From Minnpost: On Trump's stable approval numbers and today's tribalized media landscape
"Karen, I agree with you that many Far Right "news Outlets" are way out there. However I also find that the Mother Jones, Think Progress, Dailykos, etc outlets are pretty out there also. I found this piece from Fox pretty interesting. I really mostly on NPR, CNN, NBC, etc, however I can see how they are pulled in to covering symptoms instead of the real problems. They cover whoever is talking or protesting... Stossel Red Blue
Eric, Excellent piece. These echo chambers that the tribe members live in worry me more than anything else.After almost 10 years of challenging both sides on my blog, I don't think any of the people have changed their views in any significant way. I am not sure how to bring Americans together when they seem determined to segregate." G2A
9 comments:
I think the problem or the issue rather, is underestimated. Trump is the target of almost universal ridicule in the media, and not just in the news shows. And really this is across all media. Even the news side of Fox News is harshly critical of Trump. The only refuge he has left now are the opinion shows on Fox News.
--Hiram
One of the assumptions often made out there is that people are influenced by the media. I would go so far as to suggest that this assumption is made on both sides, despite not generally being a fan of both siderism. But I take a contrary view. I don't think people are all that influenced by media. I don't think they even watch it that much. Ratings for network news shows are abysmal, and cable tv shows, in absolute terms are mostly unwatched. The notion that they have impact is, in part, promulgated by the media itself which needs present itself as powerful and influential in order to attract advertisers.
--Hiram
In 10 years, have you changed your views in any significant way?
I think the answer is kind of.
Mostly I have learned so much over the past 10 years. Just think of all the 1000s of links that I have been provided and read during this period. I mean have read all of the shorter ones and skimmed all the longer ones.
Some areas I have shifted with regard to are:
- gun control
- education responsibility (parents vs school)
- progressive tax policy / deficits
The challenge with me is that I started out somewhat in the middle so I did not have too far to shift. I have always been okay with LGBT rights and saw pros / cons to ACA.
From MinnPost comments. You will need to go there to Karen's long comment.
Wow, that was quite a comment. I am not here to defend Left or Right leaning media, but here are my thoughts.
1. There are many contributing factors to our "popular discontent". Unfortunately both tribes seem to prefer to focus only on the ones they are against. Personally I think American consumers and pension funds contribute the most to the issues you brought up. We want low costs, high quality and good retirement returns. How many people driving a Prius, Subaru, etc care that they have almost Zero US content? How many people invest looking for a company that pays their employees better than market?
2, Left leaning media loves terms like "draconian cuts", "seeking to destroy government", etc. They both play those games.
3. Left over uses xenophobic, etc when discussing things like border security.
4. The Right does like law and order. The Left wants to shut down businesses that refuse to serve LGBT people. To me government control is government control...
5. Well charity was intended to be voluntary, and God was to judge who failed the test. Not sure "forced charity" / wealth transfer was covered in the good book.
6. Can't argue, some on the right are way out there. As for welfare, I will agree that it is used to get votes until I actually the Democratic party demanding significant learning and improvements from recipients. Until then it is just co-dependency at it's worst.
7. The Left chants right back... "Public Good, Private Bad"
8. I don't know, the Left uses a lot of terrible labels to insult Conservatives.
Personally I find AllSides ratings useful.
https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/media-bias-ratings
From Minnpost.
"This has the potential to degenerate into a flame war, so I will let our respective posts speak for themselves." Karen
"However remember from Eric's previous post on Tribalism.
"I know I’m guilty of tribal thinking, from the liberal side. Many of you probably are too. Of course, we secretly believe conservatives, and especially those who have somehow hitched their wagon to Trump, are guiltier of it. But Sullivan is not interested in mediating a debate over which side is worse. He will pound on you, and yes, you too, to do your own thinking and not to worry whether some of your thoughts are out of sync with your partisan or ideological tribe." Eric Black
MinnPost Tribalism
I spend roughly an equal amount of time challenging the beliefs of both tribes. That is why I chose the hobby I did. I guess I am curious how often you are out of sync with the Liberal tribe? What does that mean for better or worse?
How will we pull this country back together? Or will it only get worse?" G2A
just because your views are to the left of Jerry's doesn't make you a centrist or moderate. I think you are slightly delusional regarding your own idealogy.
As long as my Father keeps calling me a Socialist...
And you keep saying I am a Conservative ...
I know I am somewhere between you 2... :-)
And every "test" I take puts me just Right of Center...
Blame the Internet. I have posted previously about Confirmation Bias and the Iron Law of Knowledge. Couple those with the instantaneous and anonymous nature of the Internet and you have a recipe for runaway tribalism. It isn't just the media, but rather all of our information sources and even the way we process information. The most surprising thing I have found is not differences of opinion, nor a difference of which "facts" on which opinions are based. The most surprising thing I have found is that if you tell someone an undeniable truth they will simply… Deny it!
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