Love it or hate it, we need the news. Now more than ever, examining where we’re getting is essential.
Too many of us fall into echo chambers, only tuning into reports that support our pre-existing beliefs. This is a result of confirmation bias. People tend to seek out information that confirms what they already believe and reject information that contradicts it. This happens largely unconsciously. It is particularly likely to occur when the issue is personally important, such as one’s political beliefs.
This phenomenon is most commonly associated with cable news, but young people’s news sources are no exception. Social media is the most popular news source for young Americans. About 15% of 18 to 24-year-olds get their news primarily from TikTok.
A 2023 study published in The Journal of Social Media in Society said that TikTok is “likely part of a new echo chamber as the algorithms being applied deliver ideologically compatible content to TikTok users.”
In general, it is important to seek out news from actual journalistic sources. Journalists must follow a code of ethics that social media creators do not. Among these journalistic sources, you must also try to hear from people who think differently from you.
Unfortunately, for liberals, this means filtering through heaps of reactionary, conspiratorial slop to find rational conservative voices. Still, we owe it to ourselves, to truth and to our fellow Americans to see past Fox News’ smokescreen and engage with reasonable conservative writers.
The Era of Trump
There is a wrinkle in the “read the other side” argument. Mainstream conservative media today has lost its way.
In the hunt for diverse viewpoints, you will undoubtedly notice that the most mainstream conservative news is overrun with conspiracy theories, fear-mongering about immigration and constant focus on the most trivial elements of the culture war.
This is a byproduct of the Trump era. The Republican Party has become Trump’s cult of personality, and the extreme shift of rhetoric and values reflects that. Republican politicians and figureheads are no longer focused on small government and Christian values. They are the party of “they’re eating the dogs,” violent insurrection and election denialism. Admittedly, viewpoints like these are unlikely to cause anyone on the left to expand their worldview.
In this situation, it can feel natural to dismiss the necessity of listening to conservatives at all. However, we must not let this happen. There are still rational-thinking conservatives in the world, with much to offer the marketplace of ideas. Tuning them out does both ourselves and our fellow Americans a massive disservice.
As is often necessary to be disclaimed, I have my progressive credentials. I have been a registered DSA member since I was 16. Social justice work has been fundamental to my every decision for years. Serious engagement with conservatives is what I credit most for my thinking being stronger and more nuanced today than it was before I started college.
Who to Read
A reliable mechanism for finding level-headed conservative thinkers is finding the most conservative writers within typically “liberal” publications.
A strong example is Ross Douthat for The New York Times. His examinations of religion and modern life are insightful and raise vital questions about whether liberal models of parenting, social life and policy are working for America. In his recent article “Masculinity Is on the Ballot,” he examines the role of gender and parenting in a way that is refreshingly free from misogyny. Instead, he raises the valid point that liberal ideals of fatherhood have not, so far, seemed to produce the desired results.
“If you look at the data on the teenage mental-health crisis of the past decade, the indicators are conspicuously worse for liberal kids, who are seemingly more anxious and depressed than their conservative peers,” Douthat said. Findings like these are typically under-reported by liberals themselves. This reality is essential for those on the left to understand and find solutions.
It was through Douthat’s work I found his fellow anti-Trump conservative David French. French is an evangelical Christian who’s written extensively about being pro-life and pro-natalist. He is to my right on nearly every policy position, and still, I hold his work in incredibly high regard. French consistently displays strong character and commitment to truth over mob-like loyalty to partisan dogma.
In an article criticizing cancel culture on both sides of the political spectrum, French said, “Ideological monocultures aren’t just bad for the minority that’s silenced, harassed or canceled whenever its members raise their voices in dissent. It’s terrible for the confident majority — and for the confident majority’s cause.”
Lessons in Humility
Princeton professor of jurisprudence Robert P. George wrote the guest essay “A Princeton Professor’s Advice to Young Conservatives.” In it, he advised conservative students to state their beliefs clearly and courageously, even as they anticipate ideological discrimination.
He also urged them to stand up for others’ right to speak, even if they do not agree with what is being said. He stressed the importance of scrutinizing one’s own beliefs, even beliefs that are deeply rooted.
“We should be mindful of one of the key things we all have in common, namely fallibility — any of us can be wrong, and all of us are wrong sometimes,” George said. “Intellectual humility, therefore, is an essential virtue in anyone who sincerely seeks the truth.”
This is what I would stress to my left-leaning peers who recoil at the thought of voluntarily and sincerely hearing out a Republican. The impulse to shout “Bigot!” can be a strong one, and one we tend to fall to too quickly.
It is any real progressive’s responsibility to remember — the truth has nothing to fear from examination.
