Sex, Lies, and War: How Soft News Brings Foreign Policy to the Inattentive Public
Baum argues that entertainment-oriented soft news media give many otherwise inattentive people incidental exposure to information about high-profile public issues as a by-product of seeking entertainment. He tests this with statistical analyses of the link between individual media consumption and attentiveness to several recent issues, including comparison issues with and without features that suit soft news programmes. He finds that information presented in a soft news context has reached the attention of people who are not politically involved.
Baum argues that entertainment-oriented soft news media give many otherwise inattentive people incidental exposure to information about high-profile public issues as a by-product of seeking entertainment. He tests this with statistical analyses of the link between individual media consumption and attentiveness to several recent issues, including comparison issues with and without features that suit soft news programmes. He finds that information presented in a soft news context has reached the attention of people who are not politically involved.
Written from the abstract as shown on the OpenAlex record, read 2026-11-04.
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Baum, M. A. (2002). Sex, Lies, and War: How Soft News Brings Foreign Policy to the Inattentive Public. American Political Science Review, 96(1), 91-109.