Pew just released the results of a one year study of political attitudes and media habits. Their conclusions reveal the obvious:
Are tightly clustered around a single news source, far more than any other group in the survey, with 47% citing Fox News as their main source for news about government and politics.
Are, when on Facebook, more likely than those in other ideological groups to hear political opinions that are in line with their own views.
Actually, the issue of media bias were not found limited to the most conservatives of conservatives, but this group seemed the most extreme.
The conclusions are similar to the position taken by Eli Pariser in “The Filter Bubble”. The reality is that the more we think we are becoming informed, the more extreme our positions become. We begin to assume our position is actually commonly held.
I have tried to determine what can be done about this problem and see no solution for those who do not accept the possibility of a reality other than their own. For those seeking a simple solution, I recommend News 360 as a way to locate multiple sources for a given story or Random – an app that learns the topics you like and presents stories related to these topics. Or – you could probably just watch Fox News on M,W & F and MSNBC on T,R & S. I think everyone should watch football on Sunday.