I don't think people "like" what Trump is selling. people who only get their news from the right wing media complex don't know that what Trump is doing is bad, b/c they hear it's fine.
Maybe it's not the media's fault insofar as that market (us) clearly prefer polarized media. But if you're source of truth says the sky is green, and mine says it's blue, we're gonna fight about the sky color.
Case in point -- RWN says Biden is weaponizing the DOJ to come after Trump, and that it's unprecedented. IF YOU BELIEVE THAT IS TRUE, it's not authoritarian for Trump to say "I'm going to muster all the federal government to root out the traitors that who tried to come after me". Rather, it's simply righting the ship.
Possibly. However, my view is to follow the money -- who gains by this? I don't think consumers of information who are hoodwinked by dishonest information brokers really "benefit" from being decieved. The media (not necessarily individual journalists who may have noble goals when they start out) exist to make money. All media are looking to innovate to get viewers. So, they test, and measure, etc. What do they find? 1) Conflict sells, 2) demonizing the other creates an ideological bond, and 3) reinforcing an existing worldview creates psychological safety against those you demonized in step 2. So you structure your whole apparatus to do those things. Then consumers learn their side's "facts", and only get them reinforced by consuming MORE information from the side that satisfies step 3. Most folks don't have enough time to seek alternate views, so they seek new information from these trusted news sources. So, yes, folks choose their news sources, and are therefore to blame. But the media exists to attract and retain consumers, and is largely to blame for creating a self-replicating echo-chamber. It's information drug-dealing. sure, we're the users, but the media is the dealer.
I don't think people "like" what Trump is selling. people who only get their news from the right wing media complex don't know that what Trump is doing is bad, b/c they hear it's fine.
Maybe it's not the media's fault insofar as that market (us) clearly prefer polarized media. But if you're source of truth says the sky is green, and mine says it's blue, we're gonna fight about the sky color.
Case in point -- RWN says Biden is weaponizing the DOJ to come after Trump, and that it's unprecedented. IF YOU BELIEVE THAT IS TRUE, it's not authoritarian for Trump to say "I'm going to muster all the federal government to root out the traitors that who tried to come after me". Rather, it's simply righting the ship.
Yeah, but they get their news from right-wing media because that's the stuff they want to hear!
Chicken or egg, I guess.
Possibly. However, my view is to follow the money -- who gains by this? I don't think consumers of information who are hoodwinked by dishonest information brokers really "benefit" from being decieved. The media (not necessarily individual journalists who may have noble goals when they start out) exist to make money. All media are looking to innovate to get viewers. So, they test, and measure, etc. What do they find? 1) Conflict sells, 2) demonizing the other creates an ideological bond, and 3) reinforcing an existing worldview creates psychological safety against those you demonized in step 2. So you structure your whole apparatus to do those things. Then consumers learn their side's "facts", and only get them reinforced by consuming MORE information from the side that satisfies step 3. Most folks don't have enough time to seek alternate views, so they seek new information from these trusted news sources. So, yes, folks choose their news sources, and are therefore to blame. But the media exists to attract and retain consumers, and is largely to blame for creating a self-replicating echo-chamber. It's information drug-dealing. sure, we're the users, but the media is the dealer.