Analysis Of How Partisan Media Polarize America By Matthew Levendusky

Polarized Media Exercise In his novel, How Partisan Media Polarize America, Matthew Levendusky analyzes partisan media and its effects on viewers. Levendusky comes up with several hypotheses after he conducted experiments with the effect of partisan media on viewers. In his first hypothesis, the Like-Minded Attitude Hypothesis, Levendusky says, “On average, exposure to like-minded partisan media will polarize attitudes”(Levendusky 52). When people's attitudes are affirmed by partisan media then they are more likely to go the further extreme on whatever side they are on. However, when people watch political media that does not agree with or affirm their own biases and views they, similarly, become more polarized. According to Levendusky, “On average, exposure to cross cutting political media will polarize attitudes”(Levendusky 53). This hypothesis is called the crosscutting attitude hypothesis. He also makes the point that partisan viewers with more political knowledge will show the greatest tendency to engage in motivated reasoning, so they will be the most likely to polarize when shown partisan media. Levendusky’s third

People who are strongly attached to their views are not likely to change their opinions in the face of crosscutting media. However, some people who are more open minded may actually change their opinions or shift their political leanings if they believe the crosscutting media source is credible. Levendusky comments on this phenomenon in his fifth hypothesis, the Source Credibility Hypothesis, when he says “Viewers who perceive crosscutting sources to be credible will moderate their opinions after exposure to them”(Levendusky 55). Levendusky also theorizes about the effects on the viewer's willingness to compromise and support