scholarly journals Making the Tea Party Republican: Media Bias and Framing in Newspapers and Cable News

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 421-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Rafail ◽  
John D. McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Republican Party ◽  
Media Bias ◽  
Tea Party ◽  
Seamless Integration ◽  
Cable News ◽  
Fox News ◽  
Party Organizations ◽  
Stark Contrast ◽  
Blog Posts

Research on the Tea Party emphasizes the role of Fox News in magnifying the movement’s early successes. Fox News is credited with legitimizing the Tea Party’s grievances, allowing the movement to make rapid inroads into the Republican Party. We argue that such depictions of the Tea Party’s relationship to the Republican Party are at least partially the product of an oversimplified media narrative emphasizing the seamless integration of the two. We analyze 201,678 media documents from blog posts from Tea Party organizations, Fox News, MSNBC, and 785 newspapers. Our results show marked differences between how the Tea Party frames itself compared with other media sources frame the movement. MSNBC and Fox News discuss the Tea Party strategically, respectively, treating the movement as representing the worst and best aspects of the Republican Party. This is in stark contrast to how the activists frame the movement as conservative, but not strictly Republican, and often in conflict with the goals of the Republican Party.

Faith and the Free Market: Evangelicals, the Tea Party, and Economic Attitudes

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Deckman ◽  
Dan Cox ◽  
Robert Jones ◽  
Betsy Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Republican Party ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Tea Party ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Tea Party Movement ◽  
Public Investments ◽  
Economic Attitudes ◽  
Evangelical Protestants

AbstractWe argue that concerted efforts by Tea Party leaders, Republican politicians, and leading Christian Right figures to establish and promote a connection between Christian faith and the free-market system has helped shift the economic attitudes of white evangelical Protestants in a more conservative direction. Our analysis of Public Religion Research Institute survey data finds that white evangelical Protestants express greater skepticism about an active role of government in society and believe economic growth is more likely to be spurred by a reduction in taxes rather than in public investments. Moreover, we find that identifying with the Tea Party has a conservatizing influence on their economic issue positions. While we find that partisanship, class, and in some cases, age, serve to modify the views of some evangelicals, by and large, evangelicals have come to embrace the conservative fiscal message promoted by both the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement.

Resurgent Mass Partisanship Revisited: The Role of Media Choice in Clarifying Elite Ideology

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 943-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua P. Darr ◽  
Johanna L. Dunaway
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Media Choice ◽  
Liberal Party ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Cable News ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
Fox News ◽  
Partisan News

Elite polarization is at an all-time high. Has this division filtered down into the public, and is this trend being exacerbated by expanded media choice in the postbroadcast era? Using National Annenberg Election Surveys (NAES) data from recent election cycles, we analyze the influence of news choice on individual-level perceptions of the ideologies of parties and partisan elites. We examine whether cable news choice shapes respondents’ ability to correctly identify Democrats as the more liberal party, and Republicans as more conservative. Using cross-sectional and panel data, we find that partisan news consumers—particularly those watching Fox News—are better able to identify the positions and ideologies of partisan elites. Partisan news may help citizens participate more effectively by helping them identify the ideological orientation of the major parties and candidates.

The Role and Impact of Fox News

The Forum ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-388
Author(s):  
Jennifer Hoewe ◽  
Kathryn Cramer Brownell ◽  
Eric C. Wiemer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cable News ◽  
Fox News ◽  
Nationally Representative

Abstract Considering that cable news has become a primary source of political information for many Americans, this article examines the role and impact of Fox News in the United States, particularly as it compares to other news outlets. We begin by offering a historical analysis of Fox News’ formation and growth in popularity, including a review of existing scholarship on the network’s impact on news consumers. Prior research as well as an additional nationally-representative dataset reveals that two policy areas are particularly potent among Fox News’ consumers: immigration and climate change. Additionally, scholars have found initial evidence for the role of Fox News in shaping its viewers’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. We then consider the cognitive processing utilized by news consumers, explaining how it may differ among individuals who opt to consume Fox News and those who get news from other sources. We conclude by reviewing why three specific areas—immigration, climate change, and COVID-19—resonate so strongly with Fox News consumers.

From Fox News to Viral Views: The Influence of Ideological Media in the 2018 Elections

The Forum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Grossmann ◽  
David A. Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
Republican Party ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Fox News ◽  
Ideological Polarization ◽  
American Elections ◽  
Notable Increase ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Conservative Media

Abstract The 2018 elections marked a notable increase in the influence of ideological media over both major American parties. Conservative media sources, led by Fox News Channel, further solidified their power within the Republican Party, maintaining their traditional role of informing and mobilizing Republican voters while extending their reach to become densely integrated with Republican elites, especially President Trump. At the same time, deep antipathy to the Trump presidency among Democratic voters produced a surge in popular demand for overtly liberal media programming and information about the 2018 elections, leading to extensive citizen engagement (especially online) and record grassroots fundraising totals for Democratic candidates. The events of 2018 thus furthered two important long-term trends – the ideological polarization of the parties and the nationalization of American elections – that continue to define our contemporary political era.

Reading the Tea Leaves—the News about the News

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khadijah Costley White
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Tea Party ◽  
Online Video ◽  
Tea Leaves ◽  
High Ranking ◽  
Fox News ◽  
The Media

This chapter looks at how the media explained, critiqued, and reported on their own role in the branding and coverage of the Tea Party, and what that says about news media function and convergence in a headphone culture. Whether it was a “media war” on Fox News, a reporter’s rant at CNBC, or a defamatory online video triggering the dismissal of a high-ranking Obama appointee for “racism,” one thing was clear—at its core, Tea Party news narratives were also a story about modern journalism. This section of the book explains how members of the news media portrayed (implicitly and explicitly) their own roles, functions, and values as they advanced the Tea Party’s recognition, messaging, and growth through the logics, action, and discourse of branding.

The Fox Diet

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yochai Benkler ◽  
Robert Faris ◽  
Hal Roberts
Keyword(s):  
First Year ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Justice Department ◽  
Fox News ◽  
The Core ◽  
Deep State ◽  
Media Ecosystem ◽  
Conservative Media ◽  
The Right

This chapter focuses on the role of the dominant player in conservative media, Fox News, during the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency. It looks at three case studies to illustrate how Fox News used its position at the core of the right-wing media ecosystem repeatedly to mount propaganda attacks in support of Trump: the Michael Flynn firing in March 2017, when Fox adopted the “deep state” framing of the entire controversy; the James Comey firing and Robert Mueller appointment in May 2017; when Fox propagated the Seth Rich murder conspiracy; and in October and November, when the arrests of Paul Manafort and guilty plea of Flynn seemed to mark a new level of threat to the president, Fox reframed the Uranium One story as an attack on the integrity of the FBI and Justice Department officials in charge of the investigation.

scholarly journals Changes in perceptions of media bias

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 205316802098744
Author(s):  
Kirby Goidel ◽  
Nicholas T. Davis ◽  
Spencer Goidel
Keyword(s):  
Attitude Change ◽  
Media Bias ◽  
Congressional Election ◽  
Election Study ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Change Perceptions ◽  
Individual Perceptions ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
The Media

In this paper, we utilize a module from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study to explore how individual perceptions of media bias changed over the course of the 2016 presidential campaign. While previous literature has documented the role of partisan affiliation in perceptions of bias, we know considerably less about how these perceptions change during a presidential election. Consistent with existing theories of attitude change, perceptions of bias polarize with strong Democrats moving toward believing the media were biased against Hillary Clinton (and in favor of Donald Trump) and independent-leaning Republicans moving toward believing the media were biased against Donald Trump. At the end of the 2016 election, more individuals believed the media were biased against their side. These effects were moderated by how much attention individuals paid to the campaign.

BALANCE OF OPINION IN NEWSPAPERS THROUGH EDITORIAL AND OP-ED GENRES

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (105) ◽  
pp. 78-86
Author(s):  
EKATERINA A. NIKONOVA
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Wall Street Journal ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
White House ◽  
The Wall Street Journal

The article deals with the analysis of the balance of opinion in the newspaper, which is originally realized through editorial and op-ed genres. We analyzed 20 articles from “The Wall Street Journal” and “The New York Times” in the genres of editorial and op-ed about events in Afghanistan in August 2021, which were interpreted differently in mass media due to the role of the White House. The findings prove that in the context of new digital reality the op-ed has lost its original function of conveying alternative positions to the ones stated in the editorial; at the same time newspapers tend to advocate the positions shared by the political parties they have historically developed close relations with: “The Wall Street Journal” - with the Republican Party, “The New York Times” - the Democratic Party.

scholarly journals When election expectations fail: Polarized perceptions of election legitimacy increase with accumulating evidence of election outcomes and with polarized media

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0259473
Author(s):  
Marrissa D. Grant ◽  
Alexandra Flores ◽  
Eric J. Pedersen ◽  
David K. Sherman ◽  
Leaf Van Boven
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fox News ◽  
The Media ◽  
Democrats And Republicans ◽  
Dissonance Theory ◽  
Over Time

The present study, conducted immediately after the 2020 presidential election in the United States, examined whether Democrats’ and Republicans’ polarized assessments of election legitimacy increased over time. In a naturalistic survey experiment, people (N = 1,236) were randomly surveyed either during the week following Election Day, with votes cast but the outcome unknown, or during the following week, after President Joseph Biden was widely declared the winner. The design unconfounded the election outcome announcement from the vote itself, allowing more precise testing of predictions derived from cognitive dissonance theory. As predicted, perceived election legitimacy increased among Democrats, from the first to the second week following Election Day, as their expected Biden win was confirmed, whereas perceived election legitimacy decreased among Republicans as their expected President Trump win was disconfirmed. From the first to the second week following Election Day, Republicans reported stronger negative emotions and weaker positive emotions while Democrats reported stronger positive emotions and weaker negative emotions. The polarized perceptions of election legitimacy were correlated with the tendencies to trust and consume polarized media. Consumption of Fox News was associated with lowered perceptions of election legitimacy over time whereas consumption of other outlets was associated with higher perceptions of election legitimacy over time. Discussion centers on the role of the media in the experience of cognitive dissonance and the implications of polarized perceptions of election legitimacy for psychology, political science, and the future of democratic society.

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