Study Finds Conservative Media ‘Impeding’ GOP Ability to Govern and Win

Mediaite.com:

A new paper from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy concludes that conservative media outlets like Fox News have a serious negative impact on Republicans’ ability to govern and win elections.

The paper, written by New York Times national correspondent Jackie Calmes, is titled “‘They Don’t Give a Damn About Governing’ Conservative Media’s Influence on the Republican Party.”

The conservative media, she writes, is setting the agenda for the GOP, and this in turn is “impeding Republicans’ ability to govern and to win presidential elections.” Basically, they’re not offering real solutions and instead are fueled by anger.

One anonymous Republican said that basically every single legislative battle has been swayed by the conservative media because “the loudest voices drown out the sensible ones and there’s no real space to have serious discussions.”

There’s a lot about the history of the conservative media in America, with a particular focus on Fox News, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Steve Deace, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham, etc., and the conclusion brings up the long-running concern about conservative media being “untethered from reality.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Hannity responded in comments to The Washington Post, calling the suggestion he offers no solutions “bullshit” and accusing Calmes of having a “predetermined opinion” on the conservative media before she wrote it.

RELATED:  Sean Hannity lashes back at Shorenstein study on conservative media outlets