Television produces substantially greater partisan news-diet segregation than online media, establishing that the informational preconditions for affective polarization are more prevalent in TV than in algorithmically curated online environments.

[NARROW-VARIANT] Cable news channels can explain an increase in political polarization of similar magnitude to that observed in the US population over 2000-2008. Approximately 17% of Americans are partisan-segregated through television versus roughly 4% online, and TV news consumers are several times more likely to maintain partisan news diets over time. The growing polarization of cable news coincides with stability in the share of US adults that consume primarily cable news at about 15%, while the remaining TV audience distills into increasingly partisan viewers. Therefore (narrowed), Television produces substantially greater partisan news-diet segregation than online media, establishing that the informational preconditions for affective polarization are more prevalent in TV than in algorithmically curated online environments.

• Cable news channels can explain an increase in political polarization of similar magnitude to that observed in the US population over 2000-2008.
• Approximately 17% of Americans are partisan-segregated through television versus roughly 4% online, and TV news consumers are several times more likely to maintain partisan news diets over time.
• The growing polarization of cable news coincides with stability in the share of US adults that consume primarily cable news at about 15%, while the remaining TV audience distills into increasingly partisan viewers.

These are challenges this argument’s reasoning pattern must still withstand. Answering them on Isonomia strengthens the argument.

• Could a different cause produce the same effect E in this case?Open
• Is there a plausible causal mechanism by which C could bring about E?Open
• How strong is the causal generalization linking C to E? Are there documented cases where C does not produce E?Open
• Are there intervening or confounding factors that could interfere with the causal chain from C to E?Open
• Is the apparent link between C and E merely a post hoc correlation rather than a causal relation?Open

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