Startin, Nicholas JamesHarris, PamelaWhisenhunt, Jackson Cole2024-07-122024-07-122024Whisenhunt, Jackson Cole. "Does Having Different Information Receiving Habits Impact Generational Cohorts on Their Perceptions of Free and Fair Elections in the United States?. BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2024.https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14490/176Thesis (B.A. in Art History)--John Cabot University, Spring 2024.: In recent years, the American public has witnessed an increasingly widening divide along partisan lines. At the same time, political media continues to permeate further into our private lives through our dependence on cellular devices, bringing along the rise of “Fake News” exposure. It is becoming evident that not all generations have equal experience for navigating such a media rich environment, and therefore, are unequally prepared to be exposed to and engage with political media to the extent we are. Such a disparity has caused different generational cohorts of Americans to consume political media in their own distinct ways, sometimes deliberately, such as turning on the news on the home television and sometimes incidentally, while scrolling through social media or while messaging people. This contrasts with the past when previous generations of Americans were exposed to the same and consistent levels of traditional media, thanks to scheduled news programs or the morning news paper. Given that political media and “Fake News” are now omnipresent in our lives and considering that not all generations are equally used to and prepared for this actuality, the question arises on to what extent attitudes towards political media, democracy and perceptions of free and fair elections vary between different generational cohorts. To what extent have political media outlets influenced these trends? Is the political divide within the United States more aligned to political affiliation, does it reflect the growing political cleavages that distinguish and identify members to a political party, or is the political divide rooted in different habits and interests cross generationally?iii, 46 pagesenAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Political campaignsElectionsMass media and public opinionOnline manipulationSocial network influenceThesis