When looking at this blog prompt, I really had to take sometime to really sit and think about if I stood with Ronald Jacobs and Eleanor Townsley. These two suggested in their book The Space of Opinion that the newer formats of cable opinion shows are contributing to political polarization. After sitting on the topic for a while I would have to say that I do not agree with them. To be honest, I was the person who did not care about politics or anything that was going on in the world around me. I was so ignorant to everything until this recent presidential election. When news hit that Trump actually had a chance at running the free world I quickly wanted to know everything and anything that was relevant to why I believe he should have not been elected. I started tuning into the “newer formats” of cable opinion and I stated speaking to others in the public sphere to education myself. I was a person who was very uneducated in the political atmosphere so I easily could have been swayed by the opinion on all of these cable networks that Jacobs and Townsley speak off. I however never felt as if I had to believe what these networks were saying. I also never felt they were trying to persuade me a certain way. I felt they were trying to educate me. I felt they were trying to get me out of my own thoughts and open me up to explore other thoughts I may have not had before. I think shows like these are good. It shows that we are entailed to our opinions and to our views. I feel polarization doesn’t come from listening to the onions or others I feel it comes from making other feel less of a person because their opinion differs from yours.
Monday, April 10, 2017
Blog Post #4
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I feel that I stand on your side; I am also honest to say that I didn’t care much about politics. You used yourself as an example of “newer formats” of cable opinion, and I agree that is absolutely accurate. We didn’t have any specific education or interests in order for us to get curiosity towards the election; we personally felt that we wanted to know more about it and then started to be more active talking about it.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with how you believed that cable network can be something that can give us new perspective, as I even mentioned in my own blog this week. Also, I liked how you wrote about having your view enlarged by different opinions and these networks, and you said, “I felt they were trying to get me out of my own thoughts and open me up to explore…” I felt that you took different opinions to be your asset instead of opposing viewpoints, and that is the result of polarization being good, in my opinion!
Namiki and Shelbie-- Your comments suggest that the sort of clash of opinion were see on shows like Cross Fire and Hard Ball really do engage citizens and get them to think about important public issues. I can definitely see how it would have that effect on viewers who don't normally follow politics. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Shelbie. I can relate to everything you were saying. I too was not paying attention to politics until this past September. It was in my first two grad courses that I realized I was not as informed as my grad peers about current events and the 2016 election. I have a feeling I was not the only one who felt a switch flip on after the election results. I think you are right that the cable shows can give us different perspectives but not necessarily persuade us in a new direction. I think most of us already know where we stand on issues even if we don't always keep up with the ever changing news.
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