Assessing the Effect of Media Tone on Attitudes toward Muslims

Does the tone of media coverage directly affect public attitudes? We use an online between-subjects experiment to show that exposure to articles of quantifiably different valences about Muslims or Catholics affects reported attitudes toward each of those groups. We also identify anxiety as a key mediator between exposure to articles of different valences and attitudes about each group. Our findings suggest that articles of a particular tone can influence views of social groups.