Editors

Andrea Patricia Baer; Ellysa Stern Cahoy; Robert Schroeder

Document Type

Book Section

Publication Date

1-1-2019

Publisher

Association of College and Research Libraries

Publisher Location

Chicargo, IL

Book Title

Libraries Promoting Reflective Dialogue in a Time of Political Polarization

First page number:

323

Last page number:

338

Abstract

Indignant speech blares throughout our polarized political climate, particularly in the press, in social media, and in campaign messaging. Indignation and polarization reinforce each other: defensiveness toward dissenting perspectives gets voiced as angry judgment, and fire-breathing rhetoric on wedge issues drives individuals more deeply into one ideological camp or another. A recent Pew study suggests that prevailing habits among consumers of political media, particularly selective exposure to media that confirms one’s existing outlook, serve only to accelerate the cycle of outrage and division.1 This pervasive and growing dynamic is essentially an information problem; as such, a timely and relevant education in information literacy should prepare students to reflect on this troublesome feature of our political communication.

Disciplines

Library and Information Science

File Format

pdf

File Size

1.891 KB

Language

English

Permissions

L:\Institutional Repository\Library Faculty\Lenker Mark\Permissions

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