Dona-Gene Barton, associate professor of political science at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, was interviewed for a March 26 HuffPost article on how politicians on both sides of the aisle have taken advantage of Americans’ shortened attention spans to sway public opinion in their favor.
When a topic feels more “cognitively demanding,” she said, voters are quick to grab onto shortcuts they are offered.
“It’s easier for voters to turn to trusted political elites to condense the information for them,” said Barton, whose research examines the lifespan of political information and voters’ waning attention spans.
In her study of the 2016 election, Barton found that a barrage of election news can lead people — especially Democrats — to tune out political coverage. When such a voter encounters a memorable line or easy-to-digest stat that comes from a politician, they are likely to latch on, she said, and both sides have sound bites for each policy issue.
“All politicians do this,” Barton said. “Depending on who you hear from, (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) activity is framed as violating human and legal rights vs. removing the worst of the worst from U.S. soil. Medicaid is framed as a program designed to protect the vulnerable vs. deserving of cuts to combat massive fraud, waste and abuse.”
Though it might be painful, Barton suggested people tune into the other side’s cable news network of choice sometimes, for additional context.
“Voters are all too often focused on who is making the statements and believing like-minded political figures without giving much thought to the policy details themselves,” she said. “Listening to sources from both sides of the political aisle can help combat some of this.”
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