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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMajor New Study Shows That Political Polarization Is Mainly A Right-Wing Phenomenon
A major new study of social-media sharing patterns shows that political polarization is more common among conservatives than liberals and that the exaggerations and falsehoods emanating from right-wing media outlets such as Breitbart News have infected mainstream discourse.
Though the report, published by the Columbia Journalism Review, does an excellent job of laying out the challenge posed by Breitbart and its ilk, it is less than clear on how to counter it. Successfully standing up for truthful reporting in this environment could usher in a new golden age for the Fourth Estate, the authors write. But members of the public who care about such journalism are already flocking to news organizations like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and, locally, The Boston Globe, all of which have experienced a surge in paid subscriptions since the election of President Trump. Thats heartening, but there are no signs that its had any effect on the popularity or influence of the right-wing partisan media.
The CJR study, by scholars at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, at Harvard Law School, and the MIT Center for Civic Media, examined more than 1.25 million articles between April 1, 2015, and Election Day. What they found was that Hillary Clinton supporters shared stories from across a relatively broad political spectrum, including center-right sources such as The Wall Street Journal, mainstream news organizations like the Times and the Post, and partisan liberal sites like The Huffington Post and The Daily Beast.
By contrast, Donald Trump supporters clustered around Breitbart headed until recently by Stephen Bannon, the hard-right nationalist now ensconced in the White House and a few like-minded websites such as The Daily Caller, Alex Jones' Infowars, and The Gateway Pundit. Even Fox News was dropped from the favored circle back when it was attacking Trump during the primaries, and only re-entered the fold once it had made its peace with the future president.
http://news.wgbh.org/2017/03/15/politics-government/major-new-study-shows-political-polarization-mainly-right-wing
C_U_L8R
(44,998 posts)That's the underlaying myth that needs to be smashed.
Boomerproud
(7,951 posts)False equivalency is only found in the media. We know better.
bullwinkle428
(20,629 posts)Orrex
(63,203 posts)meow2u3
(24,761 posts)tosh
(4,423 posts)Some of us have known this forever.
Wounded Bear
(58,647 posts)FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)Yes, we need protection for unpopular speech, but if we don't find a way to curb propaganda based on lies, we're cooked.
Flame away. Something must be done.