In his book Mass Media and American Politics, Doris Graber asks three questions that I think are worth considering. His questions (verbatim) are:
- Are new media outlets more polarized than traditional outlets?
- Do audiences purposely seek out news that agrees with their partisanship?
- What are the implications when citizens only seek out news that fits their viewpoints?
As for the first question, I believe that new media outlets are more polarized because in order to gain more interest, they want to be extreme enough to draw people's attention. If you see a news headline that says "Obama Passes Bill" you would probably be less likely to click on the article than if you come across a headline that reads "Obama's Controversial Decision."
For the second question, I think that initially the general public gains their first information from a trusted source that they find agrees with their partisanship. But if the topic is truly interesting, they will look further into the issue and see what others are saying also. I tend to see articles from the news sources that align with my partisanship first because I subscribe to them on my newsfeed. But after I read about a subject, I want to hear a balanced view so that I can be most likely to find the truth.
When citizens only seek news that fits their viewpoints, trouble arrives. The idea of people only considering information that they agree with is much like a child who does not get the desired answer from one parent heading to the other to get what he wants. We must guard against being blinded by partisan bias and open ourselves to researching news to find the truth.
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