Two pundits – Jonah Goldberg, left, and Paul Begala, second from right – discuss politics with journalists Kristen Holmes and Jake Tapper.
The Conversation
Pundits are everywhere, giving their analyses of current events, politics and the state of the world. You’ll hear a lot more from them this election year. Is their rank opinion good for democracy?
Then-CNN anchor Don Lemon speaks during a Democratic presidential debate in Detroit on July 31, 2019.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
Tucker Carlson and his employer, Fox News, had an incredible understanding of what their audience wants: a kind of authenticity that is not genuine but instead manipulative.
Fictional anchorman Ted Baxter, center, flanked by newsroom boss Lou Grant and colleague Mary Richards, on ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ in 1970.
Bettmann/Getty
Today’s anchors on politically slanted news programs feed anger and polarization with their wild claims. Their ancestor is a character from ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ – with one big difference.
There are gender differences in who gets to speak and who interrupts on cable news discussions.
CNN
An analysis of hundreds of thousands of interactions on cable news programs shows that women interrupt more often than men – and it may be because they also have to fight for equal airtime.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump supporters, like these two, are more likely to be polarized by TV news than online echo chambers.
AP Photo/Allen G. Breed
Studies of online echo chambers don’t paint the full picture of Americans’ political segregation. New research shows that the problem is more Fox News Channel and MSNBC than Facebook and Twitter.
CNN’s hyped streaming service folded after three weeks.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Nolan Higdon, California State University, East Bay
Since the 2020 election, the slide in ratings for many large networks has been particularly acute. What’s driving this exodus, and where are viewers going?
Joe Rogan’s ability to attract young male listeners is particularly powerful in today’s fractured media environment.
Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Image
By sidestepping partisan pigeonholing and appealing to the anti-establishment impulses of young men, Rogan has brought together an audience that advertisers have long coveted.
Fox News has a faithful audience.
AP Photo/Richard Drew
Fox News viewers sway religious. A dive into who exactly is watching shows that it is a favorite among white evangelicals, Mormons and members of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Fox was just as likely to use the phrase ‘president-elect’ as MSNBC and CNN.
Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Using machine learning to study over 85 million YouTube comments, a research team has, for the first time, identified linguistic differences among cable news viewers.
Tucker Carlson is a big fan of the phrase ‘they hate.’ Usually, he’s talking about Democrats.
YouTube
The conservative cable news channel particularly favors the term when explaining opposition to Donald Trump. This framing of the news can lead Fox viewers to see the world as us versus them.
Mueller testifies before the House Intelligence Committee.
Reuters/Alex Brandon
To one scholar of the post-truth era, tuning in to Robert Mueller’s testimony Wednesday was to hear a duel over the facts. Not what the facts imply – but what the facts are.
In the first year of ‘Russiagate’ coverage, the combined profits from Fox News, MSNBC and CNN increased by 13 percent.
Nick Lehr/The Conversation