My outrage regarding politics is more about politics itself than it is about political coverage, though I don't think the latter does the former any favors. I'm constantly frustrated by the two-party system here in the U.S. I think it sets up a false dichotomy between Republicans and Democrats.
This builds upon what Rock just posted. Perhaps I'm getting too jaded about the political system now that I've witnessed (and participated in) many elections over the years. But it does seem to me that when you have two of anything (political parties or something else entirely), the differences between X and Y are incredibly and unfairly magnified.
For example, I know several people who feel swindled by Obama. He ran his campaign on hope and change, and they feel the effects of neither three years later. There's a common thought pattern out there that "Obama was going to fix things and things are still broken; thus, he's not the right person for the job."
I contend this is fallacious thinking. I'd wager that WHOEVER we put into office in 2008 would be stuck in a similar position. Yeah, sure, some things would be different, but the overall gist would be the same. Both parties work within the same system, even if they approach things differently.
This kind of thinking happens in science (and the world) all the time. When you're looking only at the differences between grapes and raisins, they appear radically different. One is juicy, the other is dry. One is plump, the other is shriveled. But when you step back and look at the bigger picture, only then do you see that not only are they both fruit but they're the same fruit, just in different states.
The media often enhances the differences between the two political parties. Is this a right-leaning or left-leaning publication? Do you agree with this side or that side? It's the classic "us vs. them" mentality, and it leaves me cold.
I'm not sure what the answer is here, or how I would change this. I'm sure people are reporting and writing about this false dichotomy, but it's hard to find when it gets swallowed up by more polarizing topics.
Lauren, I found your commentary very interesting and agree that the extreme dichotomizing of political parties in many news sources is both rampant and destructive to societal progress (isn't that the opposite of journalism's place in a democratic society?). The magnification of "this side" versus "that side" is now clouding the importance of public analysis and advocacy for political decisions that promote humanity, progress, and prosperity. Public consumers need to push as much as they can, news networks, reporters, and the blogosphere to take a look at how their conveying of information directly affects perceptions and actions that affect real people's lives.
ReplyDeleteI'd think it would also be safe to extend your argument re: the point that dichotomizing political parties is just one area where many media sources are not holding themselves accountable nor being held externally accountable for the presentation of political topics and general information. This NYDaily news article published a poll from Fairleigh Dickinson- about FOX News watchers' current event knowledge and ability to answer questions about world news- illustrated that, alarmingly, we should also be demanding more probing questions about the information provided from our news sources (be it FOX or otherwise).
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/fox-news-viewers-informed-current-events-don-t-watch-news-study-finds-article-1.981257?localLinksEnabled=false
Meg - yes! I had heard about this article regarding FOX News viewers; thanks for posting. And thanks for your feedback--I think you're right about extending my argument to hold media sources more accountable. Well said!
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