Do people watch television content that matches their belief systems or does the programming shape their views? Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and Yale have concluded that what people see on their screens significantly influences their understanding of the truth — findings that are particularly relevant for a deeply divided India. For the study in the United States of America, the researchers paid a group of Republican viewers of the conservative Fox News channel to watch the more liberal, pro-Democratic CNN. After a month, the participants were posed a set of leading questions. Those Fox viewers who had been watching CNN were significantly less likely to believe in right-wing conspiracy theories than those who had continued to watch Fox. Still, even the set that had been watching CNN for the previous month quickly switched back to their usual channel of choice: Fox. On the one hand, the study outcomes suggest that television can change people’s views. At the same time, however, the results show that when left to themselves, people often switch back to content they have traditionally watched even if a different platform offers them an alternative perspective that could help enrich their thinking.
These findings should both inspire hope and spark concern among those who are worried about the growing polarization in Indian society and the role that screaming — and often lying — news anchors play every day and night in fanning the flames of bigotry on television screens. It is no secret that many in the television industry view such provocative content as a gateway to higher ratings. When such news coverage also serves the interests of those in political power, it becomes even more dangerous, since those responsible for ensuring social harmony, law and order can no longer be counted on to fulfil their duty. Social media, where vitriol and abuse pass largely unchecked, makes things worse. An analysis of Twitter posts by researchers at Netaji Subhas University of Technology in New Delhi published in 2020 found that biased tweets by news organizations further divide those who follow them on the platform.
As the study in the US suggests, viewers who consume news from multiple sources with diverse perspectives are less likely to be swayed by misinformation. That is difficult in India — not because of the number of different sources of news that are available but because of opaque and monopolistic practices that are increasingly on the rise. A 2019 report by Reporters Sans Frontiers found a creeping concentration of media ownership in India. Meanwhile, more and more television channels today are owned directly by leaders of major political parties. The venom that is spewed on these platforms against minorities or opposing political parties is no reflection of free speech — instead it is political campaigning masked as journalism. Rwandan radio’s central role in instigating that country’s genocide in the 1990s is well-known. India’s news industry must course-correct before the actions of some in the sector lead to similarly horrific outcomes.
