Confirmation Bias and the 2016 Election

Voters today have a plethora of options available to them when it comes to deciding where to get their news from. No longer are they limited to a few television channels and the newspaper. They can now access the news through the internet, either by social media, blogs, or online news websites, in addition to the more traditional newspaper and television news channels. Giving news consumers seemingly unlimited options to choose from means they can most likely find some outlets that meet their preferences, whether by focusing on certain stories or interpreting the news in a certain way. Only getting news from outlets that agree with your point of view is known as confirmation bias.

One example of this is in the way Fox News and MSNBC first covered Hillary Clinton’s email server story. Fox ran articles titled “Hillary Clinton email controversy divides public,” “Hayes: Clinton email controversy ‘just the beginning,’” and “Clinton email scandal opens doors for other Democrats.” MSNBC ran headlines titled “Hillary email controversy continues,” “Carville: Hillary email will amount to diddly squat,” and “Clinton is ready to testify on emails before Benghazi committee.” These headlines represent just one way views can find confirmation bias in the news outlets they choose.

Another example can be found in looking at how CNN and Fox cover the push by Sanders supporters to win over Clinton superdelegates. Fox’s article “Sanders backers in full press to wrest superdelegates from Clinton” focuses negatively on the actions of some Sanders supporters in their efforts to convince superdelegates to support him, while CNN’s “Clinton aide: ‘If anybody is trying to rig the system’ it’s Sanders” focuses negatively on the Sanders campaign itself while presenting Clinton in a commanding lead.