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Showing posts from October, 2014

Partisan Media and Political Polarization? Findings from the Pew Research Center

There's been a lot of discussion regarding the findings in the Pew Research Center's new report on Political Polarization & Media Habits. The full report , released on October 21st is part of Pew's larger American Trends Panel exploring national political trends and polarization in particular. While the report suggests that both consistent liberals and consistent conservatives (e.g., those at opposite or polar ends of the ideological spectrum) are selecting media content that aligns with their political views, the findings also suggests that social media platforms are enabling exposure to diverse points of view. While conservatives are relying heavily on FOX News , consistent liberals are opting for outlets like The New York Times , NPR , Slate , and political comedy offerings like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report . These extreme partisans tend to be the loudest voices or the biggest sharers of news content via social media. Interestingly, whi

Trends in Views Toward Employment Discrimination: 1987-2012

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I recently published an article entitled, " Employment discrimination, local school boards, and LGBT civil rights: Reviewing 25 years of public opinion data " in the special issue of The International Journal of Public Opinion Research on Public Opinion on Gay Rights/Marriage edited by Paul Brewer . The piece looks at what factors influence attitudes toward employment discrimination over time. The findings show that there is still a political hard core -- 21% in 2012 -- that believe it is okay to fire known homosexual teachers from positions in public schools. These individuals tend to be more conservative and religious males who hold traditional views on marriage and family. The article was featured on the Oxford University Press blog over the weekend. For more, access the original post HERE .