4 ms·

I love that the media is reporting on America growing apart when the media is the reason. The Atlantic is one of the worst at being biased up there with Fox new

I love that the media is reporting on America growing apart when the media is the reason. The Atlantic is one of the worst at being biased up there with Fox news and CNN. How about the media quits preying on unaware people's ingroup outgroup instincts and starts focusing on things that unite instead of divide.

klyrs 4y ago
The two-party system is largely to blame for the rise of media polarization. Not to say that either the media or the political structure are "the most" responsible, but pointing fingers at either in isolation at best misses half of the problem, at worst deepens the polarization along another axis.
- sem000 4y ago
  The two party system is definitely the root cause, but it is because the mainstream and social media is constantly amplifying the voices and viewpoints of extreme minority in each party.
  - kadoban 4y ago
    - esyir 4y ago
      You mean like the current, openly promoted attempts to perform a similar "coup" on judicial decisions? There are very few cases where protest is illegal, and at a judge's residence to influence their decisions is definitely one of them. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1507 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1507
      - kadoban 4y ago
        > You mean like the current, openly promoted attempts to perform a similar "coup" on judicial decisions? No, I mean an actual coup attempt, not _at worst_ an illegal protest by a biased reading of a poorly written law.
    - edmcnulty101 4y ago
      'Violent coup' Violent, was no worse than many other protests historically. Coup? Really? By sensationalizing it you're kind of fanning the flames. People from the other party feel the need to respond to your sensationalism with sensationalism of their own. So they create sensationalized stories about AOC calling supremecourt justices illegitimate when she was upset and just protesting. And the cycle of demonizing and sensationalizing and gaslighting continues and we all spiral down.
      - kadoban 4y ago
        > Violent, was no worse than many other protests historically. That doesn't mean it wasn't violent. It's also only true if you squint at it pretty hard. > Coup? Really? > By sensationalizing it you're kind of fanning the flames. I'm not sensationalizing. Donald Trump and his associates planned and implemented a coordinated strategy to discard the results of a legally-run election in order to maintain power. That's a coup. The fact that they barely failed does not excuse it.
        edmcnulty101 4y ago
        All I'm saying is that by you not looking at it in a moderated compassionate understanding light the Republicans are going to do the same thing back to your party. Take everything the Democrats do no matter how small and sensationalize and demonize. And the rift will continue to grow
        kadoban 4y ago
        > All I'm saying is that by you not looking at it in a moderated compassionate understanding light I'm very sorry that the current head of the Republican party is a criminal. That's about as much compassion as I can show, and it's more than they deserve. The sides are not equal, and the way to healing is not "aww, what's a bit of seditious conspiracy between countrymen, water under the bridge".
        klyrs 4y ago
        "You know, I don’t f-ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f-ing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the f-ing mags away," Sorry, but Trump called for an armed insurrection, and he attempted vote fraud ordering Raffensperger to "find" votes. Demanding justice is nothing like demonization. If they did nothing wrong, then why did so many Trump loyalists ask for pardons?
- landemva 4y ago
  >> The two-party system is largely to blame The two-party system is created in election law in each State by R+D in each State legislature. State ballot access and funding is in each State election law, and there is a harsh difference in 'major' or 'minor' party designation. In short, the system is designed this way at the State level.
- euroderf 4y ago
  (First-past-the-post plus gerrymandering) is the main culprit here. The electoral dynamics are clear and inevitable.
Nextgrid 4y ago
Fox News might be bad but nowhere as bad as a company that makes its money on giving crazies a place to congregate and "engage" and even spreads the craziness to others who might otherwise be still on the fence. Biased media has always been a thing, but giving every dumbass a megaphone (and making money off it, spending some to create even more megaphones) is a very new thing and we're now seeing the effects of it on society. You could say that it's inevitable and that if it wasn't for social media then forums would fill the niche, and while that's true, those forums would be something you'd explicitly need to seek out if you were already interested in this kind of content, where as right now the same thing you used to keep in touch with your family harbors this disgusting content and might even show it to you if it thinks there's a probability you'll "engage" with it.
- geraldyo 4y ago
  Yep, cause Fox News makes no money giving crazies a place to congregate lol. MyPillowMan TM sends his regards, brother
  - Nextgrid 4y ago
    Fox News gives the crazies a single, read-only feed with a limited amount of ad space and at least some regulatory oversight. The largest "congregation" you could make with that is to ask all your neighbors to go to your Fox News viewing party. Furthermore, other channels with different (opposite?) biases are a button press away. Biased media has always existed and didn't lead to this kind of large-scale polarization, so it seems like a read-only feed is mostly safe. Facebook gives the crazies a town square and a set of megaphones, the volumes of which dynamically vary depending on who's at the receiving end to maximize "engagement" (which usually translates to outrage or arguments). The size of the congregation is virtually unlimited. There's also no "channel" you can just switch - if Facebook thinks you will "engage" with a certain kind of content it will slowly but surely start feeding you more and more of it, which would also draw in and radicalize people that were otherwise well-meaning. This is a whole other level compared to a biased TV channel, and something society hasn't dealt with before.
    - 4y ago
mc32 4y ago
Of course there has always been non-mainstream opinions; however most of those were found in corners and not amplified and stoked. The media stokes discord and amplifies the existing discord. If you look at the news one might think most downtown respond to national events like downtown Portland does. Most do not. People have their opinions and are apprehensive about things and are concerned but most people aren't about to create destruction.
- Der_Einzige 4y ago
  What does Portland have to do with any of this?

klyrs 4y ago

The two-party system is largely to blame for the rise of media polarization. Not to say that either the media or the political structure are "the most" responsible, but pointing fingers at either in isolation at best misses half of the problem, at worst deepens the polarization along another axis.

sem000 4y ago
The two party system is definitely the root cause, but it is because the mainstream and social media is constantly amplifying the voices and viewpoints of extreme minority in each party.
- kadoban 4y ago
  - esyir 4y ago
    You mean like the current, openly promoted attempts to perform a similar "coup" on judicial decisions? There are very few cases where protest is illegal, and at a judge's residence to influence their decisions is definitely one of them. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1507 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1507
    - kadoban 4y ago
      > You mean like the current, openly promoted attempts to perform a similar "coup" on judicial decisions? No, I mean an actual coup attempt, not _at worst_ an illegal protest by a biased reading of a poorly written law.
  - edmcnulty101 4y ago
    'Violent coup' Violent, was no worse than many other protests historically. Coup? Really? By sensationalizing it you're kind of fanning the flames. People from the other party feel the need to respond to your sensationalism with sensationalism of their own. So they create sensationalized stories about AOC calling supremecourt justices illegitimate when she was upset and just protesting. And the cycle of demonizing and sensationalizing and gaslighting continues and we all spiral down.
    - kadoban 4y ago
      > Violent, was no worse than many other protests historically. That doesn't mean it wasn't violent. It's also only true if you squint at it pretty hard. > Coup? Really? > By sensationalizing it you're kind of fanning the flames. I'm not sensationalizing. Donald Trump and his associates planned and implemented a coordinated strategy to discard the results of a legally-run election in order to maintain power. That's a coup. The fact that they barely failed does not excuse it.
      - edmcnulty101 4y ago
        All I'm saying is that by you not looking at it in a moderated compassionate understanding light the Republicans are going to do the same thing back to your party. Take everything the Democrats do no matter how small and sensationalize and demonize. And the rift will continue to grow
        kadoban 4y ago
        > All I'm saying is that by you not looking at it in a moderated compassionate understanding light I'm very sorry that the current head of the Republican party is a criminal. That's about as much compassion as I can show, and it's more than they deserve. The sides are not equal, and the way to healing is not "aww, what's a bit of seditious conspiracy between countrymen, water under the bridge".
        klyrs 4y ago
        "You know, I don’t f-ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f-ing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the f-ing mags away," Sorry, but Trump called for an armed insurrection, and he attempted vote fraud ordering Raffensperger to "find" votes. Demanding justice is nothing like demonization. If they did nothing wrong, then why did so many Trump loyalists ask for pardons?
landemva 4y ago
>> The two-party system is largely to blame The two-party system is created in election law in each State by R+D in each State legislature. State ballot access and funding is in each State election law, and there is a harsh difference in 'major' or 'minor' party designation. In short, the system is designed this way at the State level.
euroderf 4y ago
(First-past-the-post plus gerrymandering) is the main culprit here. The electoral dynamics are clear and inevitable.

Nextgrid 4y ago

Fox News might be bad but nowhere as bad as a company that makes its money on giving crazies a place to congregate and "engage" and even spreads the craziness to others who might otherwise be still on the fence. Biased media has always been a thing, but giving every dumbass a megaphone (and making money off it, spending some to create even more megaphones) is a very new thing and we're now seeing the effects of it on society. You could say that it's inevitable and that if it wasn't for social media then forums would fill the niche, and while that's true, those forums would be something you'd explicitly need to seek out if you were already interested in this kind of content, where as right now the same thing you used to keep in touch with your family harbors this disgusting content and might even show it to you if it thinks there's a probability you'll "engage" with it.

geraldyo 4y ago
Yep, cause Fox News makes no money giving crazies a place to congregate lol. MyPillowMan TM sends his regards, brother
- Nextgrid 4y ago
  Fox News gives the crazies a single, read-only feed with a limited amount of ad space and at least some regulatory oversight. The largest "congregation" you could make with that is to ask all your neighbors to go to your Fox News viewing party. Furthermore, other channels with different (opposite?) biases are a button press away. Biased media has always existed and didn't lead to this kind of large-scale polarization, so it seems like a read-only feed is mostly safe. Facebook gives the crazies a town square and a set of megaphones, the volumes of which dynamically vary depending on who's at the receiving end to maximize "engagement" (which usually translates to outrage or arguments). The size of the congregation is virtually unlimited. There's also no "channel" you can just switch - if Facebook thinks you will "engage" with a certain kind of content it will slowly but surely start feeding you more and more of it, which would also draw in and radicalize people that were otherwise well-meaning. This is a whole other level compared to a biased TV channel, and something society hasn't dealt with before.
  - 4y ago

mc32 4y ago

Of course there has always been non-mainstream opinions; however most of those were found in corners and not amplified and stoked. The media stokes discord and amplifies the existing discord. If you look at the news one might think most downtown respond to national events like downtown Portland does. Most do not. People have their opinions and are apprehensive about things and are concerned but most people aren't about to create destruction.

Der_Einzige 4y ago
What does Portland have to do with any of this?