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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   36219 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 24, 2022

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Well the results for 2022 have just been released and people who answered "not at all" for trust in mass media is at 38%. This has been characterized by the talking heads, and many rationalists as "a crisis of sense making" but I don't really see it that way. Sounds more like healthy skepticism if you ask me.

And with that in mind I think the fact that trust in the media seems to break pretty cleanly along class and partisan lines (70% of Democrats having a fair amount of trust or greater in the media vs less than 14% of Republicans) explains a lot.

They asked the wrong question. Conservatives have just succeeded in redefining the term 'the media' to only refer to outgroup institutions, but that doesn't mean ingroup institutions don't exist. It's safe to bash 'journalists' and the 'media' because to them it categorically excludes their preferred sources of news.

Conversely, if your question was 'Do you expect Libs of Tik Tok/conservative talk radio to report facts fully, accurately and fairly' your Democrat and Republican numbers would flip.

It's safe to bash 'journalists' and the 'media' because to them it categorically excludes their preferred sources of news.

Leftists are just as eager to not treat NYT and Fox News as purveyors of the same product. Cite to a redditor a claim by using Fox News, and they will not accept it, but they would were it WP. They will also likely to include that talking point that FN is "entertainment".

Thus it seems unfair to single out conservatives for insisting on a distinction, when their political enemies also agree one exists.

You're correct insofar as democrats aren't nonpartisan saints, also dislike outgroup media and have their own criticisms of red tribe media.

You're incorrect insofar as the politicians and base of one party are much more vociferous in their criticisms of what they call the mainstream media, of CNN and 'the failing NYT,' of fake news and the Washington Compost, sleepy-eyed Chuck Todd, the dying WSJ, 'Dumb as a rock Sour Lemon Don Lemon,' and so on and so forth. I suppose about 8 years ago I can remember people saying 'Faux News.' I can remember some measured comments from Obama bemoaning conservative media and echo chambers, but it really pales in comparison, doesn't it?

We can talk about why that is, and I don't think it's because my outgroup are moral monsters, but it doesn't change the fact that it is.

I think this really undersells the cultural impact on the ground level. Perhaps it somehow elides respectability because of how much was driven by the Daily Show, but for a lot of regular Democrat types I encounter in real life, watching Fox News is seen as appalling.

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