Our Shared Reality
Information ecosystem - mainstream
This project examines the erosion of shared reality in American media, analyzing how television news—historically the nation’s primary source of common information—is becoming increasingly fragmented. We investigate both the production side (what content is broadcast) and consumption side (what audiences watch) to understand the full scope of this transformation.
Key findings and contributions include:
- Quantitative divergence analysis showing how cable networks (CNN, FNC, MSNBC) have fragmented from broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) in topic selection and coverage
- Audience consumption patterns demonstrating that broadcast news still dominates despite declining viewership
- Cross-platform comparison revealing fundamental differences between television and web news diets
- Shared reality metrics quantifying the extent to which different audience segments experience common information
Our work demonstrates that the threat to shared reality comes not from cable news polarization alone, but from the overall exodus from news consumption—particularly among younger demographics who increasingly rely on fragmented online sources.
Featured Research
The diminishing state of shared reality on US television news Hosseinmardi, H., Wolken, S., Rothschild, D., & Watts, D. J. (2024). Scientific Reports.
Television is the dominant source of news for most Americans and has traditionally provided the U.S. with a shared reality: a common set of facts and perspectives about a common set of issues. This study shows that this source of shared reality is diminishing, but not in the way most observers fear. While major cable networks have indeed diverged from each other and from broadcast networks in topic selection and language, broadcast news remains relatively homogeneous. However, the audience of broadcast news consumers has declined substantially, mostly due to an overall exodus from news consumption, though it continues to dominate the corresponding audience for cable.
