Asymmetrical Polarization

[Atticus Pinecone]

I don't doubt it. Just asking for examples...

> On Dec 14, 2017, at 4:37 PM, Robert Mahnke <rpmahnke at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> That's nonsense. There's a lot of good journalism out there.
> 
>> On Thu, Dec 14, 2017 at 12:34 PM, Atticus Pinecone <atticuspinecone at gmail.com> wrote:
>> America & American journalism have relatively short & interwoven histories... What are the positive journalism examples? We can all name absolutely catastrophic negative ones... 
>> 
>> Almost seems like the way NYC & Boston are built on landfill... America is built on lies & slander...
>> 
>> 
>>> On Dec 14, 2017, at 3:17 PM, Robert Mahnke <rpmahnke at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 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
>>>> 
>>>> 	Virus-free. www.avg.com
>>>> 
>>>>> 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-polarization-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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