Research Question 1

For the first research question - Do we seek out specific news media that reinforce our opinions? I used the question “Which group do you identify with?” as the control question and then looked at the answers to the questions asking which television networks they choose for their news, if they seek information that reinforces their own belief systems, and if the news media have any influence on the choices they make.
The top network viewed by those identifying themselves as conservative was Fox News with 60.6%; second was CNN with 30.3%. As discussed in the literature review, Fox News is seen as a network that intentionally stays to the right or more conservative point of view and CNN is closer to the middle of the road but leans to the left. Those identifying themselves as Republican said they also watch Fox News, with 46.8%; the second, with 38.3%, was CBS. Participants identifying themselves as moderates said they get their news from CNN, with 53.5% and 34.9%, watching both Fox News and CBS. Interestingly enough, participants identifying themselves as independent were closely split between four different networks: CBS received 47.4%; Fox News received 40.4%; ABC received 38.6%; and CNN received 36.8%. “Other” received 58.6% of the self-proclaimed liberals, with write-in answers such as BBC, PBS, no TV or doesn’t watch TV. The network with the highest percentage was CNN, with 37.9% of participants. Participants claiming to be Democrats tended to, in this study, watch more networks, with 44.7% choosing both CNN and CBS; 39.5% chose MSNBC; 32.9% chose NBC; and 31.6% chose ABC.
The next question on the survey that I examined to answer my first research question was “Do you seek out information that reinforces your own belief system?” I found the answers to this question particularly interesting knowing what I do about the different media outlets. The majority (59.6%) of all participants said they do not choose news outlets whose messages agree with their personal ideology. The breakdown was as follows: 54.5% of conservatives answered yes, they do choose news media that reinforce their personal belief system; while those saying no were Republicans (63.8%), moderates (62.8%), independents (63.2%), liberals (55.2%), and Democrats (54%). This tells me that cognitive dissonance may be on a subconscious level or at the very least unrecognized by the majority of this group.
Finally I examined the answer to the survey question “Do you feel that the news media you use has any influence on the choices you make?” The majority of participants said yes with 57.5%. Those who answered yes overwhelmingly said that they make decisions based on information they receive from the news they consume. One participant said this, “Example: I’m not eating pistachios!” Pistachios were recently found to have been contaminated with salmonella, which was widely reported on by news media. Others who answered yes had similar examples. Another popular example dealt with financial decisions that they are currently making.
So what do these answers tell us? Well, first there are some things that need to be considered, like the fact that the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley has one local station which happens to be a CBS affiliate. This may account for some of the participants choosing it because some places in this area do not get any other stations without cable or satellite. With that being said, let’s examine the trends: More conservatives and republicans watch Fox News than they do MSNBC or even CNN, and more liberals and Democrats watch CNN and MSNBC than they do Fox News or Fox. Knowing what we do about these news outlets we can safely say that cognitive dissonance is occurring on some level, whether it is subconsciously or consciously.
We also find that even with the majority of participants saying they do not seek out news outlets with similar ideology, many do recognize this behavior. On a side note, one participant who identified as a liberal would never watch the biased Fox News or Fox network but still does not seek information that reinforces a personal belief system. This tells me that cognitive dissonance could very well be subconscious. Participants do however recognize that news outlets have some influence on their decisions. So the answer to research question one, based on my research findings, is yes, we do seek specific news media that reinforce our opinions. Whether it is a conscious decision or a subconscious reaction to messages cannot be determined from my research and needs further investigation.