http://phys.org/...
This is the first article I've seen of late that examines political polarization from an unbiased, objective position. Both The Drudge Report and the Daily KOS are implicated.
American respondents were asked how often they went to online liberal news sites (such as Huffington Post, Daily Kos) or major news organizations that are frequently characterized as favoring liberal positions (New York Times, MSNBC). They were also asked about their visits to conservative online news sites (such as Drudge Report, TownHall) or major news organizations frequently characterized as favoring conservative positions (Wall Street Journal, FOX News.)
There's a war being waged but there can be no winner.
The results showed that the more people visited partisan sites associated with their own views, the more polarized they were. In other words, they liked their own candidates more, and liked the opposing candidates less. They were also less likely to want their child to marry someone from the opposing political party, and were more likely to associate members of the opposing party with negative traits (such as being mean) and less likely to associate them with positive terms (like honest).
When readers view information from media outlets at the polar opposite extreme, the situation doesn't improve.
But Garrett and his colleagues found a troubling interaction effect: Polarization is actually amplified when people view a lot of partisan content associated with their own political views and also a lot of content associated with the opposition.
Readers from Drudge are inflamed after visiting KOS, and KOS readers after visiting Drudge. Both sides dehumanize the other.
Is there a way out? I think so. We need open minded dialog. Drop the level of emotional arousal and talk - face to face, knee to knee.
Read more at: http://phys.org/...