How Fox News viewership increases belief in the anti‑immigrant great replacement theory
cobbcountycourier.com
Fox News viewership is doing more than shaping opinions — it's a live case study in how media agenda-setting can mainstream a fringe conspiracy theory into mass belief.
Agenda-Setting TheorySocial Identity TheoryMedia Cultivation TheoryConspiracy Mentality
Theory Briefing
- White Americans who regularly watch Fox News show measurably higher agreement with the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, per the study's findings.
- Agenda-setting theory predicts that repeated media framing of immigration as an existential threat primes audiences to accept replacement narratives.
- The research adds empirical weight to concerns that partisan news ecosystems can radicalize ordinary viewers without explicit endorsement of extremist claims.