Exploitative Media
US Media Expolits Human Frailties in Solid-Red States
In this article, a pattern jumps out: human frailties are exploited in solid-red states.
But the reader is cautioned: some of the facts referenced below are offensive. Why? Because this study exposes the extreme popularity of porn in solid-red states; a topic avoided by most major media.
This article is the fourth in a series that explores the polar differences between 15 solid-blue and 17 solid-red states. For a listing of the states and additional information on the study’s structure, refer to the first article in the series: What Are You Searching For?
Democrats on Media & Entertainment
Thirty-six keywords in the Media & Entertainment category are polar-blue (popular in solid-blue states and unpopular in solid-red states). Two are extremely polar (scores 28 to 32). The rest are either very polar (scores 24 to 27) or polar (scores 20 to 23). As you can see in the list, solid-blue states are major consumers of media, especially news.
Wikipedia
Prior research shows that Wikipedia is very popular among Democrats and very unpopular among Republicans. This finding is confirmed here: all 17 solid-red states find Wikipedia highly uninteresting.
What is it about Wikipedia that makes it so polar? The single most distinguishing feature of Wikipedia is its intense dedication to facts. Wikipedia rigorously flags and restricts content that is not referenced. In effect, Wikipedia is the leading “anti-fake news” site. It has no profit motive, no stockholders to please, and no political axe to grind. Its content is created and rigorously edited by volunteers all around the world.
Facebook executives repeatedly testify to Congress that it is impossible to monitor and eliminate fake news and harmful content from their platforms. Wikipedia proves them wrong every day. The more likely explanation: it is far more profitable for Facebook to promote falsehoods on its platform than to follow Wikipedia’s lead and eradicate them.
Facebook executives deny they cater to, let alone exploit, a strong preference in red-leaning states for content laden with lies, insults, and conspiracies. The facts in the Republican and Facebook sections below prove them wrong.
LinkedIn is a social media site heavily focused on career advancement. This is the leading site for posting resumes, highlighting professional accomplishments, and seeking new job positions.
Eleven out of 15 solid-blue states, but zero out of 17 solid-red states, are highly interested in LinkedIn. It seems logical to suspect that career advancement is not a common aspiration in solid-red states.
It is ironic and contradictory that Republicans obsess over work requirements for food stamps, yet show little interest in career advancement.
News and Editorial
The solid-blue states often consult 23 news and editorial sites that hold little to no interest among solid-red states. For example, The New York Times and the Washington Post are very popular among solid-blue states but not a single solid-red state is interested in either one.
Obviously, solid-blue states value being well-read and demonstrate it by consulting a wide range of news sources. In contrast, as we will see below, only five news and editorial sites are polar for solid-red states.
Entertainment
Programming for Apple TV, Netflix, Showtime, HBO, and NBCUniversal obviously appeals to solid-blue states much more than to solid-red states. It is hard to say why.
The most polar-blue entertainment keyword is Apple TV. One of the site’s most popular shows is Ted Lasso (starring Jason Sudeikis). Sudeikis says the Lasso character was softened and made less “binary” in response to Trump’s negativity. But even if that turned solid-red states against Apple TV, the theory would hardly explain why the other streaming services are unappealing in solid-red states.
Republicans on Media & Entertainment
This study found 19 polar-red keywords in Media & Entertainment. One type of keyword makes a very prominent appearance: porn.
Porn
Eight out of 19 of the polar-red keywords are porn-related. The most polar of these is Pornhub, one of the most-visited sites on the internet. It has 61% more search traffic than Facebook and 43% more than YouTube (from Ahrefs).
Fifteen out of 17 solid-red states have a high interest in Pornhub. In contrast, only one solid-blue state has a high interest: Illinois.
What does this mean? After overcoming the shock that porn-viewing behavior is dramatically different between solid-red and blue states, we should connect the dots.
- By definition in this study, solid-red states overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2020 and Republican Senators in 2022.
- Most pornography treats women as sexual objects rather than as unique individuals who engage in sex as part of an intimate relationship.
- Porn addiction is defined as extensive use of porn such that it interferes with daily life and relationships. Given the high traffic on porn sites and the high attractiveness of porn in solid-red states, it is logical to suspect that the porn addiction rate is much higher in solid-red states.
- Donald Trump was found guilty of sexual abuse and defamation in the E. Jean Carroll case. Trump’s popularity versus DeSantis among Republicans rose after Trump’s guilty verdicts were announced.
- Donald Trump bragged about committing sexual abuse on the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape. It was extensively covered near the end of his 2016 campaign. Despite the tape’s blatant misogyny, solid-red states voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016 and 2020.
- A prominent Democrat, Al Frankin, resigned in 2018. First, a picture depicted him holding his hands above Leeann Tweeden’s breasts while she was asleep. After additional complaints of inappropriate sexual advances surfaced, Democrats pressured him to resign and he did so.
These are not random, unrelated facts. They tell a story of misogyny in large Republican segments of American society. It is a story we intuitively know but hesitate to discuss openly, let alone punish appropriately. Additional indications of Republican misogyny will be revealed in future articles that focus on respect for women.
Propaganda
Fox Corporation agreed to pay $787.5 million to resolve a defamation suit by Dominion Voting Systems, leading to the cancellation of Tucker Carlson’s show and a quarterly net loss of $50 million. Despite poor stock performance and obvious editorial and programming failures, Fox blames the presiding judge (a conspiracy theory) and claims it has always adhered to the highest journalistic standards (a proven lie).
This is a perfect example of Fox News’ polarizing propaganda. In the past, polarizing propaganda was only mainstream in Russia and China. Now Fox News is the most popular programming tool on the largest “news” station in the USA.
Rupert Murdoch launched Fox News in 1996 and named Roger Ailes CEO. Ailes was a longtime media consultant for Republicans, including George H. W. Bush, and was the producer for Rush Limbaugh. Ailes was forced to resign in 2016 after multiple sexual harassment allegations against him became public.
Joining Fox News with highly polarizing conservative propaganda are Newsmax, The Daily Wire, and Breitbart.
Facebook is the fourth most popular website in the US with 12.5 billion visits in April 2023. It is also a highly polarized site. Only one solid-blue state (Vermont) is very interested in Facebook while 13 solid-red states use this search term very often.
Facebook’s ties to voting patterns are well documented. It played a major role in Trump’s 2016 victory and Facebook’s algorithms continue to feed ultra-far-right lies and conspiracy theories to interested site visitors, especially in the solid-red states.
While Facebook may be less overt in its promotion of lies and conspiracies than in 2016, it is still a highly polarizing force in US society. Facebook became a major contributor to the January 6 insurrection by proliferating the Big Lie. Realizing this, Trump’s Facebook account was closed the following day. But it was too little too late.
Trump’s Facebook account was restored two years later (January 7, 2023). No problem for Trump. He now has 34 million followers on Facebook.
All of this begs the question: What level of Trump lies, insults, bullying, and propaganda will Facebook tolerate or promote during the 2024 election cycle?
Entertainment
Again it is hard to say why a streaming service like Paramount Plus is more popular in solid-red states. It may be tied to the attractiveness of discounts or promotions offered by cable and streaming providers or gaming companies in solid-red states, but this is just a theory.
Observations
Humans have well-known frailties, such as a tendency to lie and abuse women. The difference between civil and uncivil societies is marked by how well they manage our ugliest of tendencies.
The United States is in a culture war. The struggle for civility is being lost. Much, if not most, of the war is being waged on the internet, where our elected officials and justice system fail to properly regulate and enforce civility.
Hopefully, this series of articles marshalls powerful data that exposes the depths and ugliness of our culture war. Only by knowing how we foster an uncivil society can we restore civility.
