New Study Reveals Even Higher News Bias in 2016 Election

During the 2016 presidential campaign, we tracked online news consumption among a national sample.

Data & Methods:

We monitored news provider usage during this period using comprehensive tracking methods.

Key Findings:

• Partisan isolation in election news was significantly higher (2-3 times greater) than previous studies found.
• Despite limited partisan slant differences across consumed content, partisans showed strong bias toward like-minded sources.
• Evaluations of candidates remained unchanged among those exposed to congenial outlets.

Why It Matters:

This research quantifies the extent of echo chambers in contemporary media and suggests their formation may be less reliant on extreme partisan slant than previously thought.