Americans are feeling perilously isolated and fearful, with politicians, social media, and news media feeding citizens a “myth of polarization.” That’s the conclusion of a year-long survey of 16 focus groups conducted by the Harwood Institute, which included one in Lane County. The institute’s founder and president, Rich Harwood, recently talked to KLCC’s Brian Bull about their findings. Bull asked Harwood to summarize their main conclusion.
Harwood: First, I think this notion that we are a polarized public is a misguided misdiagnosis of what's happening in the country today. It locks us into a self-fulfilling prophecy that there's no way forward, and we should just surrender to what's happening in the country. We don't need to. Instead, I think there's something much more profound and perilous and potentially dangerous happening in the country, right now, which is that people are deciding -because of these hard times in which we live- to segregate and separate from one another.
And that, while they're doing that, our political leaders, much of the news media, and our social media are intentionally manufacturing polarization to gain control, to get a greater sense of power. This is creating a kind of “surround-sound” that's confusing to people destabilizing disorienting. Where people can't make out reality which end is up and what's real and what's not. And so their response is a fight or flight response, where they're retreating or going into smaller groups to find safety and validation.
Bull: And I think the example you shared was the popularity of conspiracy groups like QAnon, for example, where people are trying to find bands, a sense of community and belonging that maybe they wouldn't have in normal times.
Harwood: That's right look when we become fearful, when we're scared. when we're confused, what do we do? We enter into this fight or flight. The fight part is that we look for places where we get a sense of belonging, where we can get a sense of acceptance and validation. And many times, unfortunately, those are places where we are engaging in a fight because we're trying to push back when we fear that we might lose something, when we fear that someone might take something away from us, when we fear that we're misunderstood. It's the natural human response to fear.
Bull: I remember before the pandemic, of course, there was a lot of polarization happening to along political lines. We had Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, who are very, very polarizing figures on the spectrum. And there were a lot of social issues too, and so I’m just wondering: Did the pandemic exasperate this or how do you explain some of the divisions happening before COVID-19 arrived?
Harwood: Yeah, look, I’ve been researching how Americans feel about politics their lives, this country for over 30 years now. And 30 years ago we released one of the first studies that said Americans aren't apathetic about politics, they feel pushed out. And at that point, they were complaining about a political system that had taken over. Over these last 30 years, this trend has been getting more and more closer to people's individual lives, where we want said, “The problem is over there, and now the problem has infected each of us.” So it is true that the pandemic has exacerbated what was already taking place, it is also true that the years immediately preceding the pandemic exacerbated what was happening. But neither of those created the problems that we're experiencing today. This has been a 30 or 40 year trend that's coming home to roost today.
Bull: Now, you’ve mentioned the news media a few times and being a member of the media I can’t help but-
Harwood: (laughs) I was waiting for this!
Bull: Yes. I can't help it but, you know that does feel like it's directed at me and my colleagues. When we talk about the media's role in perpetuating what you call the myth of polarization, how did that come to play? How am I allegedly responsible?
Harwood: Well, first, you know, people talked about the ill effects and the damage that the news media are doing on our society, long before I ever asked a question about it. It was one of the first things people wanted to talk about when we pulled people together, including in Lane County. Now that said: in the report, it is really clearly stated that people have much greater trust for local media than they do for national media. That people trust groups like public radio and public television, particularly public radio.
And so one of the recommendations we have in the report is that we need to make much greater investments in local media and local journalism that is close to people's lives, where reporters are embedded and engrained in the lives of those communities. They live there, they know folks there. They want these communities to succeed as much as they want to provide fair reporting as well.
I actually believe that one of the more hopeful ways forward is to provide greater support - not less support- but greater support to local media. So that they can eliminate the issues that we face, they can help us discuss those issues. They can help us make sense of those issues, and then we as citizens can figure out how we want to move forward together.
Bull: Well, that made me feel better.
Harwood: (laughs) I was waiting for you to ask that question.
Bull: Rich Harwood, is there anything at all that I have not asked you yet or anything else at all that you feel is important for our audience to know about your work on this area?
Harwood: The only thing I would say is that you know throughout American history, we have found ways to make progress in our country. Whether it's through things like the Civil War or women's suffrage, or civil rights, or voting rights, a whole collection of issues we as Americans have stepped forward to address stains on our civic fabric that this country began with, as well as to tackle new issues that we were confronted by. And I believe really deeply, not because I read it in a book, but because I work with communities in all 50 states and have over the last 30 years that, if we can tap into the DNA of America: American ingenuity American innovation, the spirit of this country, that we can actually overcome these challenges. And get closer to America’s ideals -which we are still pretty far away from- and that we can engage people in co-creating America’s promise moving forward.
Bull: Rich Harwood with the Harwood Institute, I really appreciate your time to talk to me about this new study you’ve done. Thank you again.
Harwood: Thank you.
KLCC’s Brian Bull talking to Rich Harwood of the Harwood Institute on its report, “Civic Virus: Why Polarization is a Misdiagnosis.”
Copyright @2022, KLCC.
