One explanation is something called "conformation bias." Psychology Today defines it as a "tendency to seek out and interpret information in a way that confirms our preexisting beliefs or opinions." PositivePsychology.com views it as "seeing what we want to believe." Our partisan news outlets do a good job of enabling that.
But why does confirmation bias exist and thrive?
Britannica.com suggests: "People like to feel good about themselves, and discovering that a belief that they highly value is incorrect makes them feel bad about themselves. Therefore, people will seek information that supports their existing beliefs." It matters not whether the beliefs are based on fact, misunderstanding, or misplaced faith in an unreliable source.
What I see now is that we have voters engaged in a gluttony of confirmation bias. That brings viewers or readers and thus advertising money to the media outlets serving it up. It also leads political candidates to pander to the biases.
The result is what we now are seeing everyday: Opposing candidates stoop to calling each other childish schoolyard names. Often they seem more intent on running highly emotional negative campaigns against their opponents instead of explaining what they can realistically contribute to the lives of voters and to the success of our country.
They often invoke impractical promises that might sound good to an uncritical mind. But it's all just a form of tricksterism.
So why are media outlets trafficking in conformation bias instead of factually reporting the news?
The fact that they do that, and that it goes relatively unnoticed, add up to the loss of press freedom I'm talking about. We generally don't have media outlets that are apparently free to tell the truth. And the resultant absence of truth impairs our ability to make objectively wise choices of leaders.
Are the media companies just responding to a consumer demand for the self-gratification they get from confirmation bias?
Are political bosses somehow manipulating the media?
Or, as some suspect, is media ownership by large corporations to blame? Those companies have business interests other than the news business. Are they bargaining away politically biased coverage to gain or maintain the favor of law makers or financiers?
The answers to those questions are beyond the scope of this article. But the questions are worth pondering.
The bottom line is that in terms of the functioning of our democracy the media are an abject failure. They do not even merit the trust of the people.
During the 1960s and 1970s CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite was widely considered "The Most Trusted Man in America." Today in 2024, according to the market research firm YouGov, CBS News holds the trust of only 15 percent of the people.
What is today the "most trusted" news source for Americans? The YouGov answer is The Weather Channel.
That's great for knowing whether to take an umbrella with us in the morning. But it's no help when we need to make wise political choices.
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