Journalism Civic Self-Efficacy

Predicting Political Participation Among Secondary-School Journalism Students

Bibliographic Data

ID12909173
AuthorsPiotr S Bobkowski (0000-0002-5480-2522, University of Kansas, corresponding author), Harrison M Rosenthal (0000-0001-6621-3955, University of Kansas)
Year2021
Volume16
Issue10
Pages2166-2184
Publication date2021-03-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1751-2786 • E-ISSN: 1751-2794
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17512786.2021.1897475
OpenAlexW3138435409
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited65

This study builds on the communication mediation model of political socialization and self-efficacy research, and focuses on journalism civic self-efficacy, an individual’s confidence in using journalistic skills to promote the awareness of a community issue. The study tests the premise that journalism civic self-efficacy explains, in part, how journalism education supports individuals’ political participation, by examining links between political interest, journalism civic self-efficacy, school and classroom contexts, and future political participation with data from U.S. high school journalists (n = 769) and their teachers (n = 42). The study’s key results are: (1) journalism civic self-efficacy partially mediates the relationship between political interest and prospective political participation, and (2) journalism civic self-efficacy increases when students feel a supportive school climate and when their instructors exert little control over students’ journalistic output. These results can inform the design of journalism education and outreach initiatives, prioritizing activities and settings that cultivate journalism civic self-efficacy among participants. The findings also highlight the value of such initiatives regardless of whether or not participants pursue newsroom careers. The study contributes empirical evidence to civic development literature of a pathway between journalism education and political participation, distinct from other school-sponsored activities (i.e., debate, student government)

Government (linguistics · Journalism · Political efficacy · Political science · Politics · Premise · Public relations · Sociology · Technical Journalism · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Social Media and Politics

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