Last blog I talked about the misconception by some readers that
newspapers are supposed to represent the opinions of their audience in editorial pages.
Another interesting news phenomenon in the Internet age is the method in which media consumers select their news, considering there is
1. More access than ever to choices of news sources due to the Internet and
2. More access than ever to non-trained news sources (i.e. journalists trained to fact check with two sources, etc.) on the Internet
As citizens of a democratic society, we have a deep responsibility to seek credible news sources, or to balance partisan sources with information from the opposing view in a search for the truth.
One of the reasons our country is so polarized is the fact that more and more people are getting their news from sources that only verify their own worldview; in other words, liberals in Frederick don't listen to WFMD, Fox TV or read the Washington Times and conservatives live sans NPR, MSNBC and the Huffington Post.
I polled my own friends in a highly unscientific poll on Facebook. I received 34 responses, 51 percent who label themselves as liberal or liberal/moderate; 37% moderate and 12% conservative. I reviewed the responses one by one and can tell you that the highest mix of liberal and moderate respondents (most are from Frederick) use the Frederick News Post, Washington Post, CNN Online and TV,and NPR (most of which are classified often by conservatives as having a liberal bias). CNN was a go-to source across the moderate-liberal span.
I didn't see my conservative respondents turning to talk radio or Fox for their news, but I also didn't see the liberals or moderates turning there to balance what they are hearing.
Its a subject that I hope journalism schools and sociologists will continue to explore (if anyone has access to any good studies, send them my way!) as the vitriol increases and polarization continues.
Another interesting article on the same subject came out in the Washington Post at about the same time I was conducting my little facebook poll:
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