Cable news is part of a larger picture of heightened polarization, intense partisanship, and paralysis in Congress. Pew also finds Republicans trust Fox News more than any other media outlet.Īmericans’ divergent media sources - and specifically Fox’s “hate”-filled rhetoric - aren’t solely to blame here. The Pew Research Center reports an increasing tendency, especially among Republicans, to view members of the other party as immoral and unpatriotic. The us-versus-them mentality, in turn, deepens feelings of antipathy toward the perceived “out-group.” Research confirms that repeated exposure to polarized media messages can lead news consumers to form firm opinions and can foster what’s called an “in-group” identity. On the other: nefarious Democrats, liberals, the left and mainstream media. On the one side: Trump along with good folks under siege. Nevertheless, the phrase permeates Fox’s evening programming, uttered by hosts, interviewees and Republican sources, all painting Trump critics not as legitimate opponents but hateful enemies working in bad faith.īy repeatedly telling its viewers they are bound together as objects of the contempt of a powerful and hateful left-leaning “elite,” Fox has constructed two imagined communities. Our data show intensely partisan hosts like Hannity and Carlson are more likely than other Fox anchors to use “they hate” in this way. It paints criticism or moral outrage directed at Trump as inherently irrational.įor loyal Fox viewers, these language patterns construct a coherent but potentially dangerous narrative about the world. ”Ĭiting liberal hate as a fact that needs no explanation serves to dismiss criticism of specific policies or events. Examples included “they can’t accept the fact that he won” or “because we voted for. Only 13 instances of “they hate” also cited a reason. Anchors also identify their audience - “you,” “Christians,” and “us” - as the target of animosity. Though these groups do not actually have the same interests, ideology or job description, our analysis finds Fox lumps them together as the “they” in “they hate.”Īs for the object of all this hatred, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and other Fox hosts most often name Trump. Mainly, it’s Democrats, liberals, political elites and the media. So who is doing all this hating - and why - according to Fox News? Beginning in January 2017, the mean usage of “they hate” on the network doubled. But Fox’s use of “hate” really took off when Trump’s presidency began. We found Fox’s usage of “they hate” has increased over time, with a clear spike around the polarizing 2016 Trump-Clinton election. We included CNN for an additional comparison. To put these findings in historic context, we then used the GDELT Television database to search for occurrences of the phrase “they hate” on both networks going back to 2009. “Hate” really stood out: It appeared 647 times on Fox, compared to 118 on MSNBC.įox usually pairs certain words alongside “hate.” The most notable was “they” - as in, “they hate.” Fox used this phrase 101 times between January and May. Instead, we found that Fox used antipathy words five times more often than MSNBC. We expected to find that both of the strongly ideological networks made use of such words, perhaps in different ways. August 31, 2020Because polarized media diets contribute to partisan conflict, our quantitative analysis identified terms indicating antipathy or resentment, such as “dislike,” “despise,” “can’t stand” and “hate.”
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