Citation

Smith SL, Wilson BJ. Media Psychol. 2002; 4(1): 1-26.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1207/S1532785XMEP0401_01

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The present study assesses children's reactions to television news. A total of 125 children from two grade levels (K-3rd vs. 4th-6th) were interviewed about their comprehension of and emotional responses to everyday news stories. The results show that older children are more likely to understand, as well as be frightened by, television news than are younger children. Both age groups were able to recall and describe news stories that made them feel upset. However, age-related differences were observed in the types of stories that younger and older children recalled as scary. Finally, there is some evidence that repeated exposure to television news affects children's perceptions of how much crime occurs in distant communities. The findings are consistent with developmental differences in how children process mass media messages.
The present study assesses children's reactions to television news. A total of 125 children from two grade levels (K-3rd vs. 4th-6th) were interviewed about their comprehension of and emotional responses to everyday news stories. The results show that older children are more likely to understand, as well as be frightened by, television news than are younger children. Both age groups were able to recall and describe news stories that made them feel upset. However, age-related differences were observed in the types of stories that younger and older children recalled as scary. Finally, there is some evidence that repeated exposure to television news affects children's perceptions of how much crime occurs in distant communities. The findings are consistent with developmental differences in how children process mass media messages.