Wednesday 22 October 2014

Lefties and the media

 

Pew Research have been looking at Liberals (lefties) and Conservatives (righties) and noting what media they consume in the USA. To my mind, the main finding is that the media are dominated by lefties. As I have explained, on leaving college the righties go into business, do the heavy lifting, make the money and pay taxes; and the lefties go into education and public service, and scribble the theory. 

 

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http://www.journalism.org/2014/10/21/political-polarization-media-habits/

When readers are asked to say which of the most notable 36 US news sources they follow, no fewer than 28 are trusted by liberals to express their point of view. The headline that Pew should have used is: “78% of US Media Socialist”. So rich is the array of Left inclined propaganda sheets that Lefties can pick and choose their brand of communism from 4 main outlets: CNN, MSNBC, NPR, NYT. In contrast, Conservatives cluster round the outpost of Fascism which is Fox News. They distrust 24 of the same notable 36 news sources. I regret that, as a BBC consumer, I cannot tell you much about any of these US offerings, but The Guardian is recognisably to the Left, and bills itself as such. The Economist is a bit surprising, because business publications tend to the right, but it is certainly far to the Left on intelligence.

I suppose that, from another perspective, US liberals could say that they are truly Liberal, and watch a range of outlets, including Fox News, while Conservatives, as the name implies, watch virtually nothing else but that preferred provider. To put matters in context, although viewers prefer particular news outlets, they are exposed to a wider range, even though they may not concentrate upon them, so it is not a case of complete tunnel vision.

Of even more psychological interest is that US Lefties are more likely than Righties to dump friends who do not hold to their political opinions. This is strange, and suggests that a strict “purity” or “solidarity” measure is being applied on the left. Expulsion from the party was certainly a Bolshevik control mechanism: declaring that former persons were now un-persons, which in modern times translates to un-friending and un-following errant comrades. Conservatives tend to congregate round those who hold similar views, so perhaps they select more carefully, and don’t have to eject many left-leaning souls.

One thing the hard left and the hard right have in common (as Eysenck noted) is that they take a tough-minded approach to politics: they think that action matters, pay money to political parties, organise, keep up with the news, and vote.

On a transatlantic note, I had no idea so many Liberal Americans watched the BBC and read The Economist.

The sample on which the survey is based seems to be representative. I see that the top third of Americans earn more than $75,000 a year, and that only 66% of all US citizens are now classified as White.

I cannot find any mention of the amount of time people spend consuming news, It is possible that Lefties devote more time to news because being connected in that way is more part of their core self perceptions “I ought to know where people are being oppressed” while Righties might feel “I don’t want to hear about other people’s problems, unless the present a threat to me”. If this is true to any extent it might explain why lefties consume so many different sources of news.

However, if Lefties really are brighter, then if follows that they will write more, read more, sample more opinions, and have more influence. They will dominate the intellectual landscape, and establish hegemony. My old party card should be knocking about somewhere.

http://drjamesthompson.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/are-lefties-clever-or-just-grasping.html

Sadly, the Pew research does not give any intelligence estimates, not even a short Wordsum vocabulary test. This would give us additional data to check whether Lefties really are brighter than everyone else. If Pew has got intelligence estimates for their respondents, please let me know.

For the moment, this is the summary. Lefties find 78% of news outlets to their taste, presumably because the content is provided by Lefties in the first place. They shop around, mostly within the range of political views they accept, but also move out of that range. Lefties prefer their own kind but go further afield. They are more likely to dump politically deviant friends. Solidarity trumps friendship.

Righties find only about 20% of news outlets to their taste, and distrust most of the rest. They have gathered round the campfire of Fox News, and don’t stray far from it. Righties prefer their own kind, and mostly mix only with them. They are less likely to dump friends because of political differences.

 

Disclaimers: Most of my recent TV interviews have been on the BBC, a few on CNN. No money changes hands. Years ago I got paid for an article in The Guardian. Indeed, The Guardian once asked me to write a letter to the Editor about a clinical services matter, which they published just in time to cause embarrassment at the Conservative Party Conference, resulting in a former Conservative Prime Minister, Ted Heath, ensuring that more funding was available for British “human shields” who had been held by Saddam Hussein.  Years later, going into a BBC TV studio on a different news story I chanced to meet him and thanked him for his intervention, saying he probably didn’t remember it. To my surprise Heath stopped in his tracks, nodded in approval, and expostulated “and they are still suffering”.

21 comments:

  1. Does this control for race?

    Tribalism is visible in White liberals as well. It just takes the form of excluding though who don't have universalistic views (the "bad," or at least "old-fashioned" people holding back progress).

    Conservatives will shun non-conforming friends too. Just insult religion or support abortion.

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    1. I have this pet idea that socially-reinforced uncritical tolerance, created this desire for tribalism in white liberals, and so "tightening the net" is really the only accepted form of tribalism.

      Well that and the "buy local" thing. Let's go with geographically unrestricted group of people, to shop only for geographically restricted goods.

      I know, freshness, and footprint.

      But I feel these mask the true unmet desire for tribalism.

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    2. JayMan, I could not find any racial differences reported, but it would be interesting to see if there were any. I presume the US pattern would be that Blacks and Hispanics would vote Democrat, and read Liberal news. Economist Thomas Sowelll must feel beleaguered much of the time.

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    3. If the 50 states-- versus people-- are the unit of analysis, then liberal states are smarter (but only after controlling for race) and states with more Blacks and Hispanics vote democrat (but only after controlling for IQ). The same patterns-- predicting votes for dems-- exist when using, crime, income, religiosity or health or well-being as a suppressor variable instead of IQ.

      http://tinyurl.com/l6n9yq4

      Got no data on news watching habits,though...

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    4. Thanks. I have no feel for the individual states, so all this is helpful.

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    5. >I presume the US pattern would be that Blacks and Hispanics would vote Democrat

      Based on exit polling of the 2012 election in the U.S., ~92% of Blacks and ~71% of Hispanics voted for Obama.

      Also based on the same exit polling, the Democrat voter base is 43% Black and Hispanic, compared to about 9% of the Republican base (less than 2 of those 9 points were Black, the rest Hispanic).

      I don't know how sensitive your blog is to first-time commenters leaving links, but cnn dot com/election/2012/results/race/president is a good source.

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  2. God makes some people as liberals and some as conservatives. He will not tell you which one you are. Some people take this as evidence that God does not "play fair". This is not true; it only proves that God has a sense of humor.

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  3. Has anyone researched whether lefties are more likely to lie (consciously or otherwise) than righties, in order to continuously validate their liberal world views? I think this is fairly obvious, eg I doubt there are any mirror images on the right of people like Owen Jones, who publish patently obvious drivel in books and get praised from their colleagues for their brilliance. I would love to be able to quote such research at the lefties I know.

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    1. If you won't lie to save/liberate mankind; what kind of person are you?

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    2. I think there may be some data on deceit according to political orientation, though I doubt there is a specific effect, rather than a general one. Will see if I can find something.

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  4. Both lefties and righties are soaking up that little goodie package in the brain that they get when they receive confirmation news that corresponds with what they already know. Lefties are universalists with an ever-widening circle so they want a wider confirmation to get a more/better goodie package. It is not as satisfying if the confirmation comes from a smaller group; only if it is tending to universality will it be satisfying. Righties, having a smaller circle and being more in group oriented are completely sated with the stamp of approval from their own inclusive group.

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    1. Thanks for your reply. I agree with you mostly. However, I am firmly on the right, but I develop my world view based on scientific research such as in the fields of anthropology, genetics and psychology - not wishful thinking. Or is it just my luck that God was a rightie too? Also, it's no great laugh being on the right, given the left slap down free speech at every opportunity and start calling their opponents names!

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    2. "given the left slap down free speech at every opportunity and start calling their opponents names!"

      I am not sure that they can stop themselves. God gave them the verbal and gave math to the right. It is not happenstance that they are in control of the megaphone and are the justices in the PC court. They intuitively know that the words are most of the battle.

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  5. Lefties are proscriptive, I'm thinking Clash lyric, you know the one about "that friendship's gotta end", they are scarily controlling and don't even realise it.

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  6. This is interesting trivia, but as you mention, not very useful considering what's missing.

    And many sub-groups, that might not be best to characterize by ideology, are consuming selective silos of news sites. For example Politico and the Economist are fairly wonky by the average standard, and so the opinions of those who don't regularly read either (likely the vast majority or respondents) is suspect.

    Another factor is news production. Left leaning news is just easier to find content for (endless oppression!), than middle-of-the-road umpiring would be. As we can the gap between lefty news, all the way to fire and brimstone, were the spectrum gets hot again.

    My reef tank only responds to lighting with peaks in the 420nm and 450nm range. Very specific tastes selected. The rest of the spectrum doesn't please them nearly as much.

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  7. I was thinking of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt in the difference between left and right. The left has a believe in altruism without pay-out (or a sense of society). In a Recent lecture Haidt points out how universities has become academic tribal because of leftist dogma like; IQ-deniers, Evolution deniers, sex differences, prejudges against prejudges; He lecture is here and the last 10.min is about academia; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b86dzTFJbkc

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    1. Thanks, fascinating lecture!

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  8. The left dominates the media. This is pretty much agreed upon. Left wing news is easier to find because that’s what they are looking to find.

    The crucial point is the choosing of sides. Once you choose a side the facts pretty much take care of themselves. I will go so far as to say that one can’t know the facts until you choose a side.

    Choosing sides and using language as a weapon is fundamental; not trivial.

    Notice how Prof. Thompson chose science and rationality for his side thereby leaving the other side with being non-scientific and engaged in wishful thinking. Sharp tack that he is, he knew exactly what he was doing.

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  9. Another way of thinking about this is captured in the term "the chattering classes' - this refers to the journalists (and readers) of the fashionable, progressive left. In my experience, the majority of psychologists are in this camp, or at least speak this way (look at statements on fashionable topics by the professional organisations around the world).

    This leaves many psychologists who are on the right (politically) in another category - "the whispering classes". As in, keep quiet about your political opinions at work! Kudos to those psychologists on the right, who are not so cowed.

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    1. Whispering classes. I like it. It explains much.

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  10. ...far to the Left on intelligence...

    that is, intelligent unlike intelligence "researchers".

    --- BGI volunteer

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