A St. Bonaventure University associate professor contends that emotions have become more central to political life in America than facts and knowledge.
A St. Bonaventure University associate professor contends that emotions have become more central to political life in America than facts and knowledge.
鈥淪ocial scientists and journalists alike have largely been trained to think of the public as rational, unemotional, objective-minded information seekers who exchange ideas in a public space to create a more informed democracy,鈥 Benjamin Gross of the Department of Sociology and Criminology wrote in a research essay posted by the Jandoli Institute. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 political media ecosystem seems to be more tribal, more emotional, and more apt to denounce fact in favor of fiction.鈥
Gross鈥 paper, is the seventh research essay in the Jandoli Institute鈥檚 summer Media Studies Across Disciplines project.
In the paper, Gross argues that polarization toward parties and their members influences how people feel about the news media. Americans have 鈥済rown quick to reject media reports (and entire news organizations) as biased,鈥 he wrote. 鈥淩ebuilding broken trust between news audiences and journalists would be helpful, although it is not clear how that will be achieved.鈥
Gross also explores the manner in which President Donald J. Trump has used an 鈥渋dentity-first political news media landscape鈥 to strengthen support among his base.
鈥淭he way that Trump has used anger and emotion to consistently make political differences salient in the minds of audience members puts these forces into overdrive,鈥 he wrote.
Since June 23, the institute has posted a new Media Studies Across Disciplines essay on its website every Tuesday. The series will continue through Aug. 11.
The essays were authored by St. Bonaventure faculty members who used their knowledge and expertise to provide insight and analysis from their own individual perspectives. Faculty from the biology, history, nursing, philosophy and sociology departments contributed to the project, which was funded by the Leo E. Keenan Jr. Faculty Development Endowment and the Jandoli School of Communication. The essays were selected through a blind peer-review process.
The Jandoli Institute serves as a forum for academic research, creative ideas and discussion on the intersection between media and democracy. The institute, accessible at , is part of the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University.