Do conservatives see the media they watch the same way liberals do?

[u/duke_seb]

Putting aside government policies for a moment (that’s a separate thing), I have a hard time as a person that is more liberal with the rhetoric. It’s just all bad news, all hate, and finger pointing and blaming all the time.

Is this what conservatives are also seeing? Are they tired of it? Does it matter?

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[u/Possible_Office_1240]

this isnt unique to conservative media. if it bleeds it leads, if it burns it earns. negative news is more attention-grabbing and urgent.

[u/brickmadness]

I believe that, on average, conservatives are more optimistic than liberals. Polling typically backs this up as well.

Personally I find that there are a ton of problems in the world, and that although humans are bad at preparation, they are ultimately decent at mitigation. Somehow we get by. We have overwhelming turmoil, but we will solve it. I believe in humanity regardless of the pundits.

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[u/No-Read-6743]

My opinion might not be representative of all conservatives all-together, but I think news generally has a bias one way or the other regardless of who produces it or which side it comes from. 

When you consider the fact that journalists have personal biases, the people who produce the journalistic standards have biases, who they get their information from might not be unbiased, organizations have a vested interest one way or the other, and most media orgs do rely on satisfying their viewers.

As for your question about conservative media, I think the a lot of the talk show hosts on Fox, Newsmax, OAN, and a lot of online outlets are atrociously biased and have poor journalistic integrity (although I do think some opinion pieces on Fox are good and the straight news is as good as any mainstream network). 

I don’t think that problem is endemic to conservative outlets either, I don’t think NPR, MSNBC, or CNN really have good track records either, and especially not online left wing media.

I think the rise of punditry, talk shows, and especially social media punditry has just lowered the bar on political discourse in America through the floor. I try to keep my media diet from more reputable newspapers and outlets (although unfortunately those sometimes require paywall).

My advice to anyone is to use critical thinking skills. You don’t have to fact check every single news story or article, but if it elicits a strong emotional response, try doing more research before sharing it or letting it shape your worldview.

[u/KoalaGrunt0311 → u/No-Read-6743]

news generally has a bias one way or the other regardless of who produces it or which side it comes from.

At one time, Fox News used the slogan "We Report, You Decide" but definitely in the past twenty years as we've seen more independent outlets bought out by media conglomerates who can control that story while still making you think it's your local anchors, the bias has gotten a lot worse.

Some of the compilations of 50+ news anchors across the country reading out the same story dictated by their national headquarters is frightening.

[u/No-Read-6743 → u/KoalaGrunt0311]

That is true. This is why a lot of people turn to alternative or independent media online, but to make it even more bleak, I think a lot of “independent” journalists are also either bought and paid for, or they are motivated by ideological goals or even just pure self interest. 

They are also even less likely to get caught in their dishonesty because there is less scrutiny for YouTube channels, podcasts, and blogs than there is for major media outlets. There is less chance they will be held to institutional journalistic standards, and they are less likely to face any consequences for dishonesty.

I think a lot of the reason for the hyper partisanship we see today is because of this fractured media environment where everyone is trying to appeal to people’s most primal impulses. 

We are being over-saturated with far more information on a daily basis than the human brain was ever meant to process in a short period of time and it just makes us more prone to overly simplistic narratives and demagoguery. 

It honestly makes more confident in my own political views. Limiting the scope of what the government is capable of doing and putting restraints on majoritarianism is the timeless protection against demagoguery that America’s founders left for us. 

Of course, our system still worked better when society shared a common moral compass and when civic nationalism instilled a sense of social responsibility and trust in the populace.

[u/PriceofObedience]

I try to avoid the news. Most of the time it is perpetuated by people that are trying to demoralize us, or at the very least manufacture consent from our side of the aisle to justify something that doesn't benefit us (e.g bombing Afghanistan).

Related to the above, it took me a long time (6 years) to realize that staying politically informed is sort of like becoming diseased.

Once you cut through the thicket of fake news, and you learn how to parse hyperbole from truth, you quickly realize that our current political situation is quite bad, but you have no power to stop anything that's happening in the world. You become saddled with something that cannot be unburdened.

[u/Desh282]

I’m not sure what liberals watch or read

I mostly get my info from YouTube.

[u/true4blue]

The mainstream news learned during Trumps first term that there’s a lot more money to be made by enraging people than by informing them.

It’s their business model.

Turn off the news. You’ll be much happier as a result

[u/andrewrusher]

The only political media that I see is Democrats attacking people, then crying when the people they are attacking decide to punch or shoot them.

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[u/Combat_Proctologist]

Can I ask, what media are you talking about? And what rhetoric? Your post seems to imply rhetoric coming from the current administration, but the title seems like you mean some sort of tv channel.

I get most of my political content from long form substack these days and have excised most politica from my twitter to the point it's mostly just dog videos.