The Post-Racial Society Is Here: Recognition, Critics and the Nation-State by Wilbur C. Rich

Author:Wilbur C. Rich [Rich, Wilbur C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Public Policy, Cultural Policy, History & Theory, Social Policy, Political Science
ISBN: 9780415818513
Google: O7qHCgUd3qsC
Goodreads: 16241278
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-01-15T12:41:49+00:00

THE CONSERVATIVE CRITICS

Conservatives also complain about what they view as a decline of American values in the media search for eyes and ears. Conservatives believe that there is a liberal bias in the media that distorts reporting of events. Social conservatives believe that the liberal media is facilitating the secularization and hedonization of America. Neo-conservatives claim that the American media coverage of political events can lead to cynicism and a sense of powerlessness.9 They assert that Americans are in a videomalaise. Americans watch too much television. (As Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone pointed out, this preoccupation with television keeps them from bowling with their friends and engaging politically with their neighbors.) Television inhibits active political participation and isolates Americans in their homes.

For some conservative critics the content of television has also undermined trust in politicians and government institutions. For both conservatives and liberals the decline in trust in government is alarming. Political scientists have documented the growing mistrust of government. The 2010 Gallup poll also found a decline in trust (Figure 4.1). The poll asks if respondents trust government. Only 19% of Americans believed that they could trust government to do the right thing all the time.

Remember Robinson's observation that television is also dangerous because it gets what he calls a large “inadvertent audience” of low-income and uneducated viewers? These are “viewers who fall into news” rather than seek it out.10 They can be easily manipulated. They often believe what they see and hear. But it is not just viewers and nonreaders; it is also the majority of Americans who seek media that support their personal views. Neo-conservatives also claim that the so-called liberal media has assumed an inflated structural role in governing. A structural hole occurs when outsiders gain entrance without ownership permission.

How much of the time do you think you can trust government in Washington to do what is right-just about always, most of the time, or only some of the time?

Copyright © (September 13–16, 2010) Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. The content is used with permission; however, Gallup retains all rights of republication.

Figure 4.1 Trust in government

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