On partisan "Echo Chambers"

The 2022 article was inspired by ongoing discussions on “echo chambers,” the idea that the media exposes people to overwhelmingly partisan and like-minded news content. To gauge the scale of the echo chamber problem, we asked: how many people have a news diet that is made of majority highly partisan sources? The figure below is somewhat unique because we present results corresponding to multiple definitions of “majority”--50% and 75% of an individual’s total news consumption. You can also adjust the “strictness” of the highly partisan content definition with the lenient/stringent button.

Note- we only capture internet browsing on desktop computers—not mobile devices, so it is conceivable that people see even less or much more partisan content on their mobile devices.

Echo Chambers on the TV and Internet

Partisanship ?
Lenient
Strict
What does "partisan" mean here? There's no single correct answer. Reasonable people disagree about which news sources count as partisan, and that choice can substantially change how many people appear to be in partisan echo chambers. This toggle lets you switch between two definitions and see how much the choice matters. Lenient sets a lower bar, so more outlets count as partisan. Stringent sets a higher bar, so only the most partisan outlets count.
Web: Each news domain gets a partisanship score based on the political leanings of the Twitter users who share it (Robertson et al., 2018). Under lenient, sites as far left as TheGuardian.com or as far right as FoxNews.com (or further) count as partisan. Under stringent, the cutoffs move further out, to Slate.com on the left and Breitbart.com on the right.
TV: Fox News, Fox Business, and Newsmax count as right-leaning partisan under both settings. Under lenient, CNN and MSNBC both count as left-leaning partisan. Under stringent, only MSNBC does.
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