| The idea that news about the economy can change a person's economic outlook is intuitive to non-experts. Yet its validity has received scanty efforts at confirmation by researchers in comparison with research in political communication, science communication, and health communication. The neglect of economic communication seems inexplicable when one considers that economics is at least as major a part of both media coverage and everyday life as politics, science and health. Economics is an obtrusive issue; it is salient in people's everyday lives. Nevertheless, its complexity means that media are likely one of the primary tools we use to understand this aspect of our public and private lives.;The existence of economic media effects, among others in a field I call economic communication, has not often been tested. This dissertation estimated exposure to economic content in two important broadcast venues: local TV news and electoral campaign advertisements. The measures were rich multilevel estimates using surveyed television consumption habits and market-specific content analyses to generate an estimate for message exposure. These estimates were geographically and behaviorally tailored to the respondents to a panel survey of personal financial attitudes.;Results were robust and revealing. Economic content in the news depresses financial evaluations, and the volume of election advertisements (though not the degree to which they were about economics) also depresses feelings of personal financial security. Both results were observed in the longer term, but not immediately visible. The effects emerged, or became more detectable, over time. From effects that only become visible after the election hoopla dies down, to effects that arise from political advertising, media effects on economic outcomes seems to go hand in hand with political communication.;While this research could address only a narrow question of certain types of media effects on one type of economic attitudes, unanswered questions abound in the field of economic communication. This dissertation reviews some of the extant research and suggests future areas of scholarship. The underlying goal of this work, then, is to begin the hard work of developing the theory, methods, and measures of economic communication research. |
