Can a Political Documentary Influence Foreign Policy Attitudes? The Agenda-Setting, Priming, and Framing Effects of CBC's 'Masters of Space'

Despite their rising popularity in recent years, political documentaries have been overlooked by communication scholars as a source of influence on public opinion. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by examining the agenda-setting, priming, and framing effects of the CBC documentary Masters of Space. A quasi-experiment reveals that Masters of Space has both agenda-setting and framing effects on viewers, while no conventional priming effects are detected. In particular, the documentary seems to raise perceptions that space weaponization and nuclear proliferation are important issues and that satellites are important to one's personal way of life. Viewing the documentary also sparks opposition to Canada's involvement in missile defence, while increasing support for Canada-United States cooperation on space debris tracking. Finally, the film appears to convince viewers that America's space policy is aggressive towards other countries. These findings show that political documentaries do not only educate and entertain; they can influence foreign policy attitudes.