About a third of Americans living side by side with another third of Americans are receiving almost completely different versions of the news, and another third are receiving a mixture of both.
The first third are receiving their news from the liberal establishment media, including major city daily newspapers, major magazines, and most major radio and TV networks. The second third are receiving their news from conservative and independent media, including a few newspapers and magazines, social media, radio talk hosts, and new media venues.
A final third of Americans get their news from a variety of news sources, many of which contradict each other. These individuals tend to seek out sources which are not predictably liberal or conservative, but which sometimes profess radical views that are conspiratorial or heavily partisan outside conventional left-right perspectives. Some of these persons have no interest in “news” at all in the traditional sense, but only the latest sensationalist sound bite that may or may not be accurate.
This tripartite information environment has helped create and intensify American social polarization. Historically, America has had a tradition of amicable differences of political opinion. But today, political disagreements often shatter long-term friendships and even family ties.
Of course, many families and friendships are surviving political differences because the individuals involved value their relationships more than ideology. But many others are not so enduring. More than a third of Americans now say that they have cut off a friend, family member, coworker, or romantic partner because of political differences, according to a peer-reviewed study out this year.
Polarizing political figures have appeared in the past, including notably pro-Franklin Roosevelt/pro-New Deal versus anti-FDR/anti-New Deal partisans from 1933 to 1945. But the extreme divisions of today have not appeared since the abolitionist versus pro-slavery divide 160 years ago, and before that the pro-British loyalists versus pro-revolutionary colonists 250 years ago.
Much of the explanation of the current extreme social division, but not all, can be attributed to the exponentially rapid change in news and communications technology.
This quite sudden change has occurred in only a few years and has upended the print and broadcast establishments which solidified in the U.S. after World War II with the rapid expansion of the television and print media industries.
The introduction of the personal computer, the internet, smartphones, and social media came rapidly at the end of the 20th century. Social media allows individuals to silo themselves off in information echo chambers, where algorithms only reinforce what they already believe. The recent introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) has only exacerbated social divisions by further blurring credible news communications and their sources. AI is designed to tell users what it thinks they want to hear.
It is no accident that a primary source of news communication divisiveness has been the political rise of Donald Trump, whose background and communication skills came not from political and electoral experiences, but from his work as a TV and celebrity personality in the years before he first ran for president in 2016.
Mr. Trump has not only redefined the traditional role of the U.S. presidency, but also reformulated the Republican Party and redesigned the U.S. role in the world. These accomplishments, now in process and not yet finalized, have predictably produced opposition and criticism not only from Democrats, but also from traditionally minded Republicans and independents as well.
At the same time, Mr. Trump has drawn interest and support from large groups of Americans who have felt left out of so-called mainstream life as defined by many of the nation’s elites who have tried to impose their version of political and social values on the country.
In the past, the non-establishment had few means to counter the U.S. establishment. Today, the communications technology revolution has given them the means. The establishment media has become the zombie media.
The result has been a sudden breakdown of traditional social groups, the intensification of ideological passions, and an assault on the social cohesion that enabled the early U.S. republic to grow, evolve, and repair itself over 250 years.
The question at this 250th birthday of the American republic is whether or not the rapid communications technologies that have brought the nation power and affluence and other material success can also take it forward to a better world. The alternative, the present divisions suggest, is possible national chaos and decline.
Americans don’t need a zombie media. They need a credible, fair, and honest media if they are to make the challenging decisions which will face all Americans in the years ahead.
Barry Casselman is a contributor to AMAC Newsline.
