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Article: MEDIA USE, SOCIAL STRUCTURE, AND BELIEF IN 9/11 CONSPIRACY THEORIES
- Article from:
- Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly
- Article date:
- July 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Summer 2007. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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A survey of 1,010 randomly selected adults asked about media use and belief in three conspiracy theories about the attacks of September 11, 2001. "Paranoid style" and "cultural sociology" theories are outlined, and empirical support is found for both. Patterns vary somewhat by conspiracy theory, but members of less powerful groups (racial minorities, lower social class, women, younger ages) are more likely to believe at least one of the conspiracies, as are those with low levels of media involvement and consumers of less legitimate media (blogs and grocery store tabloids). Consumers of legitimate media (daily newspapers and network TV news) are less likely to believe at least one of the ...