The Role of Media Competition in Elections: How Right-Wing Alternative Media Affect Educated Voters in the Czech Republic

Abstract

In the competitive landscape of political communication, alternative right-wing media have become a key player in shaping public trust and opinion, often spreading narratives that challenge traditional information sources and include misinformation. Although a relationship between the consumption of alternative right-wing media and voting preferences has been established, it remains unclear what role education plays in this connection. Recent research suggests that this role may not be statistically significant, even though it is often assumed that educated individuals should be more critical of misinformation. The objective of this study is to investigate the validity of this relationship in the Czech Republic. A sample of 807 Czech respondents was used to test the influence of higher education on the choice of the type and number of sources of political news, the belief in the information published in these media, and finally, the role of education level between the consumption of political news and the choice of illiberal political parties such as ANO, SPD and KSČM. Interestingly, alternative news media are perceived as a reliable source of political information, particularly by those with a college education. However, exposure to such media does not appear to be a significant predictor of support for populist anti-system political parties, in contrast to less educated citizens.