"Why Partisans View Mainstream Media as Biased and Ideological Media as Objective"

The answer to the question posed by the article's title is explored by Matthew C. Nisbet and Lauren Feldman in their research on the social psychology of political communication.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 12 Unit 4's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: How the Media Twists the News, Why Partisans View, Bush's Address on Iraq Invasion, The Dixie Chicks, Keep the Heat, Chicks Reap Whirlwind, No More Whistlin' Dixie, America Catches Up, Speaking Up and Speaking Out, Esteemed Outlaws, A Tired Old Song
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. partisan
    an enthusiastic supporter of some person or activity
    Research in the field of communication has tracked the psychological underpinning of this societal trend, explaining why partisans view mainstream coverage as biased but perceive their preferred ideological outlets as fair and balanced.
  2. credibility
    the quality of being believable or trustworthy
    In research on perceptions of the news media, credibility is understood as a subjective assessment, influenced by the partisan or ideological background of the audience and the claims about bias that might emanate from trusted sources such as political commentators or like-minded friends.
  3. assess
    estimate the nature, quality, ability or significance of
    Audiences, then, do not typically assess story content on its own merits but rather on the basis of preconceived notions about the news media--often stemming from journalists' tendency in many stories to cover and reflect on their own potential liberal bias.
  4. influence
    have and exert an effect
    A number of other studies have also suggested that individuals' expectations for bias in a news source or in the media, more generally, are likely to influence their perceptions of bias in news coverage
  5. objective
    undistorted by emotion or personal bias
    Individuals who feel most strongly about an issue tend to see their own side's views as being more a product of objective analysis and normative concerns, and less influenced by ideology, than the other side's views
  6. biased
    favoring one person or side over another
    In a range of studies, when news audiences who hew to opposing sides on an issue are given the same news coverage of the topic to evaluate, both view this identical coverage as biased in favor of the other side
  7. hostile
    characterized by enmity or ill will
    The phenomenon is commonly referred to as the "hostile media effect."
  8. consistent
    in agreement or reliable
    In the presence of the relative hostile media effect, supporters and opponents of a given issue perceive bias in a consistent direction (i.e. leaning toward one side), but each group perceives coverage as significantly more unfavorable to their own position relative to those in the other group.
  9. congruent
    corresponding in character or kind
    Of consequence here is that partisans will fail to recognize bias in news that is in fact biased, in instances when that bias is congruent with their pre-existing views.
  10. polarize
    cause to divide into conflicting positions
    Americans' trust in news sources has become deeply polarized in recent years
Created on Sat Mar 07 11:18:35 EST 2015 (updated Sat Mar 07 19:08:51 EST 2015)

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