Mainstream Media Skepticism and Exposure to Sectorial and Extranational News Media: The Case of Israel

In recent decades, audience options for current affairs information have been multiplying. Globalization and media segmentation present citizens with a variety of news outlets for political information in addition to those offered by the mainstream communication channels, which once dominated every nation state. In this article, survey data gathered in Israel (N ??1,122) are analyzed to examine the association between mainstream media skepticism and exposure to sectorial and extranational news media. Findings show that skepticism toward the mainstream news media is indeed related to sectorial and extranational news consumption; however, it is not related to consumption of such nonmainstream media exclusively. Results are discussed in light of theories of the public sphere.