U.S. elections: Expert accuses media of polarising Americans

Dr. Jeffrey Stonecash, an expert on political parties in the United States says the media is fueling polarisation among citizens and residents of the country.

Stonecash made the assertion while virtually briefing journalists selected across the globe by the U.S. Department of State -Bureau of Global Public Affairs to cover the November 3 presidential elections in the United States.

The expert identified economic individualism and role of government, race and cultural matters and immigration as major causes of conflict in the U.S.

“All these history conflicts we have are really magnified by the media. We now have the very vibrant conservatives media which is dedicated to presenting a narrative on history matters on individualism, economic matters about race, culture and immigration matters.

“It has really fueling the conflicts we have in the society; if you run into somebody who is watching Fox News all the time and you have been watching CNN or MSMBC, you think you are living in two different worlds.

“The facts and assumptions they have about what is going on, how bad riots are going on, how bad crimes are is just vastly different.

“You begin a conversation and discover oh my goodness this person has really different facts than I do; I hear people they are afraid of talking about politics because they afraid it could explode.

“What the media does is to re-enforce each other, the liberals watch CNN or SMMBC and they come out outraged and the republicans watch Fox News and they are outraged about what is going on in America.

“I must say they is an enormous profit to be made on both sides by provoking outage so it is hard to find a show where America watches a thoughtful review of both sides of the issue, what we have now is polarising of the media,” he said.

Stonecash explained that conservatives want a government that will let people do what they want saying that they are obsessed with freedom while liberals are concern about the collective state of affairs.

“Conservatives are angry about having to wear masks and the liberals are saying don’t you care about the collective safety of the society?

“The two groups talk past each other; it’s pretty hard to get a coherent conversation, a one that does not blow up when those type of topics come up.

“I think what all of these has done is to produce a society which there is a growing percentage of people on each side who think the other side is a threat to America.

“They think if the other side gets into power, American got a hit; if you follow the campaign, Trump is being saying to the people, ‘I am the only thing standing between you and the demise of America’.

“Liberals groups are out there saying if Donald Trump gets elected, it could risk the demise of America; it is not easy the way the conversation is going when you think the other side is a threat to the continuation of America’s democracy,” he said.

The expert said that a lot of people virtually live and on social media saying it is becoming a disaster as a lot of people.

He said that there is the partisan press which is very complicated and everybody is worried about it.