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babylonsister

(170,963 posts)
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 09:05 AM Nov 2012

Surprise 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-media


Surprise at Obama’s 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 Obama’s 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
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Surprise at Obama’s victory illustrates growing partisan divide in US media (Original Post) babylonsister Nov 2012 OP
don't lose sight that foxnews and their ilk beachbumbob Nov 2012 #1
You are too kind. lalalu Nov 2012 #2
Where would all the right wing shills go and live if they were not doing the faux nolabels Nov 2012 #22
Sad but true. lalalu Nov 2012 #23
I am proud of so many Americans who ignored their blatant lies. lalalu Nov 2012 #3
Looks like liberals are the pro-science and pro-math malaise Nov 2012 #4
With one significant difference jberryhill Nov 2012 #5
Reality ran MSMBC. efhmc Nov 2012 #11
Exactly! City Lights Nov 2012 #12
msnbc never fudged the numbers hifiguy Nov 2012 #37
This line is perfect: Tennessee Gal Nov 2012 #6
"Both sides of the media equation are at fault", Professor Tremayne says NWHarkness Nov 2012 #7
Yeah, I really get tired of that false equivalency deutsey Nov 2012 #13
During the Wisconsin recalls forthemiddle Nov 2012 #27
Well said... 4_TN_TITANS Nov 2012 #36
They forgot to mention Nate Silver justiceischeap Nov 2012 #8
No they didn't; he's mentioned babylonsister Nov 2012 #9
I must have missed it... sorry. nt justiceischeap Nov 2012 #17
Fuckity fucking equivalence fucking shit. Warren Stupidity Nov 2012 #10
God, I could almost see the CBS Morning News reporter drool whenever she said "too close to call" deutsey Nov 2012 #14
Journalism and the CIA: The Mighty Wurlitzer redqueen Nov 2012 #24
Much of this doesn't fit with statistics -- Dems trust the MSM more than twice as much as Repubs KurtNYC Nov 2012 #15
That 58% is goofy too. TheKentuckian Nov 2012 #34
The problem is not a partisan divide; the problem is the acceptance of Fox as a news channel. tanyev Nov 2012 #16
MSNBC was reporting the truth wellstone dem Nov 2012 #18
Almost every talking head tried to make it a horse race until babylonsister Nov 2012 #19
“It was really as if places like MSNBC and Fox were talking about completely different races,” Bonhomme Richard Nov 2012 #20
This is why I watch BBC LibertyLover Nov 2012 #21
False equivalency Johnny2X2X Nov 2012 #25
Rasmussen and Gallup were savaged here for good reasons. Warren Stupidity Nov 2012 #32
MSNBC and FOX are both distorted for me; CNN was locked in some kind of 3D video game Romulox Nov 2012 #26
Because Fox LIES and MSNBC is more concerned with the TRUTH. loudsue Nov 2012 #28
I thought we'd pull out the Walker recall. Qutzupalotl Nov 2012 #29
We did win that recall HangOnKids Nov 2012 #35
REINSTATE THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE TalkingDog Nov 2012 #30
"MSNBC and Fox were talking about completely different races" hvn_nbr_2 Nov 2012 #31
what i was saying . . . ellenfl Nov 2012 #33
 

beachbumbob

(9,263 posts)
1. don't lose sight that foxnews and their ilk
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 09:09 AM
Nov 2012

MAKE MONEY off feeding the national divide.....and thats the #1 reason they do it.

 

lalalu

(1,663 posts)
2. You are too kind.
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 09:13 AM
Nov 2012

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)
22. Where would all the right wing shills go and live if they were not doing the faux
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 10:25 AM
Nov 2012

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)
3. I am proud of so many Americans who ignored their blatant lies.
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 09:16 AM
Nov 2012

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.

 

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)
5. With one significant difference
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 09:18 AM
Nov 2012

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.
 

hifiguy

(33,688 posts)
37. msnbc never fudged the numbers
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 05:37 PM
Nov 2012

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)
6. This line is perfect:
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 09:18 AM
Nov 2012
further evidence, analysts say, that the public is consuming media that reinforce personal views rather than give actual information about the world.

NWHarkness

(3,290 posts)
7. "Both sides of the media equation are at fault", Professor Tremayne says
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 09:19 AM
Nov 2012

Professor Tremayne apparently missed the fact that one side of the equation was right, and the other was wrong.

deutsey

(20,166 posts)
13. Yeah, I really get tired of that false equivalency
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 09:39 AM
Nov 2012

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)
27. During the Wisconsin recalls
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 10:47 AM
Nov 2012

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)
36. Well said...
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 05:33 PM
Nov 2012

I was somewhat shocked that Walker didn't get recalled. The protest coverage was so overwhelming.

justiceischeap

(14,040 posts)
8. They forgot to mention Nate Silver
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 09:22 AM
Nov 2012

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.

 

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)
10. Fuckity fucking equivalence fucking shit.
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 09:31 AM
Nov 2012

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)
14. God, I could almost see the CBS Morning News reporter drool whenever she said "too close to call"
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 09:44 AM
Nov 2012

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.

KurtNYC

(14,549 posts)
15. Much of this doesn't fit with statistics -- Dems trust the MSM more than twice as much as Repubs
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 09:49 AM
Nov 2012

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)
34. That 58% is goofy too.
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 02:54 PM
Nov 2012

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.

babylonsister

(170,963 posts)
19. Almost every talking head tried to make it a horse race until
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 10:05 AM
Nov 2012

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)
20. “It was really as if places like MSNBC and Fox were talking about completely different races,”
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 10:05 AM
Nov 2012

Which one was closer to being correct?

LibertyLover

(4,788 posts)
21. This is why I watch BBC
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 10:09 AM
Nov 2012

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)
25. False equivalency
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 10:40 AM
Nov 2012

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)
32. Rasmussen and Gallup were savaged here for good reasons.
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 01:07 PM
Nov 2012

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)
26. MSNBC and FOX are both distorted for me; CNN was locked in some kind of 3D video game
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 10:42 AM
Nov 2012

on election night.

I turned off the TV and used the computer for updates.

Qutzupalotl

(14,230 posts)
29. I thought we'd pull out the Walker recall.
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 10:53 AM
Nov 2012

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)
35. We did win that recall
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 03:15 PM
Nov 2012

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.

hvn_nbr_2

(6,481 posts)
31. "MSNBC and Fox were talking about completely different races"
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 12:46 PM
Nov 2012

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)
33. what i was saying . . .
Thu Nov 8, 2012, 02:31 PM
Nov 2012
"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.
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