You, dear listeners, are a highly discerning bunch.  You get your news from reputable, independent sources like WORT.  As a community radio news consumer, you may think to yourself: “Why do so many people guzzle the pablum from partisan news outlets like Fox News?  Surely, it must be those mystical algorithms on social media that push that junk into people’s consciousness.”  As comforting as it might be to blame computer programming for the plethora of partisan talking points masquerading as news, the sad truth is, people listen to such stuff because they like it.  That’s the conclusion of a joint study from Northeastern and Rutgers Universities.  Katya Ongyanova from the Rutgers University School of Communication and Information is one of the authors of the study, and Katya joins us now by phone.

 

Image courtesy: geralt / PIXABAY

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