Media Bias

Wally

BrownCafe Innovator & King of Puns
One of the reasons we are seeing tremendous polarization today is the media has lost total control of the narrative. They still try to spin, but people see through it.
 

oldngray

nowhere special
One of the reasons we are seeing tremendous polarization today is the media has lost total control of the narrative. They still try to spin, but people see through it.
It backfired on them the last election when it was so blatant and disgusted many voters.
 

Wally

BrownCafe Innovator & King of Puns
This President may also be a new model on how to handle the bias media. Never cave and always move forward because they will always be against you. Don't be afraid of them ever.
 

It will be fine

Well-Known Member
This President may also be a new model on how to handle the bias media. Never cave and always move forward because they will always be against you. Don't be afraid of them ever.
He’s not a model. It doesn’t work for anyone else that tries to mimic him. It only works if you have no capacity for shame.
 

Wally

BrownCafe Innovator & King of Puns
He’s not a model. It doesn’t work for anyone else that tries to mimic him. It only works if you have no capacity for shame.
He proves you do not have to fear them.

The traditional way was to do nothing, be afraid, and take the continuous bashing.

Nope, no more. We are fighting back.
 

Wally

BrownCafe Innovator & King of Puns
Clinton had the media on his side but nothing like what they did for Obama.
Any bad news during the Obama years was buried on page 45 of the Times, never the front page. That's why the news stories like record America's on food stamps or record unemployment were never an issue.
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
Any bad news during the Obama years was buried on page 45 of the Times, never the front page. That's why the news stories like record America's on food stamps or record unemployment were never an issue.
Obama could do (or not do) stuff and no one said BOO about it!!
 

Old Man Jingles

Rat out of a cage
Consuming politicized news from both sides doesn't help

Viewing partisan news reports from both the conservative and liberal viewpoints doesn't make people more accepting of citizens on the other side of the political fence, new research finds.

A study of people in the United States and Israel examined citizens' media consumption: specifically, how often they viewed liberal and conservative news outlets and how often they viewed mainstream, relatively neutral news sites.

Results showed that people who consumed a greater amount of partisan media content were more polarized – even if they viewed partisan content from both sides.

That finding is worrisome, said R. Kelly Garrett, lead author of the international study and associate professor of communication at The Ohio State University.

"It means that getting your news from two partisan outlets on opposite sides of an issue is not the same as getting your news from one relatively neutral news outlet that tries to present both sides," Garrett said.

Rather than seeking truth, people who visit both liberal and conservative news sites may be seeking an opportunity to see how wrong the other side is, he said.

"These results really underscore the importance of preserving a nonpartisan news media."

The study appears online in the journal Human Communication Research.

The findings are important because they were essentially replicated in two countries (the United States and Israel) where the political culture and the news media are both very different from each other, Garrett said.

The U.S. data came from a survey of more than 600 citizens taken in the fall of 2012, before the presidential election. The Israeli data came from a survey of about 400 citizens just before and after the 2013 Israel national election.

In both countries, respondents were asked to describe their political leanings. There were then several measures designed to assess polarization. In the United States, for example, people were asked to rate how favorably they felt about political figures like Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

In another measure of polarization, the Americans were asked how they would feel about having one of their children marry someone from the opposing political party, and whether they thought people from the opposing party were patriotic, intelligent, selfish and/or mean, among other traits.

The question for the researchers was: How much were these measures of polarization affected by the media that participants consumed?

American respondents were asked how often they went to online liberal news sites (such as Huffington Post, Daily Kos) or major news organizations that are frequently characterized as favoring liberal positions (New York Times, MSNBC). They were also asked about their visits to conservative online news sites (such as Drudge Report, TownHall) or major news organizations frequently characterized as favoring conservative positions (Wall Street Journal, FOX News.)

Respondents also reported their use of mainstream, relatively neutral online news sites, including USA Today, CBS News and Yahoo! News.

The results showed that the more people visited partisan sites associated with their own views, the more polarized they were. In other words, they liked their own candidates more, and liked the opposing candidates less. They were also less likely to want their child to marry someone from the opposing political party, and were more likely to associate members of the opposing party with negative traits (such as being mean) and less likely to associate them with positive terms (like honest).

"Heavy use of partisan media doesn't just affect your attitudes about the other party's candidates," Garrett said.

"It also affects how you think about the other party's supporters – you'll be more likely to see them as less patriotic and more close-minded, for example."

People who visit partisan sites associated with the opposing party are less polarized – they don't have such negative attitudes about the candidates and supporters of the other political party.

But Garrett and his colleagues found a troubling interaction effect: Polarization is actually amplified when people view a lot of partisan content associated with their own political views and also a lot of content associated with the opposition.

There was some evidence of that in the United States, but even stronger evidence in Israel, where the researchers could see how use of partisan media on both political sides at one point in time was linked to further polarization later on.

Garrett said he thinks he knows why.

"We know that partisan media will ridicule people on the other side, and may even encourage their supporters to go to the opposition websites to see the horrible things they are saying," he said.

"So people aren't consuming media on both sides of the issue to understand what the truth is. They're seeking out the other side just to see how wrong-headed they are."

Garrett said that a nonpartisan, neutral media still has its place in society.

"Our results in the United States underscore the importance of preserving a nonpartisan news media," he said.

"The mainstream media have a value beyond the business itself and could help limit some of the partisanship we have seen in this country."

###

Reprinted from a public press release provided by Ohio State University and posted on Brown Cafe by Cheryl and reposted here.
Partisan media driving a wedge between citizens
Discussion in 'Current Events' started by cheryl, May 8, 2014.
 

Box Ox

Well-Known Member
Consuming politicized news from both sides doesn't help

Viewing partisan news reports from both the conservative and liberal viewpoints doesn't make people more accepting of citizens on the other side of the political fence, new research finds.

Only thing that helps for me is having real life conversations with people I like who are on both sides of the political spectrum.
 

Old Man Jingles

Rat out of a cage
Only thing that helps for me is having real life conversations with people I like who are on both sides of the political spectrum.
I agree ... I'm much more liberal, especially like a Civil Libertarian or Social Liberal, in my real life.
Most of my friends are Black, hippies or homeless so politics doesn't come up much
except to make snide remarks about Trump and the PoPo.
Almost all topics are about racism, music, not using drugs and spirituality.
 
Top