At first glance, it might seem that the conservative-leaning Fox News Channel would be considered more politically divisive than such liberal cable networks as MSNBC and CNN.
However, that’s not what the Morning Consult polling firm found when it surveyed 336,370 Americans over the previous three months to determine which brands divide Democrats and Republicans the most.
According to an article written by TVNewswer's A. J. Katz:
From award shows to soda commercials, politics is increasingly seeping into most facets of American culture.
As a result, brands that were once dutifully neutral have taken bold stands, and others have been involuntarily dragged into controversy.
The firm -- which describes itself as “changing how leaders use public opinion to make key decisions and drive strategy” -- utilized “a wealth of consumer tracking data” from interviews to “determine which brands are the most politically divisive.”
“As one might have guessed,” Katz noted, “media outlets comprise the overwhelming majority of the the top 15 most divisive brands."
“According to the survey,” he stated, “CNN was the most politically divisive media outlet in America.”
“Fox News is less divisive than CNN, but not by much,” the reporter noted, and the “fair and balanced” cable channel “has a 43 percent unavailability rating among Democrats, the second-highest percentage among the brands measured.”
However, “NBC News is seen quite favorably among Democrats,” which is not surprising since its cable outlet -- MSNBC -- is watched by many liberals.
Katz also stated that “other news media outlets in the top 15 ‘most divisive brands’ among Democrats and Republicans include the New York Times, MSNBC, ABC News, CBS News, the Washington Post, HuffPost and TIME magazine, all of which are seen more favorably by Democrats than Republicans.”
As NewsBusters reported in December, more research from liberal universities has confirmed that not only is the media biased against GOP President Donald Trump, but a majority of the public doesn’t trust what they read from the mainstream media either.
That finding echoed a Gallup poll from September that showed only 32 percent of Americans trust the media.
And if that wasn’t enough proof, a survey conducted in late 2017 by Gallup and the Knight Foundation acknowledged that technological advances “have made it easier for Americans to connect with each other and to find information, including details about the major issues facing the country.”
In that poll, “media bias” and “fake news” were still considered serious problems by those who took part in the survey.
With that in mind, as long as CNN and MSNBC continue to split the audience from liberal television viewers -- not to mention the news programs produced by the “mainstream media” -- there’s no chance they’ll ever be able to catch up with or surpass their rivals at Fox News.
