The debate over polarized media can make the two ecosystems sound equivalent.
One is left, the other right, but otherwise they’re the same. That couldn’t be
more wrong. They’re structured differently, they work differently, they value
different things, they’re built atop different aesthetics. And behind all
these differences is something we don’t talk about enough: their audiences,
and what those audiences demand.
Danna Young is an associate professor of communications at the University of
Delaware and author of the forthcoming
Irony and Outrage , a fascinating
study of the differing aesthetics of the left and right media universes, and
how those differences are rooted in the psychological composition of their
audiences. This is tricky stuff to talk about, but it’s necessary for
understanding why political media looks the way it does today.
Book recommendations:
https://www.amazon.com/Constructing-
Political-Spectacle-Murray-Edelman/dp/0226183998" target="new">
Constructing the Political Spectacle by Murray Edelman
https://www.amazon.com/Outrage-Industry-Political-Incivility-
Development/dp/0190498463" target="new">
The Outrage Industry: Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility
by Jeffrey M. Berry and Sarah Sobieraj
https://www.amazon.com/Messengers-Right-Conservative-
Transformation-American/dp/0812248392" target="new">
Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of
American Politics by Nicole Hemmer
Read more
The debate over polarized media can make the two ecosystems sound equivalent.
One is left, the other right, but otherwise they’re the same. That couldn’t be
more wrong. They’re structured differently, they work differently, they value
different things, they’re built atop different aesthetics. And behind all
these differences is something we don’t talk about enough: their audiences,
and what those audiences demand.
Danna Young is an associate professor of communications at the University of
Delaware and author of the forthcoming
Irony and Outrage , a fascinating
study of the differing aesthetics of the left and right media universes, and
how those differences are rooted in the psychological composition of their
audiences. This is tricky stuff to talk about, but it’s necessary for
understanding why political media looks the way it does today.
Book recommendations:
https://www.amazon.com/Constructing-
Political-Spectacle-Murray-Edelman/dp/0226183998" target="new">
Constructing the Political Spectacle by Murray Edelman
https://www.amazon.com/Outrage-Industry-Political-Incivility-
Development/dp/0190498463" target="new">
The Outrage Industry: Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility
by Jeffrey M. Berry and Sarah Sobieraj
https://www.amazon.com/Messengers-Right-Conservative-
Transformation-American/dp/0812248392" target="new">
Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of
American Politics by Nicole Hemmer
Read less