Is Polarization a Bad Thing?
How we perceive opposing opinions is different and yet very important. We can take opposing opinions as if they hate us, or we can try to observe and even learn how the others view the same fact differently. For instance, when I meet a person who has a totally different personality from me, as I get bothered at first, I become more interested in knowing how s/he lived and what her or his background is. Similarly, I became curious to know what makes people to support certain politicians when I didn’t know much about the politicians.. Having polarization, depending on how we utilize, can be beneficial to expand and raise our level of knowledge.
In order for polarization to be good or beneficial, I believe there should be appreciation and respect to some extent while being an opponent. Then, the media has an important role to make the balance of divisions. Since the media has such strong influences, they can give the audiences impacts on how we take different opinions. Thus, the media holds the key of shows being whether biased or engaging for the audience. I personally don’t have much negative opinions of those shows because they have different styles and ways of looking at particular topics that may not be as clear on general news channel. Even though these shows can create polarization, I would say that it does not always mean bad, but we have to be careful with how we can observe and learn from others whose opinions do not match with ours.
I agree that it's important for media commentators to show respect for those with opposing viewpoints. Doing so shows their viewers that they should do the same. I feel like most people today hold onto their views like it's their lifeline and refuse to hear a rational argument from the other side. There needs to be more debate on these shows that doesn't devolve into senseless arguing. The media controls how we view politics, which is why I think it's so important for media commentators to focus more on the facts and rational debate. This would cause less polarization and maybe even help us come to a consensus on some issues. With the current state of things, there is a lot of animosity between democrats and republicans. There is no real dialogue. No one wants to listen to each other. This needs to change and I believe the media can make it happen.
ReplyDeleteNamiki- Yes, respect. That is something that is often sorely missing from today's talk and opinion shows. Especially on Fox (but sometimes also on CNN and MSNBC) these shows too often devolve into name-calling and shouting. Look back at Huey Newton (a revolutionary) and William F. Buckley (a conservative) talking on the segment I included in my lecture. They are extremely civil and respectful of one another although it would be hard to find two people MORE opposed in their ideology.
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