invasion is negatively
related to support for access
to public records, perhaps Internet users would demonstrate higher
levels of support for
freedom of information than other media users.
In summary, this study looks to the political communication
literature and support
for free expression research to provide a basis for studying public
attitudes toward open
government and press access to records. While little research has
specifically examined
citizen support for freedom of information, this study expects to
find similar relationships
with media use that have been found in previous research in assessing
political
participation and support for free expression.
Internet use and FOI support 12
Hypotheses
The media-use model (Gerbner et al., 1982), as well as the bulk of
previous media
use research discussed earlier, would predict differences in
attitudes based on media use.
Specifically, reliance on television for information should be
associated with lower
support for press access to public records. Newspaper use should be
associated with
greater support. Because the Internet is relatively new and an
established foundation of
empirical data is lacking, this study will pose the relationship
between online use and
support for access as a question.
H1: Support for press access to public records will be a) negatively related
to television use, and b) positively related to newspaper use.
R1: What is the relationship between support for press access to public
records and Internet use?
Because of prior research (e.g., Cuillier, 2004; Freedom Forum 2002) that
suggests varying levels of support by type of record (with support
being lower for
personal privacy-oriented records), this study will examine media use
in relation to
support for both types of records. It makes sense that, overall,
support for press access to
privacy-oriented records should be lower than support for access to
public-safety records.
However, it is unknown how media use may be related to these two
different kinds of
records.
H2: Support for press access to public records should encompass at least
two distinct and unidimensional, yet related, subconstructs: attitudes toward
personal privacy-oriented records and attitudes toward general governmental
operations records.
Internet use and FOI support 13
H3: Support for press access to public safety records should be higher than
support for access to privacy-oriented records.
R2: How do television, newspaper, and Internet use relate to support for
press access to privacy-oriented records and public-safety records?
Finally, this study seeks to examine whether fear of information
privacy invasion
may be related differently by media use. Internet users have been
found to be more
trusting of information dissemination online (Uslaner, 2004) so it
might hold that they are
less fearful of personal information privacy invasion, such as
identity theft, than those
who rely on television for their news and information. Because of the
relatively strong
relationship between political knowledge and Internet and newspaper
information use, it
holds that those users are likely to understand the importance of a
free flow of
information for a strong society.
H4: Fear of privacy invasion will be a) positively associated with
television use, b) negatively related to newspaper use, and c)
negatively related to
Internet use.
Method
This study is based on a purposive convenience sample that included
612 college
Sample
communication majors in 16 classes at six universities in different
parts of the United
States. The participants completed an in-class survey in September
2004 to assess their
attitudes toward press access to public records. The survey was part
of a larger study to
assess attitudinal changes toward the First Amendment, press rights,
and access, over the
course of a semester in different communication courses.
Internet use and FOI support 14
While not generalizable to the population as a whole, this population
was useful
for this study because of the homogenous sample that eliminates a
variety of potentially
confounding variables, such as education. This allows for greater
potential to detect
differences among media use. Also, many college students have spent
most of their lives
using the Internet so this provides scholars a good opportunity to
measure the attitudes of
adults who have extensively used a variety of media.
To account for regional differences, the universities reflected a
variety of public
colleges from throughout the country, including large research
universities and small
regional universities, and from different parts of the nation
including the West Coast,
East, and South. Surveys were handed out to students in news
reporting, media law, and
media ethics courses by their instructors. While completion of the
survey was voluntary
and did not result in extra credit or incentives, when comparing the
enrollment with
completed surveys, 87% of the distributed surveys were completed.
Respondents ranged in age from 18-50, with 21 years of age being average. The
majority (78.6%) were Caucasian. About 68% were women and 32% were men. Most
(83.4%) reported that they planned to have a career in communication,
and most (65.1%)
were seniors, followed by juniors (25.6%), sophomores (8.3%), and the
rest (1%)
freshmen and graduate students. One-third of the respondents reported
that they came
from families that earned a total of $100,001 or more a year in
household income, 22.4%
reported incomes from $75,001 to $100,000, and 19.9% from $50,001 to
$75,000, and
the rest less than $50,000.
Internet use and FOI support 15
Survey instrument
The survey instrument, which took participants about seven minutes to
complete,
consisted primarily of Likert-type items, ranging from 1-7, designed
to measure support
for press access to public records and media use. Some questions
employed reverse
wording to avoid the instrument from taking on an overly positive
tone toward access that
could introduce response bias.
The questionnaire included 38 questions and 14 demographic questions,
including
age, income of family, ethnicity, gender, political ideology, and
religiosity. The questions
were pretested in June 2004 on a sample of 66 communication students
to improve the
measurement of constructs.
Support for press access to public records. This construct was
measured by eight
questions that asked whether the press should have access to specific
government records
(see Table 1). Questions were derived from previous surveys,
including the Freedom
Forum (2002) and Cuillier (2004) studies. The reliability of the
index was confirmed by
computing Cronbach's alpha, which was .75. A plotted histogram of the index
demonstrated normal distribution.
Because most people do not routinely contemplate access to government records,
the questions asked participants to indicate their support for press
access to specific
records, such as criminal reports, dam safety inspection data, and
driver's licenses. This
allows participants to formulate their opinions in the same context
as access issues that
arise in public policy debates.
Media use. This was measured by a set of questions that asked
participants "On a
scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being not at all important and 7 being very
important, please rate
Internet use and FOI support 16
how important each medium is to you as a source of news and
information." Respondents
circled a number on a 1-7 scale for each of the following media:
radio, television,
newspaper, magazine, and Internet.
Measuring media use is a debated subject as scholars attempt to find reliable
methods. This study measured the importance of a medium for news use
because of prior
research that has found that simple media-use recall measures do not
seem to work well
(Chaffee & Schleuder, 1986; Kosicki & McLeod, 1990; Miller & Reese,
1982; Pinkleton
& Austin, 2001, 2002; Slater, 2004; Zhao & Chaffee, 1995).
For example, in a study of how immigrants learned about candidates, Martinelli
and Chaffee (1995) found that measuring attention to news worked
better than frequency
of exposure. In another study, McLeod and McDonald (1985) did not
find strong results
based on traditional use-based measures of television exposure. They
also found weak
effects when comparing newspaper and television use. The studies seem
to indicate that
measuring attention or importance, rather than recalled amount of
time using the medium,
is preferable.
Demographic variables. A variety of demographic variables were included in the
analysis because prior research has shown that they often are related
to similar constructs,
such as support for free expression. Demographics will be partialed
out to better identify
the relationship between support for access and media use.
Participants were asked to designate their sex, age, family income,
and race. For
this analysis, race was designated as white or nonwhite.
A question measured religiosity by asking, "Regarding your attitude toward
religion, on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being not religious and 7
being very religious, please
Internet use and FOI support 17
circle a number that corresponds with how religious you feel you
are." Previous research
has shown that the greater the religiosity, the lower the support for
free expression
(Andsager, 1995; Brosius & Engel, 1996; McLeod et al., 1997; Montero,
1975; Selvin &
Hagstrom, 1960; Zalkind, Gaugler, & Schwartz, 1975).
Political orientation was measured by a question that asked, "Regarding your
political orientation, on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being more
liberal and 7 being more
conservative, please circle a number that corresponds with your
political ideology." In
general, research has found that greater conservatism is associated
with lower support for
free expression (Andsager, 1995; Becker, Cobbey, & Sobowale, 1978;
Bobo & Licari,
1989).
A final psychological variable was included, fear of privacy invasion, because
previous research (Cuillier, 2004) has found that construct to be
negatively related to
support for access. The greater the fear of privacy invasion, such as
identity theft, the
lower the support for access. This construct was measured by an index
created by five
questions, also using a Likert-type scale of 1 to 7 points (see Table
1). The questions
followed the support for access questions to avoid priming
participants to think about
privacy invasion. The Cronbach's alpha for this index was .86.
Results
To address the first hypothesis, a hierarchical multiple regression
analysis was
employed using the enter method with mean replacement. Demographic and
psychographic control variables included age, sex, income, race
(white or nonwhite),
religiosity, political orientation, and fear of privacy invasion. The
three other independent
variables were television, newspaper, and Internet use.
Internet use and FOI support 18
The linear combination of variables was significantly related to the
support for
records index, F(10, 601) = 6.24, p < .001. As shown in Table 2,
while accounting for
demographic variables, support for press access to public records was
negatively related
to television use (ß = -.13, p < .001), and support was positively
related to newspaper use
(_ = .11, p < .01). While the relationships are modest, they were
statistically significant
and the magnitude comparable to results in social-science survey
research. Therefore,
Hypothesis 1 was supported.
Research Question 1 asked whether Internet use would be related to support.
Upon analysis, Internet use was found to be positively related to
support for access, even
at a slightly greater level than newspaper use (ß = .13***, p < .001).
Two control variables were found to be statistically significant: age
(ß = .10, p <
.05), and fear of privacy invasion (ß = -.15***, p < .001).
Therefore, older students were
more supportive of access and those more concerned about privacy
invasion were less
supportive.
Hypothesis 2 predicted that the support for press access to public
records scale
would encompass two distinct and unidimensional, yet related,
subconstructs. Factor
analysis suggested that the construct was indeed divided into two
sets, as shown by the
factor loadings in Table 3. Six of the eight questions represented
support for access to
personal-oriented records, such as driver's license information, and
criminal background
records. This measure formed an acceptable subscale measure with a
Cronbach's alpha of
.77.
Two questions loaded on the second factor, representing support for
press access
to governmental public safety records: dam inspection data and
records identifying the
Internet use and FOI support 19
locations of hazardous chemicals. The two items were combined into a
two-item scale
with an alpha of .65, lower than ideal but acceptable for this
exploratory study. The
Pearson correlation for the two items was .49, statistically
significant at the .001 level.
The addition of questions in the future would likely increase scale
reliability
substantially.
Hypothesis 3 proposed that support for access to public safety
records would be
higher than support for access to privacy-oriented records. Means
testing was employed
to test this hypothesis. The means of the public safety scale was
4.16 and the means of
the privacy-oriented scale was 4.59. A two-tailed paired samples t
test demonstrated that
the difference between the two scale means is statistically
different, t(611) = 6.01, p <
.001 . At the same time the two subscales are related; a Pearson
correlation demonstrated
that they are related constructs (r = .27, p < .01). Therefore, given
the factor analysis and
other statistical tests, these two subscales are distinct and
unidimensional, yet related.
To address Research Question 2, both subscales were then compared to the
media-use variables, accounting for demographic variables, through
multiple regression
as the overall support for access scale was tested for Hypothesis 1.
The results, in Table
2, demonstrate different relationships between the two subscales and
media use.
Support for access to personal-oriented records is negatively related
to television
(ß = -.12, p < .01), but positively related to newspaper (ß = .10, p
< .01) and Internet use
(ß = .12, p < .01), similar to the overall support for access to
public records scale. This
isn't too surprising given the main eight-item scale is dominated by
the six personaloriented
records questions. However, what is of interest is a difference in
the relationship
between media use and support for access to public safety records. No
statistically
Internet use and FOI support 20
significant relationship was found for television or the Internet. A
weak relationship was
found for newspapers (ß = .09, p < .05). Therefore, except for
newspaper reading, media
use is not a significant factor in people's attitudes toward general
government records but
media use does come into play regarding attitudes toward personal
privacy-oriented
records.
The other interesting, although not unexpected, finding from this
analysis is that
fear of privacy invasion was more strongly associated with support
for access to
personal-oriented records (ß = -.14, p < .001) than to support for
access to public safety
records (ß = -.09, p < .05).
Finally, Hypothesis 4 predicted that fear of privacy invasion would
be positively
associated with television use, negatively related to newspaper use,
and negatively related
to Internet use. This hypothesis was partially supported (see Table
2). Using hierarchical
multiple regression and accounting for demographic variables, fear of
privacy invasion
was found to be positively associated with television use and
statistically significant (ß =
.13, p < .001). However, no statistically significant relationship
was found with
newspaper or Internet use.
Discussion
The findings from this study provide new insight into people's
attitudes toward
press access to public records and the relationship with media use
and concern for
privacy invasion. The findings generally support previous research,
such as Putnam's
(2000), regarding the general relationship of television and
newspaper use toward
political participation attitudes, extending the literature to
include the specific concept of
Internet use and FOI support 21
access to public records. This study also indicates that those who
rely on the Internet for
their news and information might be most supportive of freedom of information.
Overall support and media use
Hypothesis 1, that television use is negatively related to support for access,
suggests that there is something about people who rely on television
for their news and
information that makes them less supportive of freedom of
information. However, closer
analysis of the subscales showed that television viewers are
ambivalent toward general
governmental public safety records. The concern they tend to have is
specific to access to
records involving personal information.
That makes sense given the large amount of crime news people may view on
television, particularly regarding identity theft and scams.
Effective Citibank television
ads showing people talking with other voices might be effective in
promoting antiidentity
theft policies, but may also heighten fear of privacy invasion. It is
possible that
people who are concerned about privacy invasion rely on television
for news instead of
the Internet, which may be viewed as more of a threat to personal
privacy. After all, in
the analysis for the last hypothesis, this study demonstrated a
modest relationship
between television use and fear of privacy invasion. Yet no
relationship was found for
fear of privacy invasion with newspaper or Internet use, only television.
However, because fear of privacy invasion was included as a control
variable in
the regression analysis for Hypothesis 1, it appears there are other
factors related to
television use and support beyond fear. Something else about
television viewers must
contribute to lower support for access to public records. Perhaps it
is overall attitudes
toward political participation. Cultivation theory (Gerbner et al.,
1982) suggests that
Internet use and FOI support 22
television viewers' attitudes converges toward a moderate,
mainstreaming attitude less
supportive of expressive rights, perhaps even First Amendment and
press rights.
An interesting result of this study is that the study specifically
measured the use of
television as a source of news and information, not for
entertainment. Some research has
noted that television news use can increase political participation
and civic engagement
(McLeod, Glynn, & McDonald, 1983; McLeod & McDonald, 1985; Miller & Reese,
1982). This study suggests otherwise, at least in regard to support
for press access to
government records. People who rely on television for entertainment
might demonstrate
even less support for access.
This is an important finding as people, particularly younger
generations, become
increasingly reliant on television for their political news. For
example, during the 2004
presidential election, Fox News became the most-used news source for election
information for the first time (Pew, 2004). If people increasingly
rely on television for
their news, will public support for access drop over time? This is
important given some
research that suggests youth are more disengaged: less trusting of
fellow citizens, less
interested in public affairs, less knowledgeable about politics, less
likely to read a
newspaper, less likely to vote, and less likely to participate
(Bennett & Rademacher,
1997; Delli Carpini, 2000).
While these findings may support Putnam's suggestion that television
news use is
harmful toward political participation and support for democratic
principles, this study
contradicts his views toward the Internet. This survey provides
cautious optimism that
Internet use may be associated with greater support for freedom of
information, at least at
about the same level or greater as those who rely on newspapers.
Internet use and FOI support 23
People who rely on newspapers and the Internet for news and information may be
less fearful of privacy invasion and the accessibility of public
records to the press because
they rely on an open society to get information. Yet again, even
accounting for fear of
privacy invasion as a control, the analysis yielded statistically
significant relationships.
This bodes well for access supporters as more people use the Internet
to gather
political information. During the 2004 presidential campaign, 22% of
voters said they got
their election news from the Internet, as opposed to 11% the prior
election (Pew, 2004).
Given the current dominance of television as a news source, the
Internet could be a
positive factor in the future of public attitudes toward access as
the Internet provides a
potential catalyst and medium for political information and participation.
Two ways of conceptualizing public information
Another result of this study was the identification of two distinct
subscales of
support for access to public records. This may be of interest to FOI
legal scholars and
open government advocates who have analyzed contemporary court rulings and
legislation regarding access to note that government is increasingly
closing records of a
personal nature (Bunker & Splichal, 1997; Cochran & Katz, 2003; Davis
& Splichal,
2000; Halstuk, 1999; Hoefges, Halstuk & Chamberlin, 2003; Ross, 2004;
Senat, 2003). It
appears that distinction is part of Americans' attitudes toward
public records, not just
among officials. If open government advocates want to stem the tide
of secrecy and
record closures, the battle may need to be waged in the court of
public opinion, not just in
a court of law or City Hall.
From a media use perspective, the results of the two subscales are
surprising.
Internet users demonstrated stronger support for access to
personal-oriented records than
Internet use and FOI support 24
for general public safety-oriented records, contrary to newspaper and
television users. In
fact, online users were ambivalent toward access to public safety
records but more
strongly supportive of access to personal-oriented records. This may
represent an
increasingly savvy Internet user, particularly within the younger
college generation, that
has found access to public information online useful, even if
seemingly personally
private. Perhaps, because of dealing with spam, Web site
registrations, and other routine
online intrusion, Internet users are accustomed to personal information being
disseminated. Perhaps they have become either resigned to or welcome
the flow of
information, even personal information.
Fear of privacy invasion and media use
As noted earlier, fear of privacy invasion was related only to
television use. Those
who rely on television news appear to be more fearful. Internet and
newspaper users do
not share this fear. In fact, newspaper users demonstrated a negative
relationship,
although weak and statistically insignificant.
Two other variables were found to be significant with fear of privacy
invasion:
age and race. The older the student the more concerned about privacy
invasion and
nonwhites were more likely to report higher fear. The age
relationship may account for
older students who are beginning to worry about their personal
finances and future
stability as they begin thinking about graduation and a career.
Stability may become more
important. Race can be difficult to interpret. Future research could
investigate whether
attitudes toward freedom of information differs culturally.
Internet use and FOI support 25
Ramifications for an online future
This study suggests that the Internet may be an effective medium for
mobilizing
support and sharing information regarding access to public records.
These findings can
help media practitioners, policymakers, and open-government advocates better
understand the dynamics of public attitudes toward open records.
Several groups,
including the Society of Professional Journalists and the Freedom
Forum, have attempted
to increase public support of press access to government information
through "Project
Watchdog" educational campaigns (Society of Professional Journalists,
2005). Better
understanding of the dynamics of public support for access, including
media use, can
help open-government proponents take steps to increase public support
for freedom of
information.
For example, if a goal is to improve support for FOI among the
electorate through
persuasion, then perhaps more television coverage of access issues
might reach people
less inclined to support open government. Likewise, if the goal is to
build a base of
supporters, perhaps newspapers and the Internet are the media to
emphasize. The good
news for access advocates is that Internet and newspaper readers
appear to generally
support press rights and freedom of information. They may better
understand the political
process because of the greater coverage and depth of political news
in those media.
Limitations and future research
This study has its limitations. First, the sample is not generalizable to the
population. Different results may occur if nonstudents were surveyed,
and particularly
non-communication students who are likely to be more aware of freedom
of information
issues. A national survey of randomly selected adults could help
provide broader
Internet use and FOI support 26
generalizability. Second, the support for press access index is still
relatively new and
needs further psychometric refinement and testing. Third, media-use
measures can be
unreliable, so other media-use measures could have been included in
the study to provide
more robust analysis, or at least to compare the effectiveness of
different media-use
measures.
It is also important to note that this study does not suggest causation, only
relationships. While many scholars agree that the relationship
between media use and
effects is bidirectional (Price & Zaller, 1993), and some research
has shown that Internet
use increases political knowledge (e.g., Eveland, Seo, & Marton,
2002), the media effect
on support for access can not be determined from this survey-based study.
People who support access and other democratic principles may be more
likely to
read a newspaper or use the Internet, and those who are less
supportive of access may be
more prone to watch television. For example, someone politically
involved might be
more likely to support access to public records and government
information in order to
acquire information needed to make decisions, and those same people
might rely on the
Internet for political news and information. An underlying construct,
such as need for
cognition, political efficacy, apathy, or involvement, could be at
play. Future research
should include experimental designs and focus on other political
attitutidinal factors that
might mediate support for access.
Ultimately, more examination of public support for freedom of information is
needed, particularly in the current political environment. Future
research could include
other psychological variables, such as need for cognition, political
involvement, apathy,
efficacy toward politics, involvement, and cynicism toward the
political system. Also,
Internet use and FOI support 27
experimental research is needed to examine causation. Is there
something about the
Internet that might increase support for democratic principles, such
as press access to
public records?
Despite the limitations, this study illustrates that people support
access at different
levels depending on the media they use. From a theoretical
perspective, this supports the
media-use model, that the medium does matter. From a practical
perspective, access
advocates and journalists can apply this knowledge to their campaigns for open
government.
In a time of increased government secrecy, citizen attitudes toward freedom of
information can influence legislation, agency policies, and court
decisions that affect the
press's ability to access government records. Knowing who supports
press access to
records, who does not, and why, can help journalists and policymakers
better understand
the dynamics of public attitudes toward open government.
Internet use and FOI support 28
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Table 1
N
603
614
611
609
611
611
610
612
611
611
610
612
611
609
610
611
610
Measures and Indices 1
_______________________________________________________________________
Support for Press Access to Public Records
Includes two "Access Support" subscales:
Support for Access to Privacy-Oriented Records
Public utility records, which could include how much
water people use for their lawns and irrigation,
should be made available to the press.
The press should have access to the annual salaries of
public employees.
Divorce court files, which may include family assets
and allegations between spouses, should be available
to the press.
Property tax records, including the value of a person's
home and how much was paid in property taxes,
should be available to the press.
Records detailing someone's criminal past should
be made available to the press.
Drivers license records, which might include a person's
name, address, height and weight, should be made
available to the press.
Support for Access to Public-Safety Records
Public records explaining vulnerabilities of dams
should be made available to the press.
Public records that identify the type, amount
and location of hazardous chemicals
should be made available to the press.
Fear of Privacy Invasion
I am concerned about the amount of personal information
about me on the Internet.
I am concerned about the information about me that is
held in databases by marketing companies.
I am concerned that access to public information increases
my risk of someone charging purchases on credit cards
in my name.
I am concerned about my privacy being invaded.
I am concerned about the amount of personal information
about me that is available to the press through public
records.
computation so for all the above results a higher mean indicates
greater support for access.
_______________________________________________________________________
1 All measures on 7-point scales with 1 strongly disagreeing and 7
indicating strongly agreeing. Questions were reverse coded before
_
.75
.77
.65
.86
SD
1.08
1.18
1.66
1.87
1.52
1.78
1.64
1.84
1.68
1.92
1.99
1.42
1.93
1.74
1.74
1.67
1.77
M
4.27
4.16
4.88
4.83
3.02
3.91
4.90
3.44
4.59
4.50
4.68
4.49
4.19
4.81
4.84
4.73
3.92
Table 2
______________________________________________________________________________________
Support for Support for
Access to Access to
Public Personal -
Records Oriented Oriented
(Overall) Records
Dependent Variables
| -------- R2: -------- |
Support for Fear of
Access to Privacy
Public Safety- Invasion
Records
Regression Analysis Results for Hypotheses H1, R1, R2, & H4
H1/R1:
Independent variables
________________________________________________________________________
Control variables:
Age
Sexa
Racea
Politicala
Religiositya
Income
Fear of Privacy Inv.
Media importance:
Television
Newspaper
Internet
________________________________________________________________________
1
4
Note: Enter-method with mean replacement.
R2 = .07; df = 611; F = 6.24***
2 R2 = .08; df = 611; F = 5.35***(privacy)
3 R2 = .04; df = 611; F = 2.55** (safety)
R2 = .08; df = 611; F = 5.50*** (fear)
a Female, nonwhite, conservatism, and more religious coded high.
Betas are standardized.
* p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001
ß
.10*
.10
.11
-.05
-.06
.02
-.15***
-.13***
.11**
.13***
ß
.11**
-.01
.07
-.04
-.04
.02
-.14***
-.12**
.10*
.12**
Internet use and FOI support 43
H4:
ß
.15***
.07
.16***
.03
.03
.00
n/a
.13***
-.04
.02
ß
.03
.06
.01
-.04
-.06
.03
-.09*
-.08
.09*
.08
Table 3
Factor Analysis of Support for Access Dependent Variables
(Total variance explained = 55%)
______________________________________________________________________
Dependent variables
Factor 1 (Personal-oriented records)
Public utility records, which could include how
much water people use for their lawns and irrigation,
should be made available to the press.
The press should have access to the annual salaries of
public employees.
Divorce court files, which may include family assets
and allegations between spouses, should be available
to the press.
Property tax records, including the value of a person's
home and how much was paid in property taxes,
should be available to the press.
Records detailing someone's criminal past should
be made available to the press.
Drivers license records, which might include a person's
name, address, height and weight, should be made
available to the press.
Factor 2 (Public safety records)
Public records explaining vulnerabilities of dams
should be made available to the press.
Public records that identify the type, amount
and location of hazardous chemicals
should be made available to the press.
Eigenvalue = 3.04; Variance explained = 38.0%; M = 4.16; SD = 1.18; N
= 612; Alpha = .77
______________________________________________________________________________________
Eigenvalue = 1.32; Variance explained = 16.5%; M = 4.6; SD = 1.68; N
= 612; Alpha = .65; Correlation for
the two items is r = .49, p < .001.
Note: Principal component extraction using oblique rotation.
Reverse-coded items have been transformed
so that directionality is consistent with other items in the same index.
Factor 2
Safety
.110
-.141
-.225
-.184
-.243
-.231
.739
.737
Internet use and FOI support 44
Factor 1
Personal
.651
.613
.673
.779
.630
.660
.410
.422
|
