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Not OP but, the political polarization, governmental dysfunction, and eventually the rise of an extremist right wing government can be at least partially attrib
by redeux 2y ago
Not OP but, the political polarization, governmental dysfunction, and eventually the rise of an extremist right wing government can be at least partially attributed to the deregulation of media - specifically the repeal of the fairness doctrine which requires that public broadcasters air both sides on controversial topics of public importance. This was done in the vain of deregulation, but if we want a “free market” for media, why not deregulate the air waves? May the most powerful transmitter win …
https://fair.org/extra/the-fairness-doctrine/ https://fair.org/extra/the-fairness-doctrine/
- lolinder 2y agoThanks for providing an actual argument! That said, correlation does not imply causation, and I'm unconvinced that the polarization we're seeing now traces back that far. Pew's research [0] shows that in '94 only 21% (Rep) and 17% (Dem) of each party held a "very unfavorable" opinion of the other party. That number had barely shifted by '02, with both parties still well under 25%, but then steadily started growing from '02 on. The timing of that is more suggestive of the internet being a cause (if we're going to try to pin it down to one media-oriented cause, which is probably a bad exercise to begin with) than it does of the fairness doctrine, which was repealed back in '87. [0] https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/08/09/as-partisan-hostility-grows-signs-of-frustration-with-the-two-party-system/ https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/08/09/as-partisan-...
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- femiagbabiaka 2y agoYeah, it's clearly the formation of the Tea Party that was the trigger for severe change. But the mechanism through which the Tea Party ideology was disseminated was.. Fox News and conservative radio, which could not have existed in the same state before the Reagan era.