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Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Does cable news shape your views?
It’s a classic question in contemporary politics: Does partisan news media coverage shape people’s ideologies? Or do people decide to consume political media that is already aligned with their beliefs?
A new study led by MIT political scientists tackles this issue head-on and arrives at a nuanced conclusion: While partisan media does indeed have “a strong persuasive impact” on political attitudes, as the researchers write in a newly published paper, news media exposure has a bigger impact on people without strongly held preferences for partisan media than it does for people who seek out partisan media outlets.
In short, certain kinds of political media affect a cross-section of viewers in varying manners, and to varying degrees — so while the influence of partisan news is real, it also has its limits.
“Different populations are going to respond to partisan media in different ways,” says Adam Berinsky, the Mitsui Professor of Political Science and director of the Political Experiments Research Lab (PERL) at MIT, and a co-author of the study.
“Political persuasion is hard,” Berinsky adds. “If it were easy, the world would already look a lot different.”
The paper, “Persuading the Enemy: Estimating the Persuasive Effects of Partisan Media with the Preference-Incorporating Choice and Assignment Design,” is now available in advance online form from the American Political Science Review.
In addition to Berinsky, the authors are Justin de Benedictis-Kessner PhD ’17, an assistant professor of political science at Boston University; Mathew A. Baum, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School; and Teppei Yamamoto, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Political Science.
Breaking down the problem
A substantial political science literature has debated the question of media influence; some scholars have contended that partisan media significantly shapes public opinion, but others have argued that “selective exposure,” in which people watch what they already agree with, is predominant.
“It’s a really tricky problem,” Berinsky says. “How do you disentangle these things?”
The new research aims to do that, in part, by disaggregating the viewing public. The study consists of a series of experiments and surveys analyzing the responses of smaller subgroups, which were divided according to media consumption preferences, ideology, and more.
That allows the researchers to tease apart the cause-and-effect issues surrounding media consumption by looking more specifically at the impact of media on people with different ideologies and different levels of willingness to view media. The researchers call this approach the Preference-Incorporating Choice and Assignment design, or PICA.
For instance, one experiment within the study gave participants the option of reading web posts from either the conservative Fox News channel; MSNBC, which has several shows leaning in a significantly more liberal-left direction; or the Food Network. Other participants were assigned to watch one of the three.
By examing viewer responses to the content, the scholars found that people who elected to read materials from partisan news channels were less influenced by the content. By contrast, participants who gravitated to the Food Network but were assigned to watch cable news, were more influenced by the content.
How big is the effect? Quantitatively, the researchers found, a single exposure to partisan media can change the views of relatively nonpolitical citizens by an amount equal to one-third of the average ideological gap that exists between partisans on the right and left sides of the political spectrum.
Thus, the influence of cable news depends on who it is reaching. “People do respond differently based on their preferences,” Berinsky says.
And while the impact of partisan cable news on people who elect to watch it is smaller, it does exist, the researchers found. For instance, in another of the study’s experiments, the researchers tested cable news’ effects on viewers’ beliefs about marijuana legislation. Even among regular cable-news viewers, partisan content influenced people’s views.
Overall, Yamamoto states, the PICA method is novel because it “allows us to make inferences about what is never [otherwise] directly observable,” that is, the impact of partisan media on people who would normally choose not to consume it.
“Most people just don’t want news”
To put the findings in the context of daily news viewership in the U.S., consider the recent congressional hearings in which special counsel Robert Mueller testified about his presidential investigation. Fox News led the cable ratings with an average of 3 million viewers during most of the day, while MSNBC had an average of 2.4 million viewers. Overall, 13 million people watched. But the Super Bowl, for example, regularly pulls in around 100 million viewers.
“Most people just don’t want to be exposed to political news,” Berinsky notes. “These are not bad people or bad citizens. In theory, a democracy is working well when you can ignore politics.”
One implication of the larger lack of interest in politics, consequently, is that any audience gains that partisan media outlets experience can produce relatively greater influence — since that growth would apply to formerly irregular consumers of news, who may be more easily influenced. Again, though, such audience gains are likely to be limited, due to the reluctance of most Americans to consume partisan media.
“We only learned those people are persuadable because we made them watch the news,” Berinsky says.
Other scholars in the field say the paper is a valuable addition to the literature on media influence. Kevin Arceneaux, the Thomas J. Freaney, Jr. Professor of Political Science and director of the Behavioral Foundations Lab at Temple University, says the study “represents an important methodological leap forward in the study of media effects.”
Arceneaux says the researchers “convincingly demonstrate that partisan news media have the largest effects among individuals who tend to avoid consuming news,” and suggests some possible implications pertaining to the larger media landscape.
For people who do follow politics, he suggests, having many news options available may “blunt the persuasive and polarizing effects of partisan news media”; at the same time, social media could be “an important source of polarization” by introducing some people to news. Arceneaux also notes that further research on the effects of “counterattitudinal” partisan news — content that argues against the beliefs of consumers — would shed more light on the dynamics of media influence.
The study was supported by a National Science Foundation grant and the Political Experiments Research Lab at MIT; Berinsky’s contribution was partly supported by a Joan Shorenstein Fellowship.
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Fox News host Tucker Carlson thinks white supremacy is fake news
FOX News host Tucker Carlson has set social media ablaze after he stated on his Fox News show on Tuesday night that white supremacy is “a hoax.”
Watchers of Tucker Carlson Tonight heard the host dispel the idea that white supremacy exists and essentially labeled it as a fake problem. The topic arose in response to how President Donald Trump has addressed the mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas where 31 people were killed.
READ MORE: Tucker Carlson comes for Joy Reid during his show, says her whole career built off ‘race baiting’
“If you were to assemble a list — a hierarchy of concerns, of problems this country faces — where would white supremacy be on the list? Right up there with Russia, probably. It’s actually not a real problem in America,” Carlson said
The Wrap details while Carlson is issuing the idea that white supremacy is a hoax, a four-page, anti-immigration screen was issued by the El Paso Walmart shooter, 21-year old, Patrick Wood Crusius, who is white and deliberately wanted to kill Latinx people.
The FBI, who clearly does not think white supremacy is a fake concept, is treating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a possible hate crime.
Even so, Carlson would go on to dispel the concept that white supremacy is impacting America by stating that all of the groups and their members could “fit inside a college football stadium.”
READ MORE: Rep. Ilhan Omar claps back at ‘racist fool’ Tucker Carlson, calls for boycott of his show
“I mean seriously. This is a country… where the average person is getting poorer,” Carlson said. “The suicide rate is spiking. White supremacy — that’s the problem? This is a hoax. Just like the Russia hoax; it is a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power. That is exactly what’s going on.”
Across social media, Americans are critical of his response using the hashtags #FireTuckerCarlson and #BoycottTuckerCarlson to let their thoughts be known.
Tucker Carlson just called white supremacy a hoax — just days after a white supremacist killed 22 people in El Paso.
Here’s some of his top advertisers:@StarKistCharlie@Nestle@WeatherTech
RT to ask if they support this rhetoric. #BoycottTuckerCarlsonpic.twitter.com/zGpxHQ3MKs
— Bend the Arc: Jewish Action (@jewishaction) August 7, 2019
Why does this still have a job! #BoycottTuckerCarlson #BoyottFoxNews#BoycottHateakaTrump pic.twitter.com/kjuwQ9ieXO
— Anita Hicks (@AnitaHTweets) August 7, 2019
Criticisms of Carlson’s claims were also swift with CNN’s Don Lemon who stated, “Was that not the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard?” Jon Cooper, chairman of the Democratic Coalition, labeled Carlson as a “White supremacist Fox News host” on Twitter.
READ MORE: Donald Trump blames faulty White House air conditioner on former President Barack Obama
President Donald Trump has not directly mention Carlson’s comments on Twitter or otherwise, however, in his morning run of tweets he did celebrate a New York Times article that used a headline which questions whether or not Trump’s rhetoric is steeped in racism. He proudly tagged Carlson, likely as a guarantee to be mentioned on tonight’s show.
Carlson has yet to address the backlash.
The post Fox News host Tucker Carlson thinks white supremacy is fake news appeared first on theGrio.
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Reginae Carter quits YFN Lucci after he attends Love & Hip-Hop” star Alexis Skyy’s ‘Cucumber Party’
Reginae Carter has had enough of keeping her man YFN Lucci on a short leash.
That daughter of rapper Lil Wayne, said she’s young and she’s learned that it’s time to move on after she caught Lucci front and center attending a risqué party that involved “Love & Hip-Hop” star, Alexis Skyy very graphically using a cucumber on a young woman’s lady parts as a crowd gathered and watched.
—Lil Wayne and Birdman’s daughters debut as authors—
Skyy hosted the pool party in Atlanta with her boyfriend Trouble.
Videos of the cucumber-themed party circulated on the internet quickly and a fight even reportedly broke out after things got wild at the pool party, Yahoo reports.
Rapper, Boosie BadAzz posted NSFW clips and proclaimed his six million followers, “”FRONT ROW SEATS TO THE BEST FIGHT EVER @trouble U the truth best party ever I WAS A JUDGE AT THIS THUG LIFE EVENT.”
The explicit videos hit a nerve in the worst way for many people, including Carter who took to social media to air her disgust and come to terms that her on-again, off-again relationship with the rapper has met its end.
The 20-year-old said she went to the party to “spy” on Lucci and when she was what was occurring, she bounced.
“When I heard about the cucumber activities, I left. Tbh, I’ve made myself look like a fool for this man and I apologize for allowing you guys to see it .”
—She’s Free! Cyntoia Brown is released from prison after serving 15 years—
She admitted, “I’m young and still learning. Unfortunately, every move I make is publicized. I can’t control it . Imma try to be more private for now on . It’s hard because I’ve always been so open and honest . But I gotta learn how to deal with my problems alone and in private.”
Carter slammed the thirst trap party saying: “if you have a daughter, that shit is not cool. If you got kids your kids going to school and trust me they are talking about it.”
“I grew up in this life, everything came back to me … it’s not cute,” sahe said about her life as a rapper’s daughter.
Carter said the #CucumberChallenge was “childish, dirty and pathetic.”
The post Reginae Carter quits YFN Lucci after he attends Love & Hip-Hop” star Alexis Skyy’s ‘Cucumber Party’ appeared first on theGrio.
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Zuleika Hassan: Kenyan MP with baby ordered to leave parliament
Mother of two killed in Dayton, Ohio massacre called her kids father after getting shot in the head
In the final moments of her life, Lois Oglesby, one of the people killed in the Dayton, Ohio mass shooting, mustered up the strength to dial her cell phone to call up her boyfriend and do her final act as a super mom and put her kids first.
“Babe, I just got shot in my head. I need to get to my kids,” Dee Lee, the father of her children recounted in an emotional Facebook post-Sunday.
As the horrifying details of the Dayton, Ohio massacre unfolded, it was reported that six of the nine victims shot on Sunday was Black, and 27-year-old Oglesby was among them.
Police killed the suspect, 24-year-old Connor Betts in a hail of gunfire after aiming at innocent bystanders on East Fifth Street in Dayton’s Oregon District around 1 a.m. Sunday.
“She was letting me know she loved me and to take care of these kids,” Lee wrote, adding, “I got you babe!!!!! I can’t stop crying!!!!”
“The pain has been gut-wrenching for Lee who shared in another post, that as soon as he opens his eyes, “tears instantly fall.”
“My girls momma gone man!! … Don’t know what to do!!” he wrote on Facebook.
Oglesby was a mom of two, having recently been on maternity leave after delivering her infant. She was also a nursing student.
—Woman throws pot of hot grease at face of man after alleged break-in—
“She was a wonderful mother,” her friend, Derasha Merrett, told the Dayton Daily News. “I have cried so much, I can’t cry anymore.”
The Miami Valley Community Action Partnership said it’s collecting donations to help the family with funeral costs. Oglesby’s mom worked at the organization for almost 23 years.
They also want to help assist with “long-term care of the children.”
The shooting marks the 250th mass killing in the US in 2019. Last weekend also saw another mass shooting in El Paso, Texas.
The post Mother of two killed in Dayton, Ohio massacre called her kids father after getting shot in the head appeared first on theGrio.
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Fact-Check the Physics of Captain America Hammering Thanos
North Carolina gun store owner replaces billboard targeting ‘The Squad’ congresswomen
The owner of the Cherokee Guns store in North Carolina has replaced billboards that targeted “The Squad” congresswomen due to complaints but he will not apologize.
On the billboard, the four Democratic congresswomen Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar were illustrated as the “4 Horsemen” of the apocalypse opposed to lawmakers. The billboard was described as “inciting violence” by members of the House and the owner of the store, Doc Wacholz, has revealed he has received threats.
“I don’t care if it was four white women or four white guys that had their view — they’d be on the billboard,” Wacholz told WTVC-TV.
The replacement of the billboard was confirmed by Allison Outdoor Advertising says they requested the change after the back-to-back tragedies in Texas and Ohio. Wacholz says he did not remove them in response to the mass shootings; instead it was for his safety. He would also add that he will not “apologize to anyone.”
According to Newsweek, in addition to referring to the congresswomen as the four horsemen, the billboard also called them “idiots.” The replacement ad now states, “First Amendment. Enough said.”
“We had more support than hate and continue to receive lots of positive feedback on the board nationwide,” Wacholz said.
—Rep. Ilhan Omar uses Africa visit to troll Trump on Twitter—
Tlaib spoke out against the billboard for promoting violence but also blasting President Donald Trump for his role in fostering the environment of America.
“#Racist rhetoric from the occupant of the @WhiteHouse has made hate our new normal. We are still vulnerable,” Tlaib tweeted.
In support of Wacholz, another local gun store owner reached out to a local television station to state the necessity of providing arms to citizens. After the events of last week, the owner said: “People are scared, they want to know how to protect themselves.”
The post North Carolina gun store owner replaces billboard targeting ‘The Squad’ congresswomen appeared first on theGrio.
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Elizabeth Warren Unveils a Plan to Expand Broadband Access
Florent Ibenge quits as DR Congo coach
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