Asymmetrical Polarization

[David Morris]

I mostly agree with you take.  But the "centrist voices" of Bothsiderism
has nothing to do with actual centrism (like truthiness has no relation to
truth).  There are such things as facts.  As the Right becomes ever more
extreme, the "center" is no longer near any rational center (asymmetry).
Norms of discourse and behavior are obliterated by the Right as they
embrace all manner of evil.  This has been our ever-increasing political
reality for decades.  Trump has pushed it so far that it can no longer be
ignored, and that's a good thing, I think...

David Morris

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On Thu, Dec 14, 2017 at 1:28 PM, Robert Mahnke <rpmahnke at gmail.com> wrote:

> Bothsiderism is a result of previous media environments where the fixed
> costs of running a local newspaper or TV station are high and there are
> network effects (e.g., people want to advertise where the viewers are), so
> for business reasons it made sense for outlets to adopt centrist voices
> that don't offend anyone, letting them sell more advertisements. You can
> call this whoredom if you want, but it's the function of letting the market
> function. It makes less sense now because the internet makes it so much
> cheaper to publish, and that has led to a proliferation of outlets
> (although not as much in local news, which still has substantial fixed
> costs of newsgathering that deters entry). FOX News has made a lot of money
> by focusing on right-wing viewers, and leaving everyone else to other
> outlets. Google and Facebook have made far more money by giving people a
> way to find what they want to hear, unfortunately in news as well as a lot
> of other things. If only someone could figure out a way to make money in
> the pursuit of truth.
>
> On Wed, Dec 13, 2017 at 5:26 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/06/yes-pol
>> arization-is-asymmetric-and-conservatives-are-worse/373044/
>>
>> 1.  Bothsiderism is a result of media whoredom.  Ratings over truth (and
>> morality).
>>
>> 2.  Republicans are the real problem, on many levels.  Trump has pushed
>> this reality to the forefront of everyone's consciousness, except for the
>> Walking Dead.  We should thank him for that.
>>
>> David Morris
>>
>
>
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