The Economics of Polarization
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-economics-of-polarization-prior-beliefs-bias-information-b7b0e99f
People tend to interpret ambiguous information as confirming whatever they believed to begin with.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-economics-of-polarization-prior-beliefs-bias-information-b7b0e99f
People tend to interpret ambiguous information as confirming whatever they believed to begin with.
Study: An Abundance of Media Fuels Polarization
https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/study-an-abundance-of-media-fuels-polarization
Recent decades have seen an explosion of sources of news and information, as well as increased political polarization. Is there a relationship between the two trends? Yale SOM’s Vahideh Manshadi and her co-authors built a model showing that faced with a flood of information, an individual tends to take in material that reinforces their existing beliefs.
https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/study-an-abundance-of-media-fuels-polarization
Recent decades have seen an explosion of sources of news and information, as well as increased political polarization. Is there a relationship between the two trends? Yale SOM’s Vahideh Manshadi and her co-authors built a model showing that faced with a flood of information, an individual tends to take in material that reinforces their existing beliefs.
United in States of Dissatisfaction: Confirmation Bias Across the Partisan Divide
https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/publications/united-states-of-dissatisfaction-confirmation-bias-across-the-partisan-divide-5ceec68de0c9f6.22459562
Abstract:
Partisan polarization is a central feature of American political life, and a robust literature has shown that citizens engage in partisan motivated reasoning when processing political information. At the same time, however, recent events have highlighted a rising tide of antigovernment sentiment among Democrats and Republicans alike. Using an original set of survey experiments, we find that citizens engage in confirmation bias when they encounter new information, and this is driven not only by party and ideology but also by beliefs about the quality and efficiency of government. Taken together, our findings suggest important limitations to citizens’ capacity to learn about public administration, and expand our understanding of what drives confirmation bias with respect to public and private service provision.
https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/publications/united-states-of-dissatisfaction-confirmation-bias-across-the-partisan-divide-5ceec68de0c9f6.22459562
Abstract:
Partisan polarization is a central feature of American political life, and a robust literature has shown that citizens engage in partisan motivated reasoning when processing political information. At the same time, however, recent events have highlighted a rising tide of antigovernment sentiment among Democrats and Republicans alike. Using an original set of survey experiments, we find that citizens engage in confirmation bias when they encounter new information, and this is driven not only by party and ideology but also by beliefs about the quality and efficiency of government. Taken together, our findings suggest important limitations to citizens’ capacity to learn about public administration, and expand our understanding of what drives confirmation bias with respect to public and private service provision.
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There now appears to be an intriguing split in the Conservative media universe. WSJ Editorials have been quite critical of Trump’s trade policy gaffes while Fox News continues to largely stick with the President. Both WSJ and Fox News are, of course, part of the same Murdoch media empire.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/rupert-murdoch-media-empire-trump-tariffs
Fox pushed back on tariffs. Then Trump changed his mind on tariffs. Coincidence?
https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-tariffs-donald-trump-watching-rupert-murdoch-2025-4