Cultural Clicks: Why Strategic Election News Does Not Resonate the Same Across English- and Spanish-Language Media Audiences in the United States

Abstract

This study examines news sharing during U.S. primary debates, adding two comparative dimensions to existing research: it compares news-sharing behavior between English- and Spanish-language media and across Facebook and X/Twitter audiences. Our results contradict previous assumptions that horserace and strategic coverage of election news appeal to news audiences cross-culturally. News posts focusing on horserace coverage, candidate personalities, and candidate attacks were more likely to be shared by English media audiences than by audiences sharing debate news from Spanish-language broadcasters. Yet for both English- and Spanish-language audiences, strategic coverage of the debates was more likely to be shared on X/Twitter than Facebook. These findings highlight the importance of not only structural but also sociocultural differences that explain news sharing. Future research may want to critically question the homogeneity of nation states about social media news audiences.