Concurrent Media News Use and Gender-Based Political Participation Inequality in a Low-Income Democracy

Abstract

Social media platforms have created new opportunities for political participation; however, their actual impact on exacerbating or reducing participation inequalities between different genders, age groups, and socioeconomic levels remains debatable. Mobilization scholars argue that social media reduces participation inequality by lowering the cost of participation and empowering the marginalized (Anduiza, Cristancho, & Sabucedo, 2014; Xenos, Vromen, & Loader, 2014). Alternatively, reinforcement scholars claim that social media replicates or even amplifies the existing offline participation inequalities where the advantaged further exploit online tools (Gustafson, 2014; Schlozman, Verba, & Brady, 2010). Although scholarship is on the rise, attention to gender as a stratification factor remains rare (cf. Valenzuela, Somma, Scherman, & Arriagada, 2016). It is essential to examine the mobilizing–reinforcing effect of social media on gender inequality since gender-based inequality poses a threat to the quality of deliberation, representation, and legitimacy, especially in low-income democracies (Inglehart, Norris, & Welzel, 2002). Moreover, beyond the political implications, gender inequality in its various forms also restricts the educational attainment for women (Drabowicz, 2014) and economic growth and development of a nation (Eastin & Prakash, 2013). Thus, there is both an academic and a socio-political need to pay attention to gender-stratification in political participation. What is also limited in literature is attention to the potentially opposing effects of mobilization and reinforcement possible in a high-choice media environment (cf. Nisbet, 2008). A modern age news user is not platform bound and frequently engages in multi-modal news consumption (Chadha, 2018). It is thus necessary to gain a more nuanced understanding of the mobilizing–reinforcing effects of social media by considering a multi-media analytical approach. Furthermore, the geopolitical focus of the current literature has primarily been on advanced, high-income democracies with well-understood challenges to political participation. A finer understanding of digital media’s role in political participation can come about only by exploring other sociopolitical contexts (e.g., low-income democracies), which can also contextualize the findings from advanced democracies and offer newer insights. This study aims to fill the gaps in the research mentioned above by analyzing the pattern of gender inequality in both offline and online political participation in India. Both participation forms are considered because evidence suggests that online participation is a distinctive type of participation with fewer barriers to engagement than offline participation (Vissers & Stolle, 2014). An evaluation of both forms of participation in considering the concurrent effect of different media (print newspapers, television, radio, and social media) in mobilizing or reinforcing gender inequality will provide a refined understanding of the impact of media news use in political participation. In sum, by analyzing a low-income setting, this study not only helps to advance the theoretical understanding of the mobilization–reinforcement role of media in political participation, but also contributes to understanding how traditional and new media converges and simultaneously affect participatory behavior. The findings could help to identify hitherto unexplored latent factors in advanced democracies, or even be extrapolated to understand the cultural dynamic in young democracies or conservative societies elsewhere. India offers a worthy context because of its high-choice media environment, the growing role of social media in the political sphere, and its sociopolitical underpinnings. An eligible electorate of 900 million citizens can derive their political information from a high-choice media environment that is both complex and rare. Political information is available not only through traditional media—around 400 television news channels and ∼18,000 newspapers but also from web 2.0 platforms, including social media and private instant messaging apps. Although social media penetration is low (23%) compared with advanced democracies, its political significance for the citizenry is firmly established (Ahmed, Jaidka, & Cho, 2016; 2017; Neyazi, Kumar, & Semetko, 2016). Further, social media continues to proliferate, and the country already has the highest number of Facebook and WhatsApp users in the world (Datta, 2019). Beyond these media, unlike in advanced democracies, radio continues to be a pervasive news medium in India. It is frequently used for information on sociopolitical affairs, especially in rural areas where the reach of other media forms is limited. The medium also facilitates the distribution of content in local languages that find no space on television (Ramakrishnan, 2018). In sum, the high-choice media environment in India has the potential to facilitate unrestricted participation, yet it is also marred by numerous social stratifications. India ranks at a low 139 (out of 189 countries) in the UNDP Gender Inequality Index. There exists a grave disparity between men and women across varied areas, including health, education, and economics. This is also reflected in the digital arena, where only 29% of internet users are female. The 42% “digital gender gap” observed in the country is more extreme than the global average (Press Trust of India, 2017). The gender divide is often linked to the kinship rules rooted in the cultural and gender norms in India. Women are prevented from using social media by rural governing bodies and usually required to seek permission from males to buy a digital device (Datta, 2019). However, recent reports suggest that the gap is expected to be reduced in the coming years. Therefore, this setting of a low-income stable democracy witnessing a growing social media impact while suffering from a deep-rooted gender divide is a compelling case. Decades of political behavior research confirm the phenomenon of gender inequality in political participation, where men are more participatory in political activities than women (Ahmed & Cho, 2019; Dalton, 2008; Norris, 2002). Empirical evidence suggests that women show lower levels of political participation in all forms of engagement other than voting (Coffé & Bolzendahl, 2010; Quaranta & Dotti Sani, 2018). It is suggested that men are more likely to engage in politics because they have better access to resources (e.g., social networks and political interest), which are vital to political participation (Schlozman, Burns, & Verba, 1999). Others credit social processes and gender socialization for lower levels of participation among women (Lovenduski, 2005; Verba, Burns, & Schlozman, 1997). Beyond the varying explanations, there is longstanding support for gender inequality in political participation research. Thus, it is hypothesized that men are more likely to engage in offline (H1) and online (H2) political participation than women. Media use is known to influence political participation (Dilliplane, 2011; Scheufele, Nisbet, & Brossard, 2003; Shah, McLeod, & Yoon, 2001). Previous research suggests that the informational use of different media forms can have differential effects on participatory behavior. Although newspaper use is typically positively related to political participation (Norris, 1996; Shah et al. 2001), news use of television is either a weak (Bakker & de Vreese, 2011) or an insignificant predictor of political participation (Gil de Zúñiga, Puig-I-Abril, & Rojas, 2009). Informational use of social media is positively associated with both online (Gil de Zúñiga, Jung, & Valenzuela, 2012) and offline participation (Boulianne, 2019). However, there is a limited understanding of radio’s effect on political participation (Hofstetter & Gianos, 1997; Hollander, 1996). In sum, previous evidence suggests that the informational use of newspapers and social media leads to gains in both offline and online participation, but the findings on television and radio are inconsistent. Besides, there is inconclusive evidence of the simultaneous effect of different media on participation; it is difficult to hypothesize these relationships. Thus, given the above arguments, a research question is proposed: How are the informational uses of print newspapers, television, radio, and social media related to offline (RQ1) and online political participation (RQ2)? Nisbet (2008), in an analysis of concurrent media use influence on participatory gaps in Mali, found that radio news use reinforced the participatory gaps between men and women. Although this study advanced the concurrent media use scholarship, it did not consider the influence of social media (perhaps because social media was too nascent). Since then, in most democracies across the world, the media environment has drastically evolved, and social media has taken center stage in the political lives of millions. During this period, numerous studies have investigated the relationship between gender and political participation; however, the mobilizing–reinforcing effect of social media on gender-driven participatory inequality is still understudied. Most studies continue to use gender as a control variable rather than developing frameworks around it (see Vochocová, Štětka, & Mazák, 2016). Of the evidence that exists, some have found social media serve to mobilize women and reduce inequality in protest participation (Valenzuela et al. 2016), whereas others have observed that men use social media more for political information (Gray, Gainous, & Wagner, 2017) thereby also reinforcing gender inequality in online participation (Brandtzaeg, 2017; Vochocová et al., 2016). To the best of our knowledge, no study has analyzed the simultaneous mobilizing–reinforcing effect of different media on gender inequality in both offline and online political participation. Thus, a research question is proposed: Do the various forms of media use (print newspapers, television, radio, and social media) for news purposes amplify or reduce offline (RQ3) and online (RQ4) political participation gaps that exist among men and women? This study uses the 2016 Pew Global Attitudes Survey data. The survey draws on multi-stage area probability design and includes responses from 2,464 adults (age 18 and above). For more details on the data and measures, check the Appendix. Dependent variable. For offline political participation, the respondents were asked whether, in the past year, they engaged in offline political activities (e.g., attended a political campaign). An index of offline political participation was created by summing three items (M = 0.90; SD = 1.06, α = 0.75). Similarly, an index of online participation (e.g., signed an online petition) was created by summing three items (M = 0.36; SD = 0.85, α = 0.87). Independent variables. First, gender was coded as 0 = female and 1 = male (51.5% males). Second, media news use was recorded on a four-point scale by asking respondents how often they get news from (a) print newspapers, (b) television, (c) radio, and (d) social media (such as Facebook and Twitter). Television (M = 3.36; SD = 0.99) was the most favored medium, followed by print newspapers (M = 2.54; SD = 1.23), radio (M = 1.54; SD = 0.88), and social media (M = 1.43; SD = 0.95). Controls. State-level structural controls included (a) literacy rate (M = 73.39; SD = 5.86)1 (b) women empowerment index (WEI; M = 0.31; SD = 0.09), where a higher score indicates higher levels of empowerment among women in the state, and (c) government women-welfare support (M = 165.27; Median = 65.85, SD = 175.90), which measured by the level of government funding (in crore rupees) to the state for a women-welfare scheme. For more details, see the Appendix. Individual-level controls included (a) age (M = 39.06; SD = 15.92), (b) education (Median = upper primary school), (c) religion (Others = 0, Hindu = 1), and (d) urbanity (Median = 6), recorded on a 6-point scale (1 = metropolitan, 2 = tier 1 city to 6 = rural villages), (e) basic financial hardship, measured by asking if the respondent had enough money to buy food, clothing, and medical care for the family. The responses measured on a two-point scale (1= yes, 2 = no) was recoded (0 = no, 1 = yes) and combined to form an index (M = 0.25; SD = 0.39, α = 0.86). Finally, for exploring whether different media use eases or amplifies gender inequality in political participation, interaction terms were created between media news use variables and gender. Table 1 shows the regression results testing the hypothesis and research questions. The results support the hypothesis that men were more active in both offline (β = 0.159, p < .001) and online participation (β = 0.054, p < .05). This corroborates previous findings across most Western societies confirming gender inequality in political participation. Predicting Offline and Online Political Participation Note: Cell entries are final‐entry OLS standardized Beta (β) coefficients. p < .10; p < .05; p < .01; p < .001. Predicting Offline and Online Political Participation Note: Cell entries are final‐entry OLS standardized Beta (β) coefficients. p < .10; p < .05; p < .01; p < .001. It is also observed that those with lower education levels (β = −0.067, p < .05) and those residing in rural areas (β = 0.086, p < .001) are more active in offline participation. This evidence is a new insight into what has been commonly observed in the literature, that education is a positive predictor of participation (Verba, Schlozman, & Brady, 1995). RQ1 investigated the association between media news use and political participation. The results suggest that using radio (β = 0.057, p < .05, offline; β = 0.085, p < .01, online) and social media (β = 0.075, p < .01, offline; β = 0.135, p < .001, online) for news consumption were positively associated with both forms of political participation. However, both television and print newspaper use were found to be statistically insignificant predictors. These findings confirm the growing impact of social media in political engagement in low-income democracies such as India, where the effects of web 2.0 technologies have often come into question. If anything, the results highlight the potential positives of social media for the citizenry within political life. These results also highlight the impact of a grassroots media form—radio—which has a greater reach than most other media forms in India. Collectively, the results of RQ1 draw attention to the varying effects of different media forms in a high-choice media environment. It is recommended that future scholars should consider the simultaneous effect of various media forms on citizens’ political behavior. Next, RQ2 evaluated the degree to which the concurrent media news use would mobilize or reinforce gender-based participation inequality. The findings (Table 2) show that the interactions between gender and news use of television (β = −0.214, p < .05, offline; β = −0.220, p < .05, online) and radio (β = p < .05, offline; β = p < .05, online) were found to be for both of participation. Social media use (β = p < .05) was found to be associated with gender inequality in online participation. These interactions are in The results suggest that at low levels of television and radio news the participatory gaps between men and women are compared with higher levels of media It is that news use of radio and television is to the gender-based participatory divide for both offline and online participation, but social media can the Media and Gender Predicting Offline and Online Political Participation all variables Table Cell entries are final‐entry OLS standardized Beta (β) coefficients. p < Media and Gender Predicting Offline and Online Political Participation all variables Table Cell entries are final‐entry OLS standardized Beta (β) coefficients. p < content on the radio in India is However, of there has been an to more women in and also to focus on content for women 2014). radio in the country have created social and political among women There is a focus on women in rural areas and on gender The findings are a positive of the of the radio in India. It is also to that television news use as a participatory for women but as a for men (see of could this gender First, media that use of television use can to and in political & 1997; & Semetko, 2002). These effects to be for because they have been found to show higher social than women in India & It women can news content and the information into for political participation. Second, this gender and the in men could also to the in the news content by the genders, Although there has been research exploring gender in television in India, limited evidence suggests that there has been a in news among women 2017). Women more in than and they to television news as compared with the male of and 2014; India, 2017). in analysis of news in India, found in news content by the In a country where the is of the and of television news channels often focus on a of the news or news such as and political 2014). the the is by the female in a The then, is on news and and 2014). This content is likely more informational and as compared with and It was also found that higher social media news use was associated with greater gender-based participation inequality. The as to social media not it the gender divide in participation in India in cultural barriers for women in the Women are from using social media, and there exists a gender inequality in the number of men and women users on social media platforms 2017). within our women (M = SD = were using social media frequently than men (M = SD = = p < the women use social media, online and are which restricts from their India, 2018). a environment could women from using the medium or from the positive of the the other men would exploit the information environment. However, more recent by the government to women from and 2017) and a of women using social media platforms to and support to the that social media use could as a The question asked in this study how the informational use of media the gender divide in offline and online political participation in a low-income The of gender stratification in political participation is the need for to advance the participation of women in The media use suggest that radio and social media use are associated with higher participation but higher social media use is also linked with a more online participation gap between men and women. radio and television use is associated with reduced participatory The findings the in low-income democracies with a low literacy radio still a mobilization especially within the rural The the need for future scholars to the simultaneous effect of media the political behavior of the especially mobilization–reinforcement effects in political are The concurrent media use analysis the varying role of different media in participatory The findings also from the commonly positive relationship between education and political participation. The association found in this study is better in the context of the divide in India. The rural with lower literacy is more active compared with their especially that are more to (e.g., the of previous studies have that the more in rural areas commonly form that their in political affairs, while political engagement in is should pay more attention to factors in understanding political participation in contexts where the political considered are more than those in or advanced Western The findings also highlight the role of social media in mobilization and political participation. In rural areas, social media to mobilizing socio-political information in that were the of social media and In the of positive relationship between newspaper use and participation previous findings of its mobilizat

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