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http://www.journalism.org/2014/10/21/political-polarization-media-habits/
QuotePolitical Polarization & Media Habits
BY AMY MITCHELL, JEFFREY GOTTFRIED, JOCELYN KILEY AND KATERINA EVA MATSA
Striking Differences Between Liberals and Conservatives, But They Also Share Common Ground
When it comes to getting news about politics and government, liberals and conservatives inhabit different worlds. There is little overlap in the news sources they turn to and trust. And whether discussing politics online or with friends, they are more likely than others to interact with like-minded individuals, according to a new Pew Research Center study.
The project – part of a year-long effort to shed light on political polarization in America – looks at the ways people get information about government and politics in three different settings: the news media, social media and the way people talk about politics with friends and family. In all three areas, the study finds that those with the most consistent ideological views on the left and right have information streams that are distinct from those of individuals with more mixed political views – and very distinct from each other.
These cleavages can be overstated. The study also suggests that in America today, it is virtually impossible to live in an ideological bubble. Most Americans rely on an array of outlets – with varying audience profiles – for political news. And many consistent conservatives and liberals hear dissenting political views in their everyday lives.
Yet as our major report on political polarization found, those at both the left and right ends of the spectrum, who together comprise about 20% of the public overall, have a greater impact on the political process than do those with more mixed ideological views. They are the most likely to vote, donate to campaigns and participate directly in politics. The five ideological groups in this analysis (consistent liberals, mostly liberals, mixed, mostly conservatives and consistent conservatives) are based on responses to 10 questions about a range of political values. That those who express consistently conservative or consistently liberal opinions have different ways of informing themselves about politics and government is not surprising. But the depth of these divisions – and the differences between those who have strong ideological views and those who do not – are striking.
Overall, the study finds that consistent conservatives:
Are tightly clustered around a single news source, far more than any other group in the survey, with 47% citing Fox News as their main source for news about government and politics.
Express greater distrust than trust of 24 of the 36 news sources measured in the survey. At the same time, fully 88% of consistent conservatives trust Fox News.
Are, when on Facebook, more likely than those in other ideological groups to hear political opinions that are in line with their own views.
Are more likely to have friends who share their own political views. Two-thirds (66%) say most of their close friends share their views on government and politics.
By contrast, those with consistently liberal views:
Are less unified in their media loyalty; they rely on a greater range of news outlets, including some – like NPR and the New York Times– that others use far less.
Express more trust than distrust of 28 of the 36 news outlets in the survey. NPR, PBS and the BBC are the most trusted news sources for consistent liberals.
Are more likely than those in other ideological groups to block or "defriend" someone on a social network – as well as to end a personal friendship – because of politics. :lol:
Are more likely to follow issue-based groups, rather than political parties or candidates, in their Facebook feeds.
Those with down-the-line conservative and liberal views do share some common ground; they are much more likely than others to closely follow government and political news. This carries over to their discussions of politics and government. Nearly four-in-ten consistent conservatives (39%) and 30% of consistent liberals tend to drive political discussions – that is, they talk about politics often, say others tend to turn to them for information rather than the reverse, and describe themselves as leaders rather than listeners in these kinds of conversations. Among those with mixed ideological views, just 12% play a similar role.
Though I perhaps more closely identify with the Left now than I do with the Right, I can't really imagine being such a stuffy asshole that I would stop being someone's friend because they're a Republican. :huh:
ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and The Ed Schultz Show are not included in this graphic because audience sample sizes are too small to analyze. :Embarrass:
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on October 24, 2014, 06:28:04 PM
ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and The Ed Schultz Show are not included in this graphic because audience sample sizes are too small to analyze. :Embarrass:
Hahahaha
I also find it funny that folks get their news from comedy shows like The Daily Show, Colbert Report, and Rush Limbaugh.
I read the WSJ myself. :smarty:
I get my news from Languish, the Daily Show and The Economist, and triangulate. :unsure:
Quote from: FunkMonk on October 25, 2014, 03:33:35 AM
I also find it funny that folks get their news from comedy shows like The Daily Show, Colbert Report, and Rush Limbaugh.
I read the WSJ myself. :smarty:
How murdochian.
The news sources on the right are obvious, but the ones on the left are bizarre.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 25, 2014, 03:13:31 PM
The news sources on the right are obvious, but the ones on the left are bizarre.
Really? :rolleyes:
I don't know what effect you're going for.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 25, 2014, 03:23:04 PM
I don't know what effect you're going for.
"Yi said something mind-numbingly dumb" effect, mostly.
Awesome.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 25, 2014, 03:13:31 PM
The news sources on the right are obvious, but the ones on the left are bizarre.
I don't know what effect you are going for. Drudge report is "obvious" but The Economist is "bizarre?"
Are you trying to say that it is bizarre to have The Economist on the left?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 25, 2014, 03:13:31 PM
The news sources on the right are obvious, but the ones on the left are bizarre.
Two major factors: Youth and eclectic worldview. College kids are more likely to get news from the Daily Show or Buzzfeed and they are more likely to lean left. Other Leftists take in a wider variety of sources. Right wingers seem to have an aversion to newspapers, and seem to prefer an explicit right wing bias, to the point where they seem to prefer getting new information from radio shows that simply tell that was is good and bad.
Quote from: Razgovory on October 25, 2014, 04:14:15 PM
Two major factors: Youth and eclectic worldview. College kids are more likely to get news from the Daily Show or Buzzfeed and they are more likely to lean left. Other Leftists take in a wider variety of sources. Right wingers seem to have an aversion to newspapers, and seem to prefer an explicit right wing bias, to the point where they seem to prefer getting new information from radio shows that simply tell that was is good and bad.
That doesn't explain the relative position of the "left" media. How the fuck is MSNBC to the right of The Economist, to mention only two examples?
Were you making the comment about the news sources themselves, or their relative ranking? :huh:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 25, 2014, 04:18:53 PM
That doesn't explain the relative position of the "left" media. How the fuck is MSNBC to the right of The Economist, to mention only two examples?
Because that's what the results showed. More people who identified more left had read the Economist in the last week than had seen MSNBC. This graph isn't a left-right ranking of shows/publications; its a left-right ranking of viewers/readers.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 25, 2014, 04:18:53 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 25, 2014, 04:14:15 PM
Two major factors: Youth and eclectic worldview. College kids are more likely to get news from the Daily Show or Buzzfeed and they are more likely to lean left. Other Leftists take in a wider variety of sources. Right wingers seem to have an aversion to newspapers, and seem to prefer an explicit right wing bias, to the point where they seem to prefer getting new information from radio shows that simply tell that was is good and bad.
That doesn't explain the relative position of the "left" media. How the fuck is MSNBC to the right of The Economist, to mention only two examples?
Okay, I think one of us is reading the graph wrong. Since you were in bad mood this week I'll let you decide who it is.
Awesome. :thumbsup:
Well don't leave us in suspense, who's right?
Rush is right.
Quote from: Razgovory on October 25, 2014, 04:14:15 PM
Right wingers seem to have an aversion to newspapers
Do you just make this stuff up? I don't speak for everyone on the right, but in general I still prefer to get my new via print media. Well, I use electronic media to catch breaking news, but I'll go to print for in-depth coverage.
Quote from: dps on October 25, 2014, 06:42:32 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 25, 2014, 04:14:15 PM
Right wingers seem to have an aversion to newspapers
Do you just make this stuff up? I don't speak for everyone on the right, but in general I still prefer to get my new via print media. Well, I use electronic media to catch breaking news, but I'll go to print for in-depth coverage.
Actually, the survey does talk about this (in a general sense of course, not about you specifically).
QuoteThose with consistently conservative political values are oriented around a single outlet—Fox News—to a much greater degree than those in any other ideological group: Nearly half (47%) of those who are consistently conservative name Fox News as their main source for government and political news. Far fewer choose any other single source: Local radio ranks second, named by 11%, with no other individual source named by more than 5% of consistent conservatives. Those with mostly conservative views also gravitate strongly toward Fox News – 31% name it as their main source, several times the share who name the next most popular sources, including CNN (9%), local television (6%) and radio (6%) and Yahoo News (6%).
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The part about trust/mistrust of media sources is pretty interesting, btw.
Given CNN's ratings I have a hard time believing that many people consider it their #1 news source. Or maybe they just very rarely check the news.
Why isn't "The Young Turks" on the chart? I don't much care for them myself, but my brother watches them religiously.
Quote from: FunkMonk on October 25, 2014, 09:26:44 PM
Quote from: dps on October 25, 2014, 06:42:32 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 25, 2014, 04:14:15 PM
Right wingers seem to have an aversion to newspapers
Do you just make this stuff up? I don't speak for everyone on the right, but in general I still prefer to get my new via print media. Well, I use electronic media to catch breaking news, but I'll go to print for in-depth coverage.
Actually, the survey does talk about this (in a general sense of course, not about you specifically).
QuoteThose with consistently conservative political values are oriented around a single outlet—Fox News—to a much greater degree than those in any other ideological group: Nearly half (47%) of those who are consistently conservative name Fox News as their main source for government and political news. Far fewer choose any other single source: Local radio ranks second, named by 11%, with no other individual source named by more than 5% of consistent conservatives. Those with mostly conservative views also gravitate strongly toward Fox News – 31% name it as their main source, several times the share who name the next most popular sources, including CNN (9%), local television (6%) and radio (6%) and Yahoo News (6%).
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The part about trust/mistrust of media sources is pretty interesting, btw.
None of that really addresses the issue of print vs electronic media.
Quote from: dps on October 25, 2014, 06:42:32 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 25, 2014, 04:14:15 PM
Right wingers seem to have an aversion to newspapers
Do you just make this stuff up? I don't speak for everyone on the right, but in general I still prefer to get my new via print media. Well, I use electronic media to catch breaking news, but I'll go to print for in-depth coverage.
I don't think tendencies on a pollster style level really are determinative of every single person. Just trends. Don't take it personally. Of course only for very conservative people did local print media even show up :hmm:
Nothing surprising here, about what is to be expected. The radical right is considerably more insular than the radical left, and Fox News is consistently the worst possible mainstream news source one can imagine.
I get all my news from Tim.
Quote from: dps on October 25, 2014, 06:42:32 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 25, 2014, 04:14:15 PM
Right wingers seem to have an aversion to newspapers
Do you just make this stuff up? I don't speak for everyone on the right, but in general I still prefer to get my new via print media. Well, I use electronic media to catch breaking news, but I'll go to print for in-depth coverage.
No... I based it on the graph. Only one newspaper was shifted to the right and only slightly, the Wall Street Journal.
Quote from: dps on October 25, 2014, 06:42:32 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 25, 2014, 04:14:15 PM
Right wingers seem to have an aversion to newspapers
Do you just make this stuff up? I don't speak for everyone on the right, but in general I still prefer to get my new via print media. Well, I use electronic media to catch breaking news, but I'll go to print for in-depth coverage.
Yeah, in my experience it is more of a class issue than politics issue, with working/lower classes generally avoiding printed media (except for tabloids, but it seems the tabloid culture is less widespread in the US than, say, in the UK) and upper/professional/creative/academia classes using printed media. This may skew things in favour of the left using printed media more often but I don't think this has anything to do with political views.
That being said, the line between printed and digital media is becoming more blurred - if I buy and read an issue of the Economist on my iPad, am I reading a printed or a digital medium?
And also, as you point out, it all depends on the definition of "news".
Quote from: Razgovory on October 25, 2014, 11:56:38 PM
Quote from: dps on October 25, 2014, 06:42:32 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 25, 2014, 04:14:15 PM
Right wingers seem to have an aversion to newspapers
Do you just make this stuff up? I don't speak for everyone on the right, but in general I still prefer to get my new via print media. Well, I use electronic media to catch breaking news, but I'll go to print for in-depth coverage.
No... I based it on the graph. Only one newspaper was shifted to the right and only slightly, the Wall Street Journal.
Yeah, but I would say the printed positions on the graph are not very representative, to be honest.
The New Yorker is a lifestyle magazine, so this is a bit silly it is here at all.
The Guardian is a UK magazine and The Economist is also an international/Atlanticist one (nb, considered centre-right in Europe) and there is really no equivalent of something like that on the right.
This leaves the WSJ as the only proper American politically oriented printed medium on the graph.
Quote from: Martinus on October 26, 2014, 01:59:16 AM
This leaves the WSJ as the only proper American politically oriented printed medium on the graph.
The NY Times, Washington Post and USA Today are all American-oriented printed media.
Quote from: Martinus on October 26, 2014, 01:59:16 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 25, 2014, 11:56:38 PM
Quote from: dps on October 25, 2014, 06:42:32 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 25, 2014, 04:14:15 PM
Right wingers seem to have an aversion to newspapers
Do you just make this stuff up? I don't speak for everyone on the right, but in general I still prefer to get my new via print media. Well, I use electronic media to catch breaking news, but I'll go to print for in-depth coverage.
No... I based it on the graph. Only one newspaper was shifted to the right and only slightly, the Wall Street Journal.
Yeah, but I would say the printed positions on the graph are not very representative, to be honest.
The New Yorker is a lifestyle magazine, so this is a bit silly it is here at all.
The Guardian is a UK magazine and The Economist is also an international/Atlanticist one (nb, considered centre-right in Europe) and there is really no equivalent of something like that on the right.
This leaves the WSJ as the only proper American politically oriented printed medium on the graph.
It was my understanding that the media on here is not necessarily right or left wing, it's just showing who consumes it. The newspapers are on the left side of the graph not because they are left wing, but because right wingers shy away from them, as they shy away from any form of media that isn't explicitly reinforcing their ideas.
Quote from: Valmy on October 25, 2014, 10:23:49 PM
I don't think tendencies on a pollster style level really are determinative of every single person. Just trends. Don't take it personally. Of course only for very conservative people did local print media even show up :hmm:
This is simply reporting "main source" stuff, except for the graph produced in the OP. I don't think you can read this as "right-wingers don't read print media" because there is no data that tells us that. It only says that fewer of them have it as their "main source for news."
Yup. The report simply presents the results of the survey. Interpretation of the data is left up to the reader.
The graph showing the average ideological placement of each media source's viewers was the most interesting in my opinion, but a lot of the other graphics are quite interesting as well.
I thought this one was pretty cool:
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Quote from: dps on October 25, 2014, 10:21:43 PM
None of that really addresses the issue of print vs electronic media.
Fair enough. The survey didn't specifically go into print vs electronic media.
Quote from: Martinus on October 26, 2014, 01:59:16 AM
The New Yorker is a lifestyle magazine, so this is a bit silly it is here at all.
Not really; it may have fiction and a shitload of other stuff, but its centerpiece works are still long form narrative journalism.
Quote from: FunkMonk on October 26, 2014, 09:47:23 AM
Yup. The report simply presents the results of the survey. Interpretation of the data is left up to the reader.
The graph showing the average ideological placement of each media source's viewers was the most interesting in my opinion, but a lot of the other graphics are quite interesting as well.
I thought this one was pretty cool:
Lol, pretty big "mixed" grouping for Fox News. I bet there's a lot of the "I'm not racist when it comes to spics" crowd in there.
Quote from: grumbler on October 26, 2014, 06:59:53 AM
Quote from: Valmy on October 25, 2014, 10:23:49 PM
I don't think tendencies on a pollster style level really are determinative of every single person. Just trends. Don't take it personally. Of course only for very conservative people did local print media even show up :hmm:
This is simply reporting "main source" stuff, except for the graph produced in the OP. I don't think you can read this as "right-wingers don't read print media" because there is no data that tells us that. It only says that fewer of them have it as their "main source for news."
It doesn't even say that, because it basically only deals with national or international media, and doesn't address local media at all. My impression (which, granted, may be biased or simply incorrect) is that many older Americans still get a lot of their news from their local newspaper. Of course, older doesn't necessarily mean more conservative, but there is some correlation.
Quote from: dps on October 26, 2014, 07:02:10 PM
Quote from: grumbler on October 26, 2014, 06:59:53 AM
Quote from: Valmy on October 25, 2014, 10:23:49 PM
I don't think tendencies on a pollster style level really are determinative of every single person. Just trends. Don't take it personally. Of course only for very conservative people did local print media even show up :hmm:
This is simply reporting "main source" stuff, except for the graph produced in the OP. I don't think you can read this as "right-wingers don't read print media" because there is no data that tells us that. It only says that fewer of them have it as their "main source for news."
It doesn't even say that, because it basically only deals with national or international media, and doesn't address local media at all. My impression (which, granted, may be biased or simply incorrect) is that many older Americans still get a lot of their news from their local newspaper. Of course, older doesn't necessarily mean more conservative, but there is some correlation.
All the more reason things will be better when they are dead.
QuoteBased on web respondents.
What is this "web" of which you speak? :hmm:
Quote from: dps on October 26, 2014, 07:02:10 PM
It doesn't even say that, because it basically only deals with national or international media, and doesn't address local media at all. My impression (which, granted, may be biased or simply incorrect) is that many older Americans still get a lot of their news from their local newspaper. Of course, older doesn't necessarily mean more conservative, but there is some correlation.
It mentions local media, actually. Not much, to be sure, but "local TV," "local radio," and "local newspaper" are among the responses for a small group (not the "main source" question, but the "3 sources" question).
The concept of local media has been watered down so much to "News You Can Use, only seen here at Channel 4 Action News Center!" Any international or national news is deferred to the big media outlets, and relegated to 20 second blips before you get new seasonal fashion looks for your teacup Yorkie.
Local news is weather and useless shit.
House fires and the pedophile of the day.
Meterologists lashed to lamp posts in hurricanes. Now that's some funny shit.
Quote from: Ed Anger on October 26, 2014, 07:47:56 PM
pedophile of the day.
Ohio local news has more to work with.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on October 26, 2014, 07:51:55 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on October 26, 2014, 07:47:56 PM
pedophile of the day.
Ohio local news has more to work with.
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