Asymmetrical Polarization

[Robert Mahnke]

The centrism of Bothsiderism ultimately comes not from an interest in
truth, or any other ideology, but in a desire to not offend people so as to
keep selling ads. If right-wingers move right, so does the center. It's
relative positioning. But a lot of journalists see it as a profound
philosophical commitment essential to journalism.

On Thu, Dec 14, 2017 at 11:53 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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