Why Mainstream Media Need to Be Careful

About Criticizing Conservatives

Many mainstream media outlets criticized conservatives with a broad brush over the Montana
Congressional special election winner Republican Greg Gianforte assaulting a reporter, Ben Jacobs.
Yet, according to behavioral science research conducted by myself and others, such criticism may
end up hurting the safety of journalists, instead of advancing freedom of the press and pursuit of the
truth.

First, the facts of the incident itself. According to the evidence available, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs
by the neck, slammed him to the ground, and punched him. The episode was witnessed and
corroborated by multiple independent witnesses, including Fox News and BuzzFeed reporters. The
local sheriff who earlier gave a financial contribution to Gianfortes campaign charged Gianforte
with misdemeanor assault.

How did conservatives respond? The assault took place on the evening of May 24, and Fox News
which had a reporter on scene quickly wrote up a fair and balanced account. The Fox News
account specifically stated that at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs
show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte, which Fox News certainly did not have to
do. In fact, the Fox News story contradicted the official statement offered by Gianfortes campaign,
which accused Jacobs of starting the fight by grabbing Gianfortes wrist, a statement now widely
seen as a lie. A conservative venue, TheBlaze, ran a piece critical of Gianfortes statement, and The
New York Post ran a similar piece.

Many conservative politicians also responded in a worthy manner. Within 24 hours of the assault,
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan stated that Theres never a call for physical altercations I think he
should apologize. This length of time is quite reasonable, as Ryan needed to find out the relevant
facts. Steve Daines, a Montana Senator and major supporter for Gianforte, also called on Gianforte
to apologize, adding I do not condone violence in any way. Under such pressure, Gianforte
rescinded his earlier deceptive official statement and instead apologized, saying I should not have
treated that reporter that way, and Im sorry Ben Jacobs.
Certainly, some conservatives did not respond well. The conservative radio show host Rush
Limbaugh practiced victim-blaming, implying that Gianfortes actions were not a big deal because
the journalist was being insolent and disrespectful. The Daily Caller, a prominent conservative
website, ran a story about some Montana voters supporting Gianfortes actions. A former
Republican congressman defended Gianforte.

Such problematic responses that appeared to condone or ignore violence against reporters do not
represent the majority of conservative responses. Nonetheless, The New York Times ran a story
entitled A reporter was body slammed, but some conservatives want the news media to apologize.
Chris Cuomo of CNN had harsh words for the Republican Party on the morning after the incident,
asking You know what I hear? Silence. Where is the GOP? The Philadelphia Inquirer carried a piece
entitled In Trumps America, that reporter body slam didnt come out of nowhere.

Other mainstream venues downplayed condemnation by conservatives of Gianfortes behavior and

emphasized those standing by him. The Washington Post, in its editorial responding to the incident,
quoted Ryans words supporting the right of people from Montanan to elect their representative,
while failing to mention that he demanded an apology. In turn, The Atlantic quoted a joke made by
Republican Representative Mark Sanford, while conveniently forgetting that Sanfords response also
condemned the culture of hostility toward the media that contributed to Gianfortes behavior.

Unfortunately, the content on these mainstream media venues fails to provide an accurate depiction
of reality, which harms journalist safety. Most of the content does acknowledge in the depths of
each piece that many conservatives condemned Gianfortes behavior. Yet behavioral science
research on news consumption shows that 59 percent of Americans are casual readers who only
read the headlines. Thus, many casual independent or conservative readers would fail to perceive
the widespread condemnation by conservative leaders of Gianfortes assault.

This outcome harms the safety of journalists. Research shows that our minds interpret new
information in accordance with our past beliefsa thinking error known as the confirmation bias.
The confirmation bias is one of several thinking errorsknown in behavioral science scholarship as
cognitive biasesthat lead to motivated reasoning, where people pre-select a certain conclusion
and reach that conclusion regardless of the facts. Fortunately, we can fight the confirmation bias in
such situations by evaluating the opinions of prominent influencers who have political motivations
to support one side, but fail to do so or even support the other side. Such strategies have effectively
changed peoples perspectives even in our current polarized environment. Unfortunately, many
mainstream venues failed their readership by not conveying the data needed for them to draw
accurate conclusions and thus advance press freedom.
Another problem comes from one of the strongest findings in behavioral science, which shows that
human beings respond very strongly to positive reinforcement. Through the style of their coverage
painting all conservatives with a broad brush, these mainstream venues fail to provide positive
reinforcement to conservatives who behaved in a prosocial manner. Research suggests that optimal
performance comes from a combination of internal and external motivations. External incentives
according to research, are especially crucial for promoting prosocial behavior such as protecting
freedom of the press.

A further issue is the equating of Trumps behavior with Gianfortes actions. Conservative venues
such as Breitbart immediately took the opportunity to condemn such comparisons, and call out what
the article depicted as media hypocrisy for failing to do the same when liberals used violence. As
others have accurately pointed out, while Trumps actions help create a climate of hostility to the
media, it is much more difficult to connect Gianfortes actions to Trumps words. Drawing such
connections undermines the already-low media credibility. A much better model for reporting on
this connection came from a conservative venue, The American Conservative. It ran a piece that
accurately describes how the hostility to mainstream media among Republicans predated Trump,
while acknowledging that Trump ramped up this hostility, and criticizing Gianforte for lacking anger
management skills. Such reporting, by providing an accurate depiction that attributes only a small
part of the blame to Trumps actions, helps protect journalists.

Next time, these mainstream venues need to provide accurate reporting to avoid undercutting their
credibility, to praise prosocial behavior to create incentives and positive reinforcement, and to have
all readers take away accurate impressions from their headlines. You can make a difference by
writing letters to the editor and making social media posts asking journalists to commit to accurate
reporting and to take the Pro-Truth Pledge for the sake of protecting the safety and freedom of the
press. What you can do right now is take the pledge yourself to show your own commitment to the
truth.
P.S. Want less lies in politics? Take the Pro-Truth Pledge, encourage your friends to do so, and call on
your elected representatives to take it!