Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

January 2015 – Pew Research has been analyzing the nature of political polarization in the American public and how it interrelates with government, society, and people’s personal lives. The result is a series that can be seen at pewresearch.org.

Initial findings indicate that liberals tend to listen to an array of news sources including CNN, MSNBC and NPR, while 47% of conservatives say they get their news primarily from Fox News.

The research also found “those at both the left and right ends of the spectrum, who together comprise about 20% of the public overall, have a greater impact on the political process than do those with more mixed ideological views. They are most likely to vote, donate to campaigns, and participate directly in politics.”

Not only are those on the far right or left more involved in politics; they also drive more political discussion with friends and family. However, liberals do not drive those conversations on social media as 44% have blocked people with opposing political views from their news feeds, and 24% stopped talking to friends because of political disagreements. 

While conservatives are less likely to block opposing views, they are more likely to have family and friends that agree with them. Consistently conservative respondents report 66% of close friends share views on government and politics as opposed to 52% of liberals having friends who agree with them.

Pew Research also asked respondents which news sources they were aware of and which ones they trusted. Pew cites The Economist as having little recognition (34% of respondents aware of the source) but within that group, 12% trusted it while only 2% distrusted it. BBC was recognized by a much larger percentage (76%). Of those, 36% trusted the source and 7% distrusted it. Among the most distrusted were the Ed Shultz Show, the Glenn Beck Program, the Rush Limbaugh Show, and Buzzfeed.

journalism.org, 10/21/14