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Americans who get their news primarily from cable are the only people who believe that Israel is not committing a genocide in Gaza, according to according to a new survey that examined the relationship between attitudes toward the war and news consumption habits.
The survey puts numbers on trends that have become increasingly apparent: Cable news viewers are more supportive of Israel’s war effort, less likely to think Israel is committing war crimes, and less interested in the war in general. People who get their news primarily from social media, YouTube, or podcasts, by contrast, generally side with the Palestinians, believe Israel is committing war crimes and genocide, and consider the issue of significant importance.
When it comes to the salience of the war on Gaza as an electoral concern, the trend continues. Just 12 percent of the overall public lists it as a top three issue, and just 3 percent say it’s their top issue. Of that 3 percent, nearly all of them get their news from social media or YouTube. One in 5 social media news consumers say Israel’s war is a top-three issue; the same is true for 18- to 29-year-olds.
Yet if nearly half of young people think Israel is committing genocide, why doesn’t it have greater salience as an issue in the election? The answer could lie in the choices available to voters: Biden has given his unconditional support to Israel, and Donald Trump has done little more than suggest, “I will say, Israel has to be very careful, because you’re losing a lot of the world, you’re losing a lot of support, you have to finish up, you have to get the job done.” If those are your choices, the actual choice seems to be whether to vote at all.
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Yeah, cable news wants the war to continue because it means more viewers (money) for them. Also, many of the cable company owners are pro-Israel to begin with, and want their agenda shoved down their viewer’s throats.
Thankfully, cable is circling the drain.
Meanwhile in Germoney, you are a nazi if you call it a genocide. “Never again” means no genocide on jews, if they are the ones genociding, that’s ok apparently, fully supported.
Whenever I hear that “anti-Zionism” is pushed as a bad thing, it makes me throw up in my mouth a little.
The horror stories I’ve heard from Germans around this situation sounds awful. Also, “Germoney” has me weak 😂
Asked if Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, cable news viewers said no by a 34-32 margin. All other news consumers said Israel is committing genocide, including print (36-33), YouTube (41-31), and social media users, who agree with the statement by a 44 to 19 percent margin.
So cable news viewers are not “the only people who believe that Israel is not committing a genocide in Gaza”. In reality, people are divided on this issue among all media groups. Cable news viewers are the only group where a (thin, arguably insignificant) majority believes that.
Just 12 percent of the overall public lists it as a top three issue, and just 3 percent say it’s their top issue. Of that 3 percent, nearly all of them get their news from social media or YouTube. One in 5 social media news consumers say Israel’s war is a top-three issue; the same is true for 18- to 29-year-olds.
If only ~10% of the public considers it important, then perhaps they are the ones whose attitude is “skewed”.
The Document Cloud data from this survey of roughly 1100 Americans, was unreadable on mobile.
“Cable news” is such an amorphous term, with plenty of crossover (“Get your NBC News on our app, or Roku and stay connected…”) that I’d like to see their definitions before commenting further.
One data point I found depressing? People who get their news via print only, were least prevalent; less than those who said they avoided news in any form.
They didn’t define it, they asked “Where do you generally get your news from on a day-to-day basis? Please tick all that apply. Print media, Podcasts/YouTube, Cable News, TikTok/Instagram/X/Social Media, None of the above.” It’s up to the respondent. Most people would probably put NBC’s app under cable news.
The answer could lie in the choices available to voters: Biden has given his unconditional support to Israel, and Donald Trump has done little more than suggest, “I will say, Israel has to be very careful, because you’re losing a lot of the world, you’re losing a lot of support, you have to finish up, you have to get the job done.”
To be clear for those inclined to carry water for Trump by interpreting his mob-boss-speak overly charitably, what he really means there is that he’s encouraging Israel to complete its genocide faster.
