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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSurprise at Obama’s victory illustrates growing partisan divide in US media
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/Vox-News/2012/1107/Surprise-at-Obama-s-victory-illustrates-growing-partisan-divide-in-US-mediaSurprise at Obamas victory illustrates growing partisan divide in US media
Conservatives' shock that Mitt Romney did not win big is further evidence, analysts say, that the public is consuming media that reinforce personal views rather than give actual information about the world.
By Gloria Goodale, Staff writer / November 7, 2012
The big media story emerging from President Obamas reelection is the fact that so many on the right were so stunned by the results.
snip//
But, rather than the purportedly surprising election results reflecting some national subversion of the voting process, many political scientists and other analysts say this right-wing upset is dramatic evidence of a growing partisan divide in our media.
Increasingly, the public consumes media that reinforce personal views rather than give actual information about the world, says University of San Francisco political scientist Corey Cook.
The biggest story of this election is the stories that were being told about the election, says Professor Cook, adding, the two sides had very different views heading into the election night.
Fox News Channel, on the one hand, he points out, repeatedly drove home the idea that Romney was headed for a huge victory nabbing more than 300 electoral votes, while the other side was saying that calculation included states that were not even in play.
It was really as if places like MSNBC and Fox were talking about completely different races, he adds.
more...
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/Vox-News/2012/1107/Surprise-at-Obama-s-victory-illustrates-growing-partisan-divide-in-US-media/%28page%29/2
beachbumbob
(9,263 posts)MAKE MONEY off feeding the national divide.....and thats the #1 reason they do it.
lalalu
(1,663 posts)They are just a bunch of lying corporate shills. I had to calm so many people during the campaign because of their lies. Many news blogs were loaded with plants trying to sway public opinion.
All their money and lies didn't work. Even now after the election they are still trying to dampen down the importance of this victory.
nolabels
(13,133 posts)Yea, a few may get laid off or repositioned but until there is like concise spreadsheet that covers eight or ten years in which the billionaires see that they are losing then this crap will just go on. The crusties have spent thirty years getting mass media outlets to this point so do you really think they are going to give up because they lost once?
lalalu
(1,663 posts)lalalu
(1,663 posts)They are still reeling from the fact their money and corporate sponsored lies did not win the election. This was real people power in action.
malaise
(267,823 posts)group. Ah well - we knew.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Yes, MSNBC and FOX seem to have been reporting about different places.
However, comparing them both to OBJECTIVE REALITY is would appear that MSNBC was reporting from that "personal view".
The article appears to miss the point that the "personal view" reported by MSNBC is what actually happened.
efhmc
(14,709 posts)City Lights
(25,171 posts)I'm sick of hearing that MSNBC is the left's version of FUX.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)and repeatedly cited reputable people like Sam Wang and Nate Silver. At least Chris, Ed, Rachel, Lawrence and Martin did.
Tennessee Gal
(6,160 posts)NWHarkness
(3,290 posts)Professor Tremayne apparently missed the fact that one side of the equation was right, and the other was wrong.
deutsey
(20,166 posts)Sure, the evening shows on MSNBC are from a politically liberal perspective, but they are not churning out leftwing propaganda in the same way FOX does. There's just no comparison in that respect between the two.
forthemiddle
(1,373 posts)Those that listened only to MSNBC (Ed Schulz and Rachel Maddow primarily) were SURE that Walker was going to lose. The only thing they saw were the awesome protests going on in Madison, but they were not seeing what was going on in the rest of the State.
In fact, that was one of the primary reasons I came back to DU (I had been lurking for years).
So yes, this does go on (to different degrees) on both sides.
BTW - Walker won by around 7%, yet there were some here that were convinced that he would be recalled.
4_TN_TITANS
(2,977 posts)I was somewhat shocked that Walker didn't get recalled. The protest coverage was so overwhelming.
justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)anyone watching him and that Princeton guy knew the truth of the election. And anyone who may have visited DU knew that we were on to the media's "too close to call" narrative. We knew it was for ratings and money... DU, in touch with reality.
babylonsister
(170,963 posts)prominently in the article, but I had to snip somewhere.
justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)I am so tired of this crap. Our side had actual information about real polling data that showed a close popular vote and a blow out in the swing states, data clearly aligned with reality. Their side cherry picked national polling data to paint a bullshit picture of a money boo boo victory. The stupid craven media went all CNN on it, declaring the election too close to call rather than making a choice between total bullshit and actual facts.
deutsey
(20,166 posts)After hearing her breathless assessments of how Romney was surging and PA was in play blah blah blah, I'd check Nate Silver and wonder WTF she was talking about.
redqueen
(115,096 posts)KurtNYC
(14,549 posts)As for seeking out media they already agree with, much of the audience that watches Fox or listens to Rush is liberal but Repubs by and large NEVER watch Rachel Maddow, etc. In fact much of the Left is obsessed with RW media.
A RW audience wants to be pandered to and the LW audience likes to get pissed off about how biased the media is even though they have twice as much trust in MSM as the Right.
58% of Dems had a "great deal" or "fair" amount of trust in the MSM, versus just 26% for Repubs. See second graph here:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/157589/distrust-media-hits-new-high.aspx
TheKentuckian
(24,949 posts)The corporate media is propaganda for corporate America and therefore the TeaPubliKlan party as well.
No wonder we have so many "inside the beltway" bullshit on here, a fair chunk believes as they are told by the snake oil salesmen.
tanyev
(42,360 posts)wellstone dem
(4,460 posts)that's not the same as Faux news.
babylonsister
(170,963 posts)the bitter end, even when it actually wasn't, so no, they weren't really telling anyone the whole story.
Bonhomme Richard
(8,992 posts)Which one was closer to being correct?
LibertyLover
(4,788 posts)They can pack more real world news into half an hour than a US tv station can in 2 hours. And, since I work in DC for a major international NGO (non-governmental organization) with colleagues and friends from all over the world, I need to know what's going on outside the US.
Johnny2X2X
(18,745 posts)Between the networks, but not websites like ours here.
Sure we were right, but whenever a pro Romney poll came out, its methodolgy was immediately attacked on here. I always said, polls are polls, take them together, that's the best way to view them, just because a poll is wrong doesn;t mean it was biased some how.
Come to think of it. We know all of these crazy predictions the entire FOX News staff made, I can;t think of any predictions that MSNBC staff made? Perhaps they kept them to themselves like any legitimate news agency should?
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)a) they were both wrong.
b) they both have a history of deliberately over sampling republican voters in their "likely voter" polls.
The other polls being ridiculed were ridiculous. Gravis? Unscrewed? Politico? Not credible.
Romulox
(25,960 posts)on election night.
I turned off the TV and used the computer for updates.
loudsue
(14,087 posts)That's a no-brainer.
Qutzupalotl
(14,230 posts)Big Ed did, too.
Our side is a little more realistic, but it's human nature to gravitate toward comforting predictions. In this age where you can choose which narrative you want to hear, it's a problem for everyone.
HangOnKids
(4,291 posts)The PUKES fucked with the vote. Simple. Why did WI go the way it did this week? Because the vote was not fucked with. Simple.
TalkingDog
(9,001 posts)n/t
hvn_nbr_2
(6,481 posts)That's true. MSNBC was talking about the race on planet Earth. Faux was talking about the race on planet Kochbaugh.
ellenfl
(8,660 posts)"Both sides of the media equation are at fault, Professor Tremayne says, noting that despite the presence of many national polls suggesting Obama was ahead, many media outlets all over the political spectrum continued to call the race extremely close.
This is understandable because this creates a sense of drama and therefore ratings, which all for-profit media want."
it was all about the ratings.