Contentious Talk Shows Really Are Hurting America
American Prospect

By Mary Beckman

When The Daily Show's Jon Stewart told CNN's Crossfire hosts that their form of combative political commentary was "hurting America," he was on to something. And when CNN/US President Jonathan Klein agreed and canceled the show, he also might have sensed what new research is getting at: "In-your-face" television has the capacity to polarize viewers on political issues and turn people off of the political process.

What has changed in the last 50 years has been the way Americans get to know their candidates. Voters used to gather in town squares and watch politicians live and in person. Now citizens welcome their favorite candidates into their homes on television. And during the last decade, rancorous "debate" shows such as The O'Reilly Factor and Crossfire have gained in popularity, bringing obnoxious behavior up close and personal.

When faced with confrontation in person, people tend to back off to preserve their personal space. But when conflicts break out on television, the camera zooms in. Close-ups don't allow us to step back, making the experience somewhat unnatural. Diana Mutz, a political-science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and her colleagues wanted to know what effect incivility in televised political debates had on viewers. Their results were published this month in The American Political Science Review and presented at last month's meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C.

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