Complementarity in Consumption of News Types Across Traditional and New Media

Abstract

A substantive body of research on the relationship between traditional and new media builds upon the competition-based displacement theory, based on the argument that media types compete with each other for resources. This paper takes an alternative approach and suggests the idea of media complementarity. Media complementarity implies a congruence between the consumption of online and traditional media within a specific content domain. The results demonstrate support for media complementarity/ with users of online news in a specific content area also being more likely to seek out news in the same area from traditional media outlets.