Thoughtful Debate or an Entertaining Boxing Match?
May 1, 2012
In 2011, Gallup, the polling organization, found that 6 in 10 Americans wanted members of a new bipartisan panel to find ways to cut deficit, even if the resulting deal is one they personally disagree with. A majority of Republicans, Democrats and Independents (but not Tea Party supporters) shared that view. Yet compromise on the Hill often remains elusive. Daniel Yankelovich, a market researcher, developed the ''mushiness index'' to assess whether people truly understand the costs associated with the principles they express. He found that while Americans express an interest in an abstract goal or principle, they don't want to make the necessary trade-offs. For example, people want to save the environment, but they do not want to drive less.
In an experimental setting, conservatives and Republicans preferred to read news reports attributed to Fox News and to avoid news from CNN and NPR. Meanwhile, democrats and liberals divided their attention equally between CNN and NPR, but avoided Fox News. The top 3 news channels most watched by Americans in 2011 were Fox, MSNBC, and CNN. Demand for news varies with the perceived affinity of the news organization to the consumer's political preferences. Does this 'echo chamber' effect make it more difficult for media outlets to thrive while presenting balanced coverage of the issues?
On the Civility and Political Discourse panel, the moderator Aaron Brown of PBS (formerly CNN and ABC) suggests that there might be a difference between what Americans want and what they say they want. Ted Simons of KAET-TV's HORIZON agreed saying that when the public is presented with the option, they choose the negative media despite saying they want informative news. Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) described a time he was put on the spot during a Sunday morning talk show. Over commercial break he confronted his hosts and asked why they were inciting so much controversy. Their response: We're as bored of it as you are but every time we do it the ratings go up.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema suggests that we teach critical thinking in our schools so that the public can engage in political discourse instead of reality TV.
Should we incentivize Americans, as consumers of information, to insist upon more thoughtful coverage of politics and policy? What role should education play? Watch this clip to see what the panel had to say:
Video clip from the ''Keynote Panel on Civility and Political Discourse'' convened by NCoC and the Bipartisan Policy Center at the 66th Annual National Conference on Citizenship in September 2011.