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Abstract:
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The phrase "red state, blue state" has set off a debate as divisive as the social trend it describes. This thesis not only recognizes the disparity in defining red states and blue states, but aims to both separate and bridge these differences while introducing a powerful explanatory variable to the discussion; the news media, or what will be referred to as "red news, blue news." Scholars have approached the topic of American polarization in a variety of ways, namely by looking at the public's differences on salient issues, the public's electoral voting habits and the differences among political elites. While the culture war and the red state, blue state maps of the 2000 and 2004 elections are illustrative of the general debate over political polarization, these theories have ignored the impact of both the mass media and the alternative media. Since the news media is where most Americans gather their information on world, national and local affairs, this seems an obvious place to look for polarizing messages. This research is organized by an investigation of the demand-side and supply-side of media polarization. The demand-side study looks at ideological news audiences through a series of path analysis models using the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press 2004 media consumption survey. On the supply side, media polarization is demonstrated through a content analysis of 44 television news transcripts to quantify the amount of partisan news framing during the Senate confirmation hearings for Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court. Through both of these quantitative studies, and complimented by a review of polarization literature, as well as interviews with political communication experts, the case is quite strong for the politically polarizing effects of the news media. |