Minimal Effects or Not YET? Do Media Still Have a Role on Audiences’ Political and Social Involvement?

The present article aims at addressing the role played by media in influencing young people’s political and social attitudes. In an era where debates about minimal media effects are arousing, we want to analyse if and how media still have a power. Thus, by means of a classic framing experiment (N=769), we tested the impact and implications of media coverage on political and social involvement. Results show that, at least for young people in Romania, media might be an attitude changing agent. However, media are not the only responsible and we urge future studies to revisit other possible influences – either individual or contextual.