Doo-Hun Choi
Considering the changing news consumption patterns driven by new media technology and the decline of traditional local news outlets, the current research explored how the use of news portals for local news as emerging channels of news consumption affects the news audiences' psychological health, particularly their subjective well-being. This study investigated how thwarted belongingness mediates the association between the use of news portals for local news and subjective well-being and how this mediating path varies according to one's level of self-esteem. Using data from a national online survey in the Republic of Korea, the present research analyzed the direct relationships, mediation effect, and moderated mediation relationship among news portal use for local news, thwarted belongingness, self-esteem, and subjective well-being. Findings show that using news portals for local news has a negative relationship with thwarted belongingness, which is negatively related with subjective well-being. The mediating impact of thwarted belongingness on the association between news portal use for local news and subjective well-being became more pronounced as self-esteem increased. Results suggest that greater news portal use for local news may be associated with higher subjective well-being through lower levels of thwarted belongingness, highlighting the psychological health benefits of local news engagement through digital platforms.