Pew Study: Americans Are Self-Segregating Amid Proliferating Partisan Media

We make jokes about each other sticking their fingers in their ears and saying na na na I can't hear you, but is that not what we are doing when choosing only news sites that fit our perspective?

“Politics has become more bitterly partisan and mean-spirited than I have seen in 30 years of writing a political newsletter,” attests Charlie Cook. What’s changed? Well, the two parties in Congress are more ideologically and geographically polarized than at any time in our recent history. But we’ve had deep divisions in our politics before. And yes, the Wingnuts seem to have an outsize influence on our politics debates. But we’ve had extremists in our politics before. What’s different is the proliferation of partisan media via cable news and the Internet. Amid unprecedented access to information, our fellow citizens are self-segregating themselves into separate political realities.

bold emphasis is mine

A few decades ago, politicians sent talking points to talk radio hosts. Today, talk radio hosts and online echo-chamber pundits send talking points to politicians. They keep their readers and listeners addicted to anger. The durable wisdom of the late, great Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan—“everyone is entitled to their own option, but not their own facts”—gets discarded when people come to political debates armed with their own facts. And in a time when the fringe blurs with the base and competitive congressional general elections are all but extinct thanks to the rigged system of redistricting, these base-corralling fanatics have the power to strike fear into the hearts of the gutless wonders on Capitol Hill.

source

My take on this is; the time old tactics of divide and conquer has become a fine tuned machine used by the corporations that buy their politicians.

D's and R's = Divide & Conquer the US of A!

a reply to: AlaskanDad

Politics and their ideologies have become a new form of "RELIGION". Partisan bickering and the way the two parties act IMO are exactly the same as those who claim to be Christians and want to force their beliefs and ideologies into our laws and government.

I see many people that put as much effort to defend and worship politicians of a political party as I see people worship a GOD that may or may not exist.

Freedom could be an awesome thing! But when we have soooooooo many tribes that worship sooooooooo many different GODS (Yes, I am using "GODS" to describe causes and partisanship) and then try to force by legislation based on what they believe is "right" on everyone else just how does that jive with the definition of freedom?

We are screwed!

a reply to: seeker1963

So we have gone from faith based religion to faith based politics; by this I mean a large percentage of the population is voting on their beliefs rather than the facts.

Nice article and I agree.

That finding is a direct reflection of the original premise behind Roger Ailes pitching Fox News as “far and balanced.” For conservatives, only explicitly right-wing news organizations can be trusted to tell the truth. Any news group that aims for the elusive ideal of objectivity is de facto liberal, in their view. It’s an extension of an idea more appropriate in wartime: If you’re not with us, you’re against us.

I know it happens on both sides, but I thought this point was very important. If someone tries to talk about facts or tries to be objective, they are demonized as being to the extreme opposite of their own view. When that may not always be the case.

a reply to: sheepslayer247

This happens to me all the time when I try to post an objective account of some partisan drivel. People just assume things about you based entirely on if you agree or disagree with a position. It's gotten disgusting.

Simplistically, I think that people can't get enough of belonging. Give someone a label, they'll wear it with pride...even if the label says "I hate labels."

Picking sides and following mob rule is probably, unfortunately, genetic behavior. Sad that we're so easily manipulated.

What happens to the person who actually, you know, thinks that an idea might work even if it does happen to be an idea closely identified with one side or the other?

"Thats a nice idea... who did it come from? Him? forget it then... it works better if it comes from someone i side with."

a reply to: ketsuko

That's called objectivity. That doesn't seem to exist in either our politics or our media anymore. You're either one way or another, middle ground is not allowed.

I think the proliferation of soundbites has contributed to this. Political arguments seem to revolve on absolutes with nothing in between; We either take all the guns or remove all the gun laws, either global warming is manmade or it's not happening at all, either industries operate with no regulations or the government takes them over completely.

Every time I see a new politician, particularly Republicans, their argument is never, 'I want to work with the other side.' It's 'the other side is wrong and I want to stop them.'