Freedom of press.

[Dill]

(03-03-2017, 10:13 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Anyway, the original point of this post, which I seem to have lost in all of this, is that the concern for bias is a real one and explains the difference, but with it scoring lower among the left we need to look at other factors as well. Namely, how does the current perception of the press overall color this? Then we ask the question about what we need to do about it, because a free press is absolutely essential to a democracy or a democratic republic. This is why the first thing autocrats do when they gain power is try to silence them. So what do we, as the people, need to do in order to ensure that we preserve the role of the press in our society?

Glen Beck was talking about your Pew Poll today. First he was all astonished that Republicans scored so low. They are supposed to be the party of principle. 

Then he insisted that the poll would have been very different if taken before 2016. He was clearly having difficulty with the results, and tossing out various hypotheses to manage his surprise that people who elected a president who hates the free press don't appear to support it either.

I think part of the explanation is that the Republican party has lurched much further rightward than at any point in its history, and that many party members may not themselves be clear on the concept of a free press, despite their loud championing of the constitution. 

I hypothesize that their perception that the press is "left" and an organ of the Democratic party is itself an effect of this rightward lurch, not a cause.