“Everything is Biased”: Populist Supporters’ Folk Theories of Journalism

Populist supporters have a complex relationship with journalism (e.g., embracing elites’ negative rhetoric, yet consuming news profusely). This study explores this relationship. The notion of folk theories informs an inductive analysis thirty-three in-depth interviews conducted in 2021 right-wing and left-wing populist the United States Spain to understand how they (RQ1) make sense their consumption habits (RQ2) navigate current high-choice media environment stay informed. Findings reveal three interconnected that drew from explaining consumption: (1) “everything is biased,” (2) “it’s way seeing what other people think,” (3) pleasurable source information.” additionally support important role emotion underlying these theories, which helped participants reconcile views pleasure derived meeting ingrained normative democratic ideals.