Ways news media fuel polarization
Research on Public Discourse
A Pew Research Center poll last year found that a majority of American adults say public discourse has become increasingly disrespectful in recent years.University of Pennsylvania political science and communications professor Diana Mutz has been studying this topic for years. Her 2015 book “In-Your-Face Politics: The Consequences of Uncivil Media” explores the rapid rise of news programming that encourages verbal sparring.Dubbing them “shout shows,” Mutz says the format primes people with opposing viewpoints “to really get riled up and to go after one another in a way that we seldom do in our face-to-face exchanges with others.”
1) Conflict is a ratings magnet
Viewers who participated in Mutz’s research said that even though they found such uncivil program...