American society today is far less flexible than it used to be. The confrontation between Trump and Biden has effectively split the people in two, which is a problem for the United States.
Writes about this edition “The New York Times”.
The media analyzed the views of the Democratic and Republican party conventions. Journalists noticed a remarkable trend: Americans prefer to watch the most radical TV channels that support one side or the other.
For example, the pro-republican channel “Fox News” gained 45% of all TV viewers of the Republican National Congress. In 2016, this figure was about 30%.
At the same time, MSNBC, a liberal-oriented TV channel, attracted 30% of viewers watching the Democratic convention last week. In 2016, its figure was lower by about 12%. The publication also noted that during the Republican convention, MSNBC lost about 70% of its average audience. But the average Fox News audience has more than tripled.
“We are a polarized country and this is reflected in the media choices we make. We have the ability to create virtual reality worlds that support our point of view, ”says political analyst David Axelrod.
The New York Times considers Fox News’ dominance during the Republican convention “astounding.” During Donald Trump’s speech, the audience of the TV channel approached a record, reaching 9.2 million people. That’s more than the viewership of ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC combined.
On MSNBC, the Republican convention was criticized by three experts at once. Moreover, the channel interrupted the broadcast three times to check the factors. As a result, the channel’s ratings during the Republican Party convention became the lowest in a year. The broadcast of the Democratic convention helped MSNBC win back a little. It was watched by 5.7 million viewers, which is the highest figure in 24 years of the channel’s existence.
Axelrod notes that the polarization of Americans is much stronger now than during previous election campaigns. This trend will intensify in the future, the expert is sure.
“The elasticity of the electorate is even less. Earlier it was not great, but now it is even worse, ”he stated.