The last few years has seen considerable debate around both the seemingly partisan nature of news coverage, and the dissemination of misinformation that is so distorting the public discourse.  A new study from Ohio State University explores whether there is a connection between the two, and whether people who consume partisan news coverage are more likely to be taken in by misinformation.

The researchers, who utilized data from the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections, believe that people who consume partisan news coverage tend to have stronger negative feelings towards their political opponents, with this strongly linked to a likelihood to believe misinformation about ‘the other side’.

“Partisan news outlets promote a feeling of animosity toward the other side and that animosity can help explain inaccurate beliefs,” the researchers explain.  “As people grow increasingly hostile towards those with whom they disagree, our study found they are more likely to believe false information about them.”

Spreading misinformation

The researchers also believe that this connection appears to be strongest among Republicans, and that the connection often translates into a willingness to believe whatever your chosen party tells you, regardless of any actual evidence to the contrary, especially if that evidence comes from someone outside of your in group.

The study revolved around interviews conducted with several hundred Americans during the election campaign.  The participants were quizzed at the start, in the middle and then after the votes were cast.  During each intervention, they were asked about their media consumption habits, and how favorably they felt towards each candidate on a scale of 0-10.

They were also asked to rate on a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being definitely true) four statements about each candidate, all of which were false, but that had been widely reported in partisan media outlets.

The data suggests that whenever Republicans consumed conservative media outlets, they were both more likely to dislike Obama, and to believe falsehoods about him.  No such findings emerged for Democrats who consumed liberal media.

A similar study was conducted during the 2016 election, with the main difference this time being on an issue on which both Republicans and Democrats broadly agree, which was Russian interference in the election.  At the time, the consensus was that Russians had hacked into Democratic Party email accounts, but there was no conclusive link to this being coordinated by the Trump campaign.  Participants were asked whether there was involvement from the Trump camp or not (or that things were largely inconclusive).

As with the first study, those who consumed more conservative media were more likely to dislike Democratic candidates, and were more likely to believe that Trump had been cleared of any collusion with Russian hackers.  Similarly, no such correlation appeared with those who had consumed liberal media.

Conservative bias

“The fact that we found the same difference between liberal media use and conservative media use in 2016 as we did in 2012 is provocative,” the researchers say.  “It merits more careful scrutiny. We think these results provide a useful step forward. But it would be a mistake to treat this issue as settled.”

The researchers believe that their work helps us to better understand how our views are formed.  They believe it counters the perception that if only people could be exposed to more balanced coverage, then they would be better able to locate the truth.

“The problem is that we now have a lot of evidence that people don’t live in bubbles – they may consume more media from one side, but they aren’t avoiding everything else,” they explain.  “Our results suggest an alternative reason why partisan media viewers believe misperceptions.”