Remake of Current Events Connection 2 by

Attribution Theory and Blame for Rising Gas Prices

EliNirenberg — 2022-03-17 18:47:00 UTC

See https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/597883-republicans-seize-on-rising-gas-prices-amid-ukraine-conflict?rl=1 for the article.

Gas prices are rising at an unprecedented rate, with Republicans blaming the policies of President Biden and Biden (as well as many experts) blaming Russia. The effects on gas prices of various policies – both enacted and proposed – were discussed. This source was rather unbiased, but mainly discusses policies as part of a political competition, potentially leading the reader to apply partisan biases to information processing on such policies. Attribution Theory indicates that Republicans were inclined to blame President Biden due to the Negativity Effect, while Biden himself and Democrats were inclined to blame outside factors (such as Russia) due to the Positivity Effect. Beyond obvious political incentives, the subconscious biases that are part of Attribution Theory can help explain why Republicans and Democrats placed blame for rising gas prices differently.

How Negative Emotions in 2020 Affected Record Turnout

2022-03-25 19:47:11 UTC

[Maxwell Juhas]
In my article by Forbes, an analysis of social media mentions of Biden and Trump before the 2020 election found a high percentage of negativity when discussing Trump's policy positions, even in Republican states. Forbes suggested that this negativity would decrease turnout among right-leaning voters, a prediction that is dramatically inconsistent with the record-breaking 2020 turnout, as explained in the linked video here. The Forbes article displays your average mainstream slightly left-leaning bias, and, despite in-article transparency about how the data was collected, doesn't include valid links to the data source. Still, I felt the underlying assumptions about negativity in the 2020 election were true, and therefore examined why Forbes, which uses the Demobilization Hypothesis in its predictions, ended up being so wrong. Forbes used the "ostrich" approach to negativity, believing the unsupported claim that negative publicity turns people off to voting. If we understand this negativity instead through Martin's ideas of the Mobilization Hypothesis, we can see instead that negativity in 2020 stimulated voters' republican duty, made them anxious about the future, and made them perceive the election as close, all culminating in the highest turnout in well over 100 years.

Defeat the Mandates Rally and Media Bias

alyssahyman — 2022-03-25 22:11:33 UTC

https://time.com/6141699/anti-vaccine-mandate-movement-rally/
Summary: On January 23, 2022, there was a “Defeat the Mandates Rally” in Washington, D.C. in which people protested mask and vaccine mandates. This movement used to be just anti-vaccination but has shifted to being one that opposes mandates and government overreach in an attempt to attract more individuals.
Source Evaluation: TIME is a less partisan outlet than the NYT or MSNBC, yet favors the left as well. It is a well-respected source that consistently passes fact checks, which was perfect for this assignment, as it enabled me to explore the rally through an article with little bias.
Connection: Those who watch Fox News are more frequently exposed to anti-vaccination rhetoric and how mask mandates impose on our freedoms. The combination of coverage and statement bias along with gatekeeping has led to the widespread belief that masks limit our freedoms and vaccinations are dangerous. The manner in which news sources share information varies based on their goals, and the sources that those who participated in the rally tend to listen to share negative information regarding masks and vaccines. Unbiased news is rare, which is how groups like this form and rallies such as this one occur.

A Supreme Court Nomination for the History Books

fgabrielle — 2022-03-28 03:45:43 UTC

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/us/politics/ketanji-brown-jackson-hearings.html
Joe Biden has made a historic Supreme Court nomination, with Ketanji Brown Jackson being the first ever black woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court. Following the nomination, Judge Jackson sat for two days before U.S. Senators to be questioned about her previous court case decisions, policy beliefs, and even some non-legal related topics such as critical race theory. The article provides an overview of the hearings, specifically referencing the “aggressive approach by Republicans.” Although following the completion of the hearings many Republican Senators recognized Judge Jackson’s qualifications to sit on the Supreme Court, it seems unlikely that many will vote across party lines in favor of confirming her. While it is possible that some Republicans are using retrospective decision-making to determine that they will not vote to confirm Judge Jackson, it is more likely that Senators are aligning with their party identification for this vote. Evidently, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has already announced that he will not be voting to support Judge Jackson’s confirmation. Importantly, we must recognize that the article was biased, as most news sources are. The article was published in the New York Times and at many points drew attention to the politically irrelevant and aggressive questioning by Republican Senators. To combat the biases in this article and others, readers should seek to fact check information and diversify news sources to gain new perspectives. More specifically, with events like the one in the article, readers should watch and follow the events themselves in order to create their own interpretations of it.

Trump Escapes Impeachment by the Senate — Again!

2022-03-28 14:13:02 UTC

Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-acquitted-in-second-impeachment-trial-for-inciting-jan-6-capitol-riot

Source Evaluation: On January 13, 2021, Donald Trump became the first president of the United States to be impeached twice after the US House of Representatives incriminated him for incitement of insurrection due to his role in the attack on the Capital. Despite the fact that seven Republicans and the majority of the Senate voted against Trump, they ultimately fell short of the supermajority needed to convict, which marked Trump’s second acquittal after his first trial in February 2020.

Connection to Class:

The second acquittal of Donald Trump connects to three topics from political psychology – the importance of party identification, motivated reasoning, and cognitive dissonance. Understanding that party identification is one of the most important heuristics by which people make decisions, and that using motivated reasoning can make people susceptible to misinformation can allow us to understand why so many Republicans continued to support Trump during his trial. Additionally, reducing cognitive dissonance through behavior change allows us to understand why several Republicans voted Trump during the trial.

Turnout in 2020 election spiked among both Democratic and Republican voting groups, new census data shows

2022-03-28 17:28:14 UTC

Link:
https://www.brookings.edu/research/turnout-in-2020-spiked-among-both-democratic-and-republican-voting-groups-new-census-data-shows/

This article comes from a centrist left organization but offers little biases because it is mostly made of statistics they gathered on the 2020 election. It focused on voter turnout and the large increase it made in 2020. One might interpret these statistics with bias and attribute negative or positive reaction to certain voting groups based on their statistics. And one could use this to confirm their already existing beliefs without reading the other statistics or the context behind them. A way I used to intercept the reasoning behind the large increase in voter turnout for this presidential election was through an increase in social pressures and individual differences. Although personality doesn't have a large impact on voting it can explain why many people were advocating and more involved in campaigns. With an increase in social media they could perpetuate and get across their endorsements for their candidates easier and with a larger platform. A decrease in stress on election day could also explain the increase in votes. Because many people voted early or by mail, it relieves the stress from going in person and on election day and more votes could have been casted. Along with genetic and inheritable traits that value voting or one’s civic duty could also explain why people voted. One’s environment and genetics could lead one to consistently participate in elections. Another large reason is social pressure, I argue in this election there was a push upon people to vote and participate in this election from social media and communities that lead to an increase in votes.

Easing Covid Restrictions following the Omicron Surge

2022-03-28 19:11:39 UTC

Link: https://nypost.com/2022/02/16/americans-are-split-over-states-ending-mask-mandates/

Summary: As a result , many governors are removing mask requirements. This is a controversial decision and most Democrats support keeping mask guidance as recently as February 2022.

Source Evaluation: The New York Post, is a widely read newspaper serving the New York City area with a central right leaning bias. In light of this, it is important for people reading this information to recognize that the New York Post may be pulling statistics that paint Republicans in a better light, and the Democrats in a worse one, even if the statistics are not entirely relevant or potentially deceptive.

Class Connection: In several instances, the article uses trivialization to make sure members of their audience can maintain their attitudes and behavior even when survey results show left leaning opinions are widely supported. For example, the plurality of individuals in the survey said that they “believe local governments should be encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations and masking in indoor spaces,” which is an opinion that is viewed as left leaning. Support for the government continuing to push covid restrictions is trivialized in the article when the New York Post focuses on how this number of cases has decreased since September 2021, rather than discussing that the plurality of voters who still think covid precautions should be pushed by local governments.

-- Rachel Schoeman

We didn't vote COVID out of office: Fundamental attribution error and presidential messaging on COVID

jadens22 — 2022-03-28 20:53:51 UTC

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/18/politics/white-house-omicron-warning-joe-biden/index.html
As omicron sent COVID-19 case numbers skyrocketing (see above graph), the Biden White House went from touting the US’ low case counts and “freedom from the virus” as a major success on the part of his administration in comparison to the previous one to instead claiming that, “It's not about cases. It's about severity.”
I would suggest reading this piece with a critical eye, as CNN often blurs the lines between opinion and reporting in its political coverage, which can make it hard to determine what is meant to be objective or not, especially when reading an analysis piece that's meant to provoke thought and provide perspective on an issue.
This is a clear example of the fundamental attribution error, as Biden attributes high case numbers under Trump to Trump’s negative dispositional traits and then attributes low case numbers under himself to his positive dispositional traits in comparison to Trump. However, this totally negates a major confounding factor––the vaccine, which played a large role in reducing case numbers. We continue to see the positivity effect in this CNN article, as, now that Biden is failing to contain COVID, he suddenly shifts course and attributes case numbers to situation factors, like an unexpected variant, rather than his own leadership.

Disgust Sensitivity and Immigration

2022-03-28 21:00:48 UTC

This article details the record high number (over 1.7 million) migrants detained along the US-Mexico border in 2021. The article acknowledges how contentious United States immigration policy has been during former President Trump and current President Biden's administrations, while commenting on both administration's failures to formulate an effective bipartisan solution. The BBC news agency is a well- known and reputable news agency with a slight left leaning spin; however, they are highly rated for their accurate reporting of facts and information as well as their ability to temper their own biases with moderate and even right leaning admissions and acknowledgements. Within the scope of political psychology and immigration policy, disgust sensitivity, or the measure of how susceptible an individual is to feeling disgusted, is an important factor to understand. Correlational data has shown people to be more politically conservative when they exhibit higher disgust sensitivities. This aligns with the general Republican immigration policy stance which focuses on increased funding for border security and opts to pass on funding programs that improve living conditions along border detainment facilities.

-Robbie Mazer

Many Trump voters are still convinced that the 2020 election was stolen. Why?

richagoel4788 — 2022-03-28 21:20:44 UTC

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/us/politics/republicans-voter-fraud.html

After the 2020 election, Donald Trump brought 60 lawsuits alleging voter fraud that resulted in a stolen election. Trump lost 59 of these lawsuits, discrediting his claims; however, many Trump voters and Republican politicians still believe that Trump won and have used this claim to support their voter suppression efforts.

The New York Times is slightly left leaning but also tends to report factually, suggesting that readers should be aware of the bias but, in general, can still trust the facts being reported.

Motivated reasoning, a tenet of why people believe misinformation, argues that people tend to believe information that is consistent with their beliefs and reject information that isn't. As many Trump voters believed that Trump would win, they resist evidence that disproves stolen election claims because it is not consistent with their prior beliefs. Selective exposure, another explanation for believing misinformation, contends that to avoid dissonance, people are inclined to seek information that supports their prior beliefs; Trump voters probably seek information about stolen election claims from right wing sources that agree with them, strengthening their false beliefs and allowing them to evade dissonance.

Emotions and the George Floyd Protests

etognola1 — 2022-03-28 22:19:17 UTC

This article was about the protests that erupted around the country after the murder of George Floyd, that protested racial injustice and police brutality. This was a CNN article, which has a left-leaning slant and therefore the author does not delve into the violence that occurred during these mostly peaceful protests. These protests can be better understood through the relationship between emotions and politics; specifically the emotions of fear, anxiety, and anger. Each of these emotions incentivize people to act and engage in politics due to factors such as increased vigilance and decreased trust in political institutions. It is clear that many people felt these emotions after hearing George Floyd's story which according to the Affective Intelligence Theory incentivized them to act in order to produce change.

Scalise on US energy production: 'You want to save the plant? Make more things in America'

agodwin12 — 2022-03-28 22:34:34 UTC

US gas prices have been rising due to the war in Russia against Ukraine. Biden’s administration has been repeatedly blamed for the rising gas prices, and many Republicans, including House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, believe there is a superior solution to lower the prices. In the Fox News article “Scalise on US energy production: ‘You want to save the planet? make more things in America,’” author Brooke Singman wrote about Scalise’s point of view on this topic. She used many direct quotes to limit biases and efficiently presented the article without statement bias. Scalise believes that Biden should allow the US to produce its own energy. This would lower the cost of gasoline and would reduce carbon emissions. The US can use less carbon than Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, or Venezuela when producing oil, which would help the environment. In addition, this would allow for the creation of new jobs for Americans. Scalise strategically presented his ideas against the Biden administration in a way that would appease a multitude of Republican citizens. He promotes two important ideals to many Americans, by addressing the environment and the workforce, thus he successfully positions himself against Biden. Overall, the article accounts for many political issues that stem from the increase in gas prices. Although the article leans towards the right, it incorporates some ideas (helping the environment) that may appeal to more liberal citizens.

Sammie Godwin

Presidential Polls, Error, and Social Desirability Bias

ethangreenstein — 2022-03-28 22:46:59 UTC

2020 pre-election polls were characterized by widespread error, with underestimated support for former President Trump and overestimated support for President Biden. The unprecedented error levels raised concern for many who wondered how this magnitude of error occurred. Polling experts at the American Association for Public Opinion Research came together to examine thousands of polls at the state and national level. Still, they could not deduce a conclusive explanation for the errors. This article was featured in The Conversation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that seeks to make information from experts accessible to the general public. The source is relatively unbiased as it only allows individuals with “proven expertise” to publish on the platform, and requires authors to sign a disclosure affirming that no conflicts of interest have biased their work. Social desirability bias, or the tendency of respondents to answer questions in a way that they believe will be viewed favorably by others, helps to explain some of the error seen. Many of the entities responsible for conducting polls are (or are perceived as) left-leaning (e.g., news media, academics, etc.). Using social desirability bias as a framework for analysis, it makes sense that Trump supporters would be less likely to express support for Donald Trump to an entity that they believe may judge said preference. Furthermore, SDB leaves individuals more likely to report “good behavior” that will be received favorably by others. In this vein, when interacting with what they perceive to be a left-leaning entity, Trump supporters were more likely to report “good behavior,” or support for President Biden, even if their true preference was for Donald Trump. This helps to explain underreporting of support for Donald Trump and overreporting of support for Joe Biden.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, Misinformation and Motivated Reasoning

ahorwitz9 — 2022-03-29 01:48:01 UTC

On February 24th, Russia began to invade Ukraine by firing missiles into towns and military targets, and having Russian vehicles and troops pour into the country. When reporting on this issue it is important to recognize the possibility of status-quo bias, since it is very much the majority's belief that Russia is at fault. One important aspect of the invasion of Ukraine are the Russian people's responses to Putin's decision. Due to a large misinformation campaign being used in Russia, many citizens may be engaged in selective exposure and motivated reasoning, focusing on their prior beliefs that Putin is a good man. Because of this the response by Russians may be to support the war, rather than search for incongruent information about the morality of the invasion.

Trump's Influence on Mail-In Votes

tylerquigley2020 — 2022-03-29 02:22:00 UTC

News Article Citation: https://www.npr.org/2020/08/28/906676695/ignoring-fbi-and-fellow-republicans-trump-continues-assault-on-mail-in-voting

Padlet Summary: This article by NPR written in the midst of the 2020 election details how Trump's anti vote-in mail message was receiving push back from many prominent political figures, including many republicans. NPR has the reputation of being a liberally biased source, but someone who consumes NPR content on a fairly consistent basis, I can say that this article would read very noncontroversial to most readers. As for the class connection, I connected this article to our class discussions on how campaigns both mobilize and persuade voters. I touch on the idea of how, over the course of the 2020 election, the Trump campaign managed to both change the attitudes of Trump voters into distrusting mail in voting and change the behaviors of the same voters, resulting in a massive partisan difference between who voted in person and who voted through the mail.

Social Identity as an Explanation for Virginia Thomas' Text Messages

jjoffe1 — 2022-03-29 03:12:43 UTC

Virginia Thomas, the wife of Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, came under heavy fire this past week for her efforts in attempting to undermine the 2020 election. Documents released by the Bipartisan January 6th Congressional Committee show that Virginia Thomas exchanged numerous text messages with President Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, urging him to overturn the election results. The implications of Ms. Thomas' texts only became more ominous after Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenter on a Supreme Court case which required President Trump to hand over sensitive materials related to the January 6th riot. Questions have arisen about whether Justice Thomas should have recused himself from the case due to his wife's personal ties to the matter. Nevertheless, we can understand Virginia Thomas' actions and motivations through her social identity. Virginia Thomas is married to the most conservative member of the Supreme Court who was appointed by a Republican and has mingled with some of the most prominent conservative political figures of the past few decades. She has been fully immersed into the Republican party as a result of her social network. Her strong partisan attachment to the Republican Party explains why she is a staunch defender of President Trump and why she has refused to acknowledge that the 2020 election was rightfully won by Joe Biden. This caused her to mischaracterize the left as having engaged in a "heist." This whole political fiasco has grave implications for the legitimacy of the Supreme Court and calls into question whether justices can really separate their personal beliefs and social identities from their jurisprudence.

Why is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court Nomination so Contentious? A Psychological Analysis of Partisan Divide

camerynnhawke — 2022-03-29 04:23:28 UTC

Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/25/ketanji-brown-jackson-supreme-court/

In February, President Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman ever nominated to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Jackson’s nomination is met with contentious debate between Republicans and Democrats over Jackson’s qualifications. This article comes from The Washington Post, which is a slightly liberal-biased publication due to its liberal-leaning editorial board. Ultimately, the contentious reaction to Jackson’s nomination can be boiled down to extreme partisanship that resulted from motivated reasoning and confirmation bias. On both sides of the aisle, politicians seek to confirm their pre-existing beliefs and ignore conflicting information—engaging in motivated reasoning. Thus, Republicans are focusing on arguments opposing Jackson without considering her qualifications, whereas Democrats are supporting Jackson without regard for her shorter judicial record. Politicians then experience confirmation bias when members of their party are weary or supportive of Jackson for the same reasons. This has been evident especially in the hearings, as linked in the video above, where Senators are questioning Jackson solely on her political beliefs rather than on her judicial policy.

Increase in Covid-19 Vaccination Rate After FDA Approval Show Lack of Backfire Effect

rtoomre — 2022-03-29 05:17:07 UTC

Article: https://news.gallup.com/poll/355073/vaccinated-delta-surge-fda-decision.aspx

In the month after the FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine, there was a 6% increase in vaccination rate, despite rates being almost flat for several months. There was also a large increase in Republican vaccination rate and a large decrease in people saying they were not vaccinated because of the lack of FDA approval.

Some sampling and response bias is likely for the articles data because vaccine supporters are probably more likely to respond to Gallup polls, and some people may have lied to pollsters to be viewed more favorably, given the 70% of the country who is vaccinated.

This data adds to the findings of Wood and Porter (2009) that instead of there being a "backfire effect," voters were able to integrate information that contradicted their beliefs and update their opinions. These findings are mirrored in this instance by those who said they were waiting for FDA approval seemingly choosing to get vaccinated instead of clinging to their beliefs by selecting different reasons to oppose vaccination.

I found this chart while looking for sources, and I think it visualized vaccination rate better than Gallup (and was also just pretty to look at): https://usafacts.org/visualizations/covid-vaccine-tracker-states/

Gallup also has a lot of other interesting polls about Covid-19. Here's a blog post with some findings they picked out: https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/308126/roundup-gallup-covid-coverage.aspx

Polarized Reactions to January 6th and Misinformation Processing

bixd — 2022-03-29 05:55:46 UTC

Link to article: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22814025/democracy-trump-january-6-capitol-riot-election-violence

Following the attacks on the U.S. Capitol inspired by claims of election fraud, Zack Beauchamp argues that we would have expected lessening political polarization and a unified condemnation of the insurrection. Instead, the article contends, we have seen less unity and greater divides between political parties, with many maintaining the election was stolen, and a subsequent greater threaten of instability in our democracy. Vox is a widely know and credible source, but also often includes a liberal bias in its reporting that readers should be cognizant of. We can apply the class concept of Misinformation Processing to better understand why many Trump supporters and believers of election fraud, when faced with contradicting evidence, instead were motivated by the incongruent information to search more fervently for evidence in support of their opinion. Not only is this engaging in selective exposure, but also reflects motivated reasoning of viewing sources in agreement with our own perspective as being stronger or more persuasive than those that are not. These psychological explanations explain the resistance and failure to acknowledge the significant ramifications from the January 6th attack and Trump's likely role in propagating it.

Link to podcast discussing this surprising reaction to the insurrection: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/podcasts/the-daily/january-6-capitol-riots-anniversary.html

--- David Bix

How emotion explains the response to the conflict in Russia-Ukraine

mleavy1 — 2022-03-29 06:06:50 UTC

Link:
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-1000-protesters-arrested-ukraine-invasion/31738786.html

During March of 2022, Russia is invading Ukraine which has led to a worldwide anti-war reaction against Russia. This article specifically discusses some anti-war protests which have occurred in Russia and how a significant number of the people who went out to protest were arrested by the Russian government.

The source of this article is called Radio Free Europe, which is an organization funded by the US government to distribute news and other information to countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, and some other areas of the world. Given that this is a US funded organization and Russia is a political opponent to the US, it is worth noting that this article will likely try to paint Russia in an even worse light than necessary.

This article shows that people are willing to act even in the face of prosecution from their government when given a cause that they care enough about. The intense emotions felt by people around the world have a significant impact on the reactions we have seen and the political actions that we have seen as well. For instance, according to the article some of these anti-war protests in Russia have resulted in more than 2300 detainments in Moscow, and in some protests (such as one in St. Petersburg) around half of the protesters were detained. The anger these protesters feel towards their (the Russian) government is likely a driving factor in their willingness to protest in the face of likely detainment by their government.

Most Restrictive Abortion Laws Yet

2022-03-29 06:50:02 UTC

Article: https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/23/politics/oklahoma-house-near-total-abortion-ban/index.html

As abortion laws nationwide continue to become more restrictive, many have begun to follow in the footsteps of Texas, whose restrictive laws include a provision that private citizens can sue anyone who assists in the aiding of a person receiving an abortion. One of these copy-cat states is the neighboring state of Oklahoma, with their law including an even earlier limitation date for people seeking abortions than Texas.

This article comes from CNN so there is a definite left-leaning bias from the source itself, and for the readers of this article who are right-leaning, this is likely to result in the hostile media effect.

Emotions play an extremely significant role in the debate over abortion and the way in which people become politically involved as a result. One of the most obvious psychological concepts that explain this is the Somatic Marker Hypothesis, helping to identify why people are actually inclined to sue other people for assisting a person receiving an abortion, as well as why people on both sides of the debate often prioritize their emotional views of this issue rather than cognitive. Hot cognition also helps to explain why many people instinctively vote for those who agree with their views on this issue, as how they feel often outwieghs how they would deeply think.

--Sydney Greer

Thomas's Texts: Motivated Reasoning, Misinformation Processing and Political Anger (Robert Burch)

burchr2 — 2022-03-29 06:51:38 UTC

Article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/26/us/politics/ginni-thomas-donald-trump.html.

Summary:
Evidence from former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows' texts turned over to the January 6th Committee show that Supreme Court Justice Thomas's wife Virginia Thomas repeatedly texted Meadows, pushing election-related conspiracy theories and advocating for overturning the election. This raises serious ethical concerns about Justice Thomas's ability to judge fairly on matters related to the election and January 6, and has prompted the January 6th Committee to further investigate the Ms. Thomas and Meadows' correspondence on the matter.

There are a couple possible sources of bias related to this article: the likely liberal-leaning bias in the non-fact reporting parts of this New York Times article (which includes a bit of analysis), and the polarized perceptions of the NYT depending on political ideology which could influence people's acceptance of the reporting

One connection between Thomas's Texts and the course learning is the fact that political anger (a common theme of her texts), is connected to the motivation to act, the distrust of institutions, weakening of democratic institutions, and the decrease in quality of information-seeking demonstrated by Ms. Thomas. Because she is a politically knowledgable individual with low trust in the government, Ms. Thomas also demonstrates two key aspects of misinformation processing and susceptibility to conspiracy theories. Finally, there is clearly motivated reasoning occurring, as Ms. Thomas is believing a proven lie consistent with her ideology rather than accepting an inconvenient truth about the election outcome.

Framing around the Florida Parental Rights in Education bill

austinredwing4241 — 2022-03-29 10:02:03 UTC

Article:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/florida-desantis-signs-parental-rights-education-bill
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/florida-governor-says-he-is-signing-bill-limiting-lgbtq-instruction-schools-2022-03-28/

In Florida, the Parental Rights in Education bill, which prohibits the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten to third grade, has been signed into law. The bill has created a passionate debate between opponents of the bill that describe it as a policy that discriminates against the LGBT community and proponents of the bill that emphasize the importance of parental involvement in education.

Both articles are from credible mainstream news organizations in the United States; however, bias is present in both of the articles when it comes to the relevant information included in the story.

The way that an issue is framed can be instrumental in the opinions that form around that topic. In this political event, the process of trying to frame an issue is seen clearly as both sides struggle to portray the issue in a certain way. Opponents of the bill discuss the negative impact that the bill will have on the LGBT community and have named the legislation the "Don't Say Gay" bill while proponents of the policy have highlighted the way that the bill allows parents to have more control over their children's education.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPiQlQVyIWE

Here I have linked a video of citizen testimony about the legislation that exclusively focuses on the role of parents in education and barely addresses the issue of sexual orientation and gender identity. The video is a good example of how proponents of the bill frame the issue.

New Georgia Project Goes to the Classrooms to Increase Voter Turnout

cjulia5 — 2022-03-29 13:52:41 UTC

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/stacey-abrams-group-ga-public-schools

In August of 2021, former Georgia Democratic House leader Stacey Abrams and her organization the New Georgia Project, partnered with the Atlanta Public Schools to launch voting rights classes called Democracy Class Atlanta. These classes are being offered to around 2,000 high school students and aim to combat low voter turnout and educate new voters about the harms of voter ID laws.

Fox News, a conservative news outlet, criticized the New Georgia Project, motivated by the project's advocacy of liberal policies to make the organization appear irrelevant, if not corrupt.

Concepts of social pressure, the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), and ideas surrounding anger and political participation help explain why the New Georgia Project was created, why it could be effective, and how backlash surrounding the program could manifest. ELM specifically explains how students may benefit from the central route of persuasion, engaging in motivated learning and deep cognitive thinking through class conversations that will allow them to take away knowledge regarding the importance of voting. Students will also be motivated to vote through social pressure, both from compliance when they are directly asked to vote, and conformity as when more of their peers are motivated to vote, each student will experience an increased desire to conform.

Emotional Responses to LGBTQ+ rights in response to Florida's recent Don't Say Gay bill

2022-03-29 14:21:31 UTC

Article: https://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-governor-signs-controversial-dont-gay-bill-law/story?id=83719304

The Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the Don’t Say Gay bill, was recently signed into law in Florida restricting public schools from educating students on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade.

ABC News has a slight left-leaning bias that could affect or influence the readers' beliefs.

The reasons for which this bill was written as well as why those affected are fighting back are good representations of the Cognitive Appraisal Theory and the Somatic Marker Hypothesis. Emotions play a large role in the discussion of LGBTQ+ rights for both liberal and conservative political beings. The feeling of anger toward those who divert from the status quo leads to the creation of restrictive legislation. Similarly, the feeling of anger can motivate people to take action in fighting against such legislation.

Jo Palisoc

The Delay and Debate of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court Confirmation

2022-03-29 14:52:51 UTC

Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/27/by-trashing-jackson-gop-magnified-right-wing-courts-legitimacy-problem/

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is currently awaiting Senate confirmation to be a justice on the Federal Supreme Court. If confirmed, she would be the first black woman in this role, and the third ever black justice on the Supreme Court. However, as with all Supreme Court nominations, there is opposition from the opposing party, attempting to air out the candidate’s flaws and delay the vote.

This article was an opinion piece, and it was very much opinionated. The author bashed the Republican party frequently; he opens his article by saying “By choosing the low road and smearing Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson with false charges and vile innuendo, conservative Republicans did more than engage in self-besmirching behavior.” Washington Post is known to be relatively left leaning. I do not think this author represents the general views and beliefs of Washington Post as a whole, however they were still allowed permission to publish this article, showing there was some level of support and not too much resistance. This article provides some context of the situation and debate, however a less-opinionated article would be a better place to start for someone hoping to learn more about Judge Jackson and the confirmation delays.

Emotion plays a role in these delays. Though there is both immediate emotions, such as frustration from the Democrats and disgust and anger from the Republicans, they also act in a way to prevent emotions in the long run. Knowing that this confirmation could cause a change to their status quo, there is an incentive for Republicans and others more conservative leaning to do what they can now, before down the line they are faced with emotions such as anxiety and fear as they watch their rules changed and court decisions be flipped. Although her confirmation would not change the current 6-3 balance on the Supreme Court, it is a vacancy that they do not want to see filled by someone liberal-leaning. Although they may see her as an intelligent judge, her political ideologies and conflicting views from their own are what they will consider in whether or not to confirm her. It is a shame to see how politicized a supposedly unbiased role has become, however that is the nature of American politics and our two party system.

Charis Riebe

Turnout in the 2020 Election

egrosenthal — 2022-03-29 15:04:46 UTC

Summary:
The 2020 election marked the highest voter turnout in over a century, attributed to mail in ballots, among other modifications, in response to the COVID pandemic. In a polarizing election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, voting reforms provided more access, creating an “election season” rather than an Election Day.

Source Evaluation:
This New York Times article, written by Nick Corasaniti and Jim Rutenberg, appears to be reliable, as the majority of statistics are all cited from conducted and verified studies, it isn’t opinionated, eliminating any direct bias, and it features anecdotes from leaders from both red and blue states; despite its credibility, the potential liberal bias may be hidden and thus should be read more for the facts than the analysis.

Connection to Class Concept:
People don't vote for three reasons (Brady et al.)

They can't: extended time available to vote allows individuals to engage in their commitments and vote simultaneously, not wait in line and eliminates need for transportation, increasing the ability to vote.
They don't want to: mail-in ballots eliminates the social anxiety obstacle as there is no socialization required for civic engagement and reduce the added stress of voting, minimizing reasons why one may not want to vote
Nobody asked: voters received voter registration in the mail, increasing the amount of access they have to vote and with increased use of the internet during COVID, there are more opportunities to be approached and engage with these networks.

The historic turnout at the 2020 election was historic, here is why:

sethfisherolvera — 2022-03-29 16:16:45 UTC

Article:
https://www.cfr.org/blog/2020-election-numbers

Summary:

Article Summary
Joe Biden and Donald Trump had very different paths to their nominations for president in 2020. While Donald Trump had next to no competition, Joe Biden was considered all but out after the first two primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire. Only through hard work campaigning in minority-heavy states like South Carolina did Joe Biden gather enough momentum to beat his main challenger Bernie Sanders. The 2020 election between Biden and Trump was the largest voter turnout ever and the largest in terms of the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in 120 years. Why?

Source Evaluation
The Council for Foreign Relations is a New York think tank focused on international relations. Their propensity for factual reporting is widely recognized, and according to Media Bias Fact Check, they haven't failed a fact check in five years. While they are self-described as nonpartisan and they are seen as minimally biased, the main point of concern I noticed is that many of their sources were publications known to be slight to moderately left-leaning. This includes National Public Radio and the New York Times. So while they may be trusted with factual reporting and citing any claims, it is worth noting their propensity for democratic leaning sources.

Class Connection
Here are the three main reasons people don't vote and why 2020 was special in minimizing them:

- People can't vote -- With the massive rise in mail-in ballots, demographics such as Americans 60+ who are already the most likely to vote, are even more able to.
- People don't want to -- With mail-in ballots, many sources of social anxiety are removed such as large crowds, last-minute canvassers, or long wait times.
- People are not asked to -- With the rise in social media campaigning, demographics that have historically been underrepresented in the electorate such as younger people 18-24 have been activated to vote. Members of Congress made posts on at least one social media 50% more often during the 2020 election cycle than in the 2016 election cycle. Additionally, overall engagement through likes and favorites jumped 586% between election cycles.

Virginia Thomas' initiative to push Trump's Big Lie is unearthed.

jacobdhammer — 2022-03-29 21:52:26 UTC

Article:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/24/politics/ginni-thomas-mark-meadows-text-messages/index.html

In recent days, the January 6th House Select Committee discovered texts between conservative activist Virginia "Ginni" Thomas and Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. The exchange between the two is making national headlines, as it becomes quite clear that Thomas was a staunch supporter of Former President Donald Trump, including his efforts to overturn the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. In some of the texts, Thomas is angrily lashing out at American policymakers, most prominently, Former Vice President Mike Pence, in their refusal to facilitate overturning the election in Trump's favor. The matter has become particularly concerning for policymakers in Washington, as Thomas is married to a sitting Associate Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas. Clarence Thomas, a Justice who is considered to be one of the most conservative on the court, has been a frequent supporter of arguments that are in favor of conservative causes. One such case in which he was the sole Justice who supported the complainant was a lawsuit brought by Donald Trump to invoke "executive privilege" pertaining to thousands of documents that Trump had brought with him to Mar-a-Lago upon leaving the White House in January 2021. Thomas' ruling on this case (among others), coupled with his wife's intense activism in favor of the Former President and his conspiracy theories, have prompted grave concerns regarding Clarence Thomas' ability to remain impartial in cases related to the January 6th insurrection. Many see this as another threat to ensuring American democracy.

This article that I have selected, which essentially outlines everything that was just mentioned above, is not an op-ed or any type of opinionated piece. It truly just states the facts and the parties to the issue. With that being said, I believe that this article is one with generally strong credibility given that it is being presented as a nonpartisan, completely factual representation of a series of events and people. However, there does exist some issues when considering this article within the context of the current American political climate. CNN is a generally well-rounded source, but it is predominantly followed by people who see themselves as more liberal on the political spectrum. The media outlet is headquartered in a fairly liberal location (Atlanta, Georgia) and has widespread international connections. According to statistical organizations, CNN is one of the news outlets that most liberals name when asked to point to a news source that they mostly use for media consumption. I thought it was worth noting that articles like this may not actually be as impartial as people think (at least by today's standards), as they tend to cater to a more liberal audience overall. So while this article is purely informative, it could also be construed by some as biased in favor of Democrats.

A concept from class that I thought would be worth connecting to Ginni Thomas' behavior was the idea of the Appraisal Theory of emotion. Something established by this Theory in particular was that emotions ultimately cause people to make political decisions in unique ways depending on the context–different from the choices that other individuals make. I felt that something relevant to the situation was the emotion of anger also outlined by this Theory. What was apparent in the exchange between Thomas and Meadows was that she was angry. Angry that the Big Lie was not being seen to fruition by all parties that had been loyal to Trump with the goal of getting the election overturned. There are some key points in which anger plays a role in political decision-making. Anger is generally associated with action, increases political engagement, decreases trust in political institutions, and prevents those from seeking additional quality news. Ultimately, all of these key points apply to Thomas in her task to get the election overturned. Thomas is generally reported to have been active in pressuring individuals in Trump's inner circle to jump on the band wagon in support of falsifying the results of the election while also having been reported to have attended at least one pro-Trump rally. Her continued support of conspiracy theories in favor of Trump show her decreased trust in American political institutions. Additionally, while the article does not cover this directly, there is the implication that she would not have been searching for other types of quality news that would be factual as it may actually counter her already existing beliefs.

--Jacob Hammer

American Dissonance: Why There is a Partisan Split on Opinions of Biden's Ukraine Response

schrein1 — 2022-03-29 22:47:58 UTC

Article Link: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/03/15/public-expresses-mixed-views-of-u-s-response-to-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/

Summary:
According to a national survey conducted by Pew Research of 10,441 Americans, there is a general bipartisan consensus on the actions the United States should take in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. These points of agreement include working with European allies, continuing economic sanctions, and avoiding military action that would lead to World War. Despite supporting similar policy responses, there exists a major partisan divide in the public's opinion of the Biden administration's response.

Source Evaluation:
Pew Research is a highly credible, data-driven think-tank that typically does a good job at avoiding partisan bias. While the information provided is relatively objective, it is easy to attribute findings to varying biases/heuristics which may skew the way an individual interprets the data.

Connection to Class:
One possible explanation for the partisan divide over opinions of Biden's response to the invasion of Ukraine is media consumption and media bias. Specifically, as it relates to statement bias, the source through which an individual receives their information helps to shape narratives, create perceptions, and form opinions. If an individual who claims to be providing objective facts is actually littering their information with personal opinions, the viewer's opinion on that subject is likely to mimic the one provided, as opposed to having the ability to cognitively and rationally determine their own opinion. Therefore, it is a possibility that the partisan divide over Biden's response is not actually based on what Biden is doing, but rather on how the media is covering it. Issues with media bias are only enhanced by selective exposure and other tactics to avoid the cognitive dissonance that may come from admitting that Biden's response to Ukraine was objectively a failure or success.

Myca Costello

2022-03-30 04:54:04 UTC

Political Event Summary:

As the economy plummets, and inflation is skyrocketing, there are different theories surrounding how much the Biden administration is to blame. This news segment features Fox News host Brian Kilmeade interviewing US Oil and Gas Association President Tim Stewart, ultimately placing blame on Biden for failing to make amends and repair our fragile economy.

Source Evaluation: Fox News is a conservative news service, notorious for its biased reporting in favor of the Republican party, its politicians, and its ideologies, while portraying the Democratic party in a negative light. Fox News vehemently denies bias in its reporting, claiming that its news reporting operates independently of right wing biases. However, countless evidence proves the contrary. Fox News is known for delivering news in a simplistic and entertaining way, providing millions of Republicans with an all-encompassing news platform. Fox News targets different people in different ways; For example, for those who are not very politically engaged, it provides them with a means with which to get involved, easily manipulating their political ideologies with a “fun” and simple delivery of current events. Fox News also fuels people who are staunchly Republican by confirming their attitudes and political ideologies and even stirring up more feelings of resentment by demonizing the Democratic party. In this way, Fox News is extremely divisive and wields a frightening amount of control over a platform of people who typically use it as their only news outlet.

Connection to a political psychological concept from class:

There are two main psychological concepts at play in this news segment– framing and consequently causal misattribution. The way in which the host (Brian Kilmeade) “frames'' his delivery of the information encourages misattribution within his viewers; in blaming the current state of our economy on the Biden administration, Brian is forcing a certain narrative and an over-simplified causal relation that doesn’t necessarily exist.

From just the headline of the News segment, we can already see how “framing” comes into play through charged language– “Biden administration needs to stop demonizing what we do: Oil and gas exec”. This is not a neutral description, it is a specific stance/opinion on why our economy is the way that it is. This is with the goal that the person consuming the news will interpret the event in a specific way. Brian Kilmeade starts off the interview with prompting questions, saying: “I really sense the anger in that– and now you’re being blamed for gouging. What is your reaction?”. Not only is he speaking on behalf of Tim Stewart, but he is immediately framing his statement to elicit an emotional response. He has put forth a particular narrative designed to provoke outrage and upset.

Moreover, president of US Oil and Gas Association Tim Stewart says that in order to “get back to where we were a year ago” the Biden administration needs to revoke some policies and “back track”. Here, he is framing his argument to put the White House in a negative light, ultimately perpetuating this misguided cause-effect situation in which people will believe that it is solely Biden’s fault that inflation is accelerating so rapidly. He doesn’t explicitly dismiss other factors at play, but he fails to mention a single one of them, merely framing the situation in terms of what the White House is failing to do. Stewart fails to mention that the president has limited control, framing his statement to say that our current economic state as if Biden is the only one who wields the ultimate power.

Brian Kilmeade indicates that it is solely the White House that is holding back progress, fueling his audience’s resentment against the government. Through statements like, “they need to stop demonizing what we do”, not only is he infusing what should be an unbiased news report with emotions and charged language, he is framing what is a much larger, complex situation in a way that labels conservatives as the victims and the democratic party as the perpetrators. Again, this is rocket fuel for causal misattribution.

Individuals’ causal accounts of national issues are influenced greatly by the delivery or “framing” of these issues on television. In this case, Brian’s explanations of this national issue powerfully affects his audience’s attitudes toward government. Causal thinking is so ingrained in the way humans process information and we like to have simple explanations for why something is happening. Kilmeade takes advantage of this psychological pitfall by forcing a more complex political issue into a simple cause-effect: the Biden administration is the sole cause for our current economic issues. We learned in class that opinions, attitudes, feelings, and behaviors are organized around beliefs about causation, which is why this kind of narrative is so dangerous, especially when people use Fox News as their sole consumption of current events.

The confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson (Sean Chopra)

chopras — 2022-03-30 06:50:40 UTC

https://youtu.be/xETm9mL9sJY

Article Link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/us/politics/ketanji-brown-jackson-hearings.html

Article Summary:
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has completed her testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The hearings were increasingly hostile as Republicans heavily pushed Jackson on her past record as a Judge and attorney.

Source Evaluation:
The article was published in the New York Times which is often accused of having a liberal bias. In this article the authors portray the Republican Senators in a mostly negative light, calling their questioning "hostile" and 'bruising." It is important when reading the article to be able to identify when the authors are inserting their opinions and when they are simply reporting facts.

Class Connection:
Anger stemming from previous Supreme Court hearings likely played a big role in the Republicans' behavior this time around, which perhaps explains the dehumanization in the form of disrespect toward Judge Jackson. Republicans likely came into the hearings already holding preconceived views of Jackson and in line with motivated reasoning, rather than trying to be persuaded differently, they instead pushed their narrative and tried to prove they were right. Motivated reasoning likely played a role in Democrats treatment of her as well, as because they liked her and knew she is likely to behave the way they would want a Supreme Court Justice to behave, they will take their foot off the pedal in terms of asking hard questions and will instead seek to prop her up and make her look good.

Ketanji Brown Jackson: Outrage after she 'can't' define the word woman

2022-03-30 07:05:19 UTC

Article: https://www.foxnews.com/media/outrage-ketanji-brown-jackson-tells-senators-woman-bizarre

Summary:
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is posed to become the first Black woman and first former public defender to join the court. During her confirmation hearing process, Republican senators interrogated Jackson on her child-🤬 sentencing record, her record defending Guantanamo Bay detainees, and on several culture-war issues—like critical race theory and defining the word “woman.”

Source Evaluation:
Fox is a right-leaning institution and also surreptitiously often conflates their news stories with opinion-based stories. The article faces credibility issues because Fox chose to focus only on Jackson's response to the question (of defining "woman") as their sole coverage from her second day of questioning, and because Fox tried to link her response (or lack thereof) to her being an far-left extremist.

Connection to Class:
The confirmation bias theory can be applied to the author and Fox's framing of event--they want to understand the event as evidence of Judge Jackson being "radically woke" and "far left" because of their preexisting belief that she already is that. The selective exposure theory can then be applied to Fox viewers, who too likely hold the belief that she is a far-left liberal, and thus seek information that is consistent with this already-established belief. The Fundamental Attribution Error can also be applied to Fox attributing Judge Jackson's response to a personality-based explanation (that she is far-left and woke), rather than acknowledging the possibility that her response could've been due to the seemingly random nature of the question. Finally, Statement Bias in the media also seems present in how Fox covertly includes their opinions in news-based stories to viewers.

- Axel Motulsky

Businesses oppose Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ ban on discussion of LGBTQ issues in public schools - Charlie Yeldham

charlieyeldhamwashu — 2022-03-30 14:25:29 UTC

^ This video describes a couple of the provisions in HB 1557 in additional to presenting several perspectives from parents and teachers on the morality of this bill.

Article Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/29/businesses-oppose-floridas-dont-say-gay-bill-banning-talk-of-lgbtq-issues-in-public-schools.html

Article Summary:
In March 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 1557 into law, which explicitly bars public schools educators teaching kids in grades K-3 about LGBTQ+ issues. Accordingly, 45 businesses signaled opposition to this new law, most notably the Walt Disney Company, whose Walt Disney World theme park operates in Orlando, Florida.

Source Evaluation:
One can generally rely on CNBC to provide factual information in its articles; however, the source's relatively minor, but still pronounced liberal bias likely affects the way in which this article frames HB 1557 as well as the way it chooses which perspectives on which to focus.

Connection to a Class Concept:
The class concept to which this article is connects is the notion that emotions, namely anger, anxiety, fear, and enthusiasm, have driven political behavior and attitudes pertaining to HB 1557. Anger has motivated Americans to act and decreased trust in Floridian political institutions; anxiety has increased hyper-vigilance regarding LGBTQ+ rights in education, inspiring many demonstrations; fear has increased risk perception and reduced reliance on prior beliefs; and enthusiasm has more broadly increased political participation both in Florida and outside of the state.

Ukrainian Snake Island soldiers are believed to be alive, but details of their captivity are unclear

austinplcmjh — 2022-03-30 15:28:02 UTC

Article:
https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2022/ukrainian-snake-island-soldiers-are-believed-to-be-alive-but-details-of-their-captivity-are-unclear/.

Summary:
On February 25^th, in a radio communication of Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island to Russian forces, they proclaimed,“Russian warship. Go f— yourself.” It was presumed that they died heroically with even Zelenssky honoring their deaths, but it was found out a few days later that they were still alive and in Russian custody.

Source Evaluation:
The news source, Poynter, operates on a bipartisan agenda, but it seems a lot more tailored to calling out false things conservatives say. Even more, in the few mentions of statements by liberals, PolitiFact deems what they say as true or mostly true. Additionally, the reports that the soldiers died heroically were initially issued from Ukraine. The later reports then came from Russian state media as well as Ukraine, hotly contesting the nature in which the soldiers were captured instead of killed. Anything coming out of Russia at this time is incredibly biased towards portraying Ukraine as weak and Russia as strong, so they insisted that the soldiers willingly surrendered. Ukraine wants to assert the opposite.

Class Connection:
This chain of events can be tied into what we’ve learned regarding political ads and their subsequent effects. Although what is happening isn’t directly being tied to a political election, this war propaganda and misinformation spreading seems to have a remarkably similar structure. Both Ukraine and Russia are attempting to run smear campaigns on each other all while bolstering their own self-images. While the ultimate purpose is winning a war instead of winning an election, the media-driven pathways to success are almost the same. The misinformation here probably led to decreased morale for Ukrainian citizens after learning that the inspiring people that “gave up their lives” to defend Ukraine were actually alive. It doesn’t even really matter the method of their capture, solely the fact that they were still alive took away some of the empowerment brought upon by the supposed sacrifice.

Georgia House Passes Problematic Voting Bill

taylordemus — 2022-03-30 23:33:55 UTC

Article: https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-house-approves-elections-bill-allowing-for-more-investigations/2RLL2O7IAFFBDE2TA2V5CWYJOQ/

Summary: Two weeks ago, the Georgia House passed a bill that would allow the Bureau of Investigators to investigate voter fraud allegations, make ballots public record, and diminish all donations from non-profit organizations in future elections.

Source Evaluation: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been evaluated as leaning left, and it's important to note that it's the only major newspaper in Atlanta, which is a majority Democrat and minority area. While the article is seemingly unbiased at first glance, the author chose to only pinpoint and focus on the negative parts of the bill that would be passed, despite the fact that the bill includes much more than the three main areas he focuses on. It's important to note that the parts of the bill he focuses on are the parts seemingly most opposed by Democratic respondents.

Class Connection: The decision to pass the bill was voted for, mostly, by Republican leaders. Their decision to support the bill was, most likely, driven by the misinformation that was spread by Donald Trump after the 2020 election, during which he made numerous claims and accusations that the election was rigged due to miscounts of votes and voter fraud. The Republican leaders have chosen to buy into this misinformation, which has led to the passing of a bill that violates voters' privacy and polices poll stations, mostly because they've fallen victim to the False-Consensus Effect. They refuse to believe in a situation where someone, whom they think is a competent leader and the obvious choice for most Americans, wasn't actually the first pick for the majority of Americans.

January 6th Coverage

2022-03-31 05:15:33 UTC

Political Event Summary:
On January 6^th, 2021, supporters of then President Donald J. Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol building with the intent of halting the certification of the electoral college vote by Congress. Inspired by claims of voter fraud, the false notion that then Vice President Mike Pence could halt the election, and the dissatisfaction of Biden’s victory, these protestors turned violent and began destroying federal property and harassing Capitol police.

Source Evaluation:
The news source for this article is the Associated Press (AP News). Widely considered non-partisan in its reporting, the AP has been known to lean leftward on occasion. A number of fact-checking organizations have called the AP a centrist source. Still, some acknowledge its political coverage can lack sources and insert left-leaning opinions in some articles.

Connection to Class:
Despite the AP’s centrist reputation, a number of biases affect how we absorb this information including the hostile media effect. Those with strong preexisting (often partisan) doubts about the validity of the election are likely to view any media coverage of the January 6^th insurrection as biased against them. Meanwhile those who had strong opinions about the uncompromised validity of the 2020 election likely view any media coverage as biased against them and not punitive enough towards insurrectionists. Arguments swirled around right-wing circles at the time that “Antifa” had orchestrated the insurrection because for many, the idea was what they wanted to believe. Rather than conclude that “law-and-order Republicans” had assaulted numerous officers and invaded a government building, it was easier to accept the conclusion that it simply was not Republicans. This motivated reasoning, in combination with the hostile media effect, helped calm the cognitive dissonance many experienced. In similar ways it affects those who, despite opposing the carceral system and perhaps even government, also believe that the rioters should be arrested or punished. Regardless of where one falls on the political spectrum, reactions to January 6^th are impacted by attempts to relieve dissonance. This impacts consumption of news at the time of an event as well as any future references to the event.

The Rise of Q (Will Slatin)

2022-03-31 13:47:47 UTC

Link to news article: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/

Article Summary: An investigative report has found that a new conspiracy called QAnon has gained a surprising number of followers, implying that it may not be as fringe of a movement as investigators previously thought. The conspiracy asserts that there is a corrupt cabal of world leaders who are secretly torturing children around the world while Q (a mystery intelligence insider) and Donald Trump are working tirelessly to thwart them.

Source Evaluation: Readers should be cognizant of the potential left-leaning bias of the article’s author and how the article’s length may make readers susceptible to selective exposure if they do not take time to process the whole piece.

Class Connection: When examining complex conspiracies like QAnon, it can be tempting to oversimplify the complex issue by discounting its believers as unintelligent. But an understanding of the psychology of politics adds nuance to the issue and helps us understand that QAnon believers are normal people caught in the misinformation echo chamber who engage in the same dissonance-relieving heuristics to which all humans are prone. We can better understand the rise of QAnon by recognizing that its believers likely engage in selective exposure, selective attention, selective interpretation, or motivated reasoning to ease the dissonance they may feel when reality is not in line with their conspiratorial beliefs.

External Source: This podcast from The New York Times includes interviews with some QAnon conspiracy theorists after Joe Biden was inaugurated. Some of the people interviewed are the same ones interviewed by LaFrance in The Atlantic article. The interviews offer a firsthand account of how QAnon believers tried to ease their cognitive dissonance when Joe Biden was inaugurated.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/podcasts/the-daily/qanon-conspiracy-theory-trump.html

-- Will Slatin

Ted Cruz: Depicting Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

raelanihartnett — 2022-03-31 20:48:35 UTC

Link to the news article: https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/ketanji-brown-jackson-is-put-on-republican-hot-seat-over-gender-critical-race-theory/2022/03

Article Summary

Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Katanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the highest court in the land (presumably), provided several days of testimonials to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. Her historic nomination has generated ferocious scrutiny by various staunch conservatives on the Committee, particularly Senator Ted Cruz and other white, male Republican senators, which highlighted partisan, race-related assumptions in our political climate.

Source Evaluation

The news source, Education Week, faces two primary threats to its credibility and comprehensiveness: reliance on donor money from highly-influential, opinionated figures (partisan bias) and over-emphasis on school-related topics (coverage bias).

Connection to Class Concepts (1-3)

1. ) Motivated Reasoning

Senators that scrutinized Jackson on her relationship to elite, progressive high school Georgetown Day School, in addition to her vague opinions on gender definitions, seem to strongly accept information that is consistent with their predisposed views on Jackson.

2.) Selective Attention

Cruz latched onto this minor detail in Jackson’s biography in order to fulfill a cohesive, consistent, and coherent narrative about the nominee.

3.) Misinformation, In the Light of Corrective Information

Though this misinformation was largely deflected by Jackson, the repetition of these details may have a lasting effect on how people view her as a candidate even with a change of narrative.

House Ethics Committee finds George Santos Fraud

mamathieson — 2024-03-26 04:33:19 UTC

News Article Citation:

House Ethics Committee report on George Santos finds "substantial evidence" of wrongdoing

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-ethics-committee-george-santos-report/

Political Event Summary:

At the time of the articles publishing, November 16 2023, George Santos, a newly elected New York Republican congressman, faced a lot of controversy about the fact that he made up his personal and professional experience and background. Santos received federal charges for wire fraud and money laundering, much of which was resisted by him and his Republican colleagues. A House Ethics Committee report revealed his wrongdoing, leading to a “historic” expulsion from the House with bipartisan support.

Source Evaluation:

The news source of this article, CBS news, holds a reputation for being a reliable fact-based news source that is slightly left leaning. Though it also is noteworthy that even though the source is headquartered in New York City, a predominantly liberal city, the news source broadcasts to the wider U.S. and not just the city it resides in. The article itself presents a very detailed account of the Santos fraud and consequent responses from fellow politicians and legislators—an indication of detailed and in-depth news reporting. However, readers should also be cognizant of the fact that media outlets like CBS news, whether intentionally or unintentionally, can subtly influence the interpretation of political events if the news source leans in a particular manner. For example, the quotes chosen in the article to describe Santos’s actions could have been framed in a way that demonizes the Republican Party or favors the Democratic Party. It is hard to say if this actually happened because we don’t have access to all the quotes received by the CBS reporters. However, with this in mind, because selective exposure can occur, it is beneficial to cross-reference with other news outlets to diminish the effect of editorializing. Considering CBS is a news source that broadcasts to the entire U.S. and not just the liberal city it is based in, however, it is likely that the news source aims to remain as neutral and middle ground as possible. However, a political scandal is where biases can come about.

Connection to a political psychological concept from class:

The Santos scandal as shown in the CBS News article can be looked at through a concept we learned in class on 2/6 on biases called “cognitive dissonance.” This concept is under consistency theory, and explains “an aversive state of psychological tension that results when our behavior is inconsistent with our attitudes.” In the case of Santos, cognitive dissonance is able to be applied to both the reactions of his fellow politicians/the public and his own actions. When he made up his background and denied evidence it is possible it shows that there was a state of tension between the reality of his actions and his desired self-image. With this dissonance, it likely propelled him to maintain those fabrications even when there was evidence against it, because if he admitted the truth there would not only be great psychological discomfort but also it would threaten his career (which it did). For his colleagues/the public, cognitive dissonance can be applied when people experience tension with their support for Santos in light of all the evidence of his unethical behavior, especially for people who initially defended Santos. Their reassessment of his character and their judgment creates further conflict with earlier support. However, the decision of many republicans and the public to support him leaving the House reflects resolution of the dissonance, forcing realignment of the beliefs of the public to restore consistency in psychological beliefs and values.

- Marissa Mathieson