{"id":5148,"date":"2016-08-03T23:40:40","date_gmt":"2016-08-03T23:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=5148"},"modified":"2019-04-06T09:03:04","modified_gmt":"2019-04-06T09:03:04","slug":"what-the-favorite-tv-shows-of-trump-supporters-can-tell-us-about-his-appeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/what-the-favorite-tv-shows-of-trump-supporters-can-tell-us-about-his-appeal\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Favorite TV Shows of Trump Supporters Can Tell us About His Appeal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aaron Duncan<\/a>, University of Nebraska-Lincoln<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

According to new data<\/a>, supporters of Donald Trump prefer to get their news from television and enjoy watching crime dramas.<\/p>\n

These findings might sound insignificant. But they actually offer insight into Trump\u2019s rise. As a presidential candidate, he\u2019s claimed that illegal immigrants are flooding the country with \u201cno regard for the impact on public safety<\/a>,\u201d while warning that if things don\u2019t change, \u201cwe\u2019re not going to have a country anymore \u2013 there will be nothing left<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

This rhetoric supplements our current media environment, which, as studies have shown<\/a>, cultivates a false perception of the world as a mean, violent place. And it\u2019s laid the groundwork for many of Trump\u2019s most successful appeals to fear.<\/p>\n

Mean world syndrome<\/h2>\n

In the 1970s, communication professor George Gerbner<\/a> began studying the effects of violence on television. One of his most striking discoveries was that watching significant amounts of violent television changed viewers’ outlook on the world. Specifically, those who watched a lot of violent shows on TV began to see the world as a dangerous place; they were more likely to overestimate the real-world occurrence of crime and violence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gerbner dubbed this outcome \u201cmean world syndrome,\u201d because people who consumed a lot of violent television came to think of the world as a mean and scary place. In a 1997 profile of Gerbner, The Atlantic journalist Scott Stossel summarized Gerber\u2019s conclusions<\/a>: that, in the end, \u201cwe become fearful and anxious \u2013 and more willing to depend on authorities, strong measures, gated communities, and other proto-police-state accouterments.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be clear, watching violence on television<\/a> doesn\u2019t cause violence, much like watching sexual activity<\/a> doesn\u2019t cause people to have sex. What it does do is make us more afraid and more willing to look for authoritarian figures to make us feel secure.<\/p>\n

The TV viewing habits of a Trump supporter<\/h2>\n

Earlier this year, Tivo<\/a> provided data for the top five shows that supporters of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton watched more than the average American.<\/p>\n

Of the shows watched by Trump supporters, all five focused on crime as a central plot point \u2013 \u201cThe Mysteries of Laura,\u201d<\/a> \u201cNCIS,\u201d<\/a> \u201cNCIS: New Orleans,\u201d<\/a> \u201cLimitless\u201d<\/a> and \u201cRosewood.\u201d<\/a> In contrast, only one of the shows watched by Clinton supporters was focused on crime (\u201cThe Mysteries of Laura\u201d). The others were \u201cCrazy Ex-Girlfriend,\u201d<\/a> \u201cThe Good Wife,\u201d<\/a> \u201cMadame Secretary\u201d<\/a> and \u201cTelenovela.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Demographic data on TV viewership<\/a> also show that Trump supporters prefer to get their news from TV and watch more TV news on average than the general public. Roughly 60 percent of Trump supporters prefer to receive their news from television instead of reading it online or in print. By comparison, 55 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of Bernie Sanders supporters expressed a preference for reading about political candidates either online or in the newspaper.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The NCIS series was a favorite among Trump supporters.<\/span>
\nCBS<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Studies have shown how television news relies on fear-based appeals<\/a> to both capture and maintain viewers\u2019 attention. Research has also found<\/a> that watching television news not only leads to a greater fear of crime, but also increases audience members’ support for for capital punishment and handgun ownership.<\/p>\n

A nation slipping into chaos?<\/h2>\n

Based on Donald Trump\u2019s rhetoric, it should come as no surprise that people who find themselves drawn to the Republican candidate also like crime dramas.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s strong stance on crime and gun rights resonates highly with this audience. He\u2019s argued that Hillary Clinton would take away Americans’ right to own guns and has gone so far as to contend that<\/a> \u201cThe Second Amendment is on the ballot in November.\u201d Trump also supports the movement for a national right to carry<\/a> a concealed weapon \u2013 a position that\u2019s likely to resonate with people who envision a world in which they need a handgun to be safe.<\/p>\n

In addition, Trump has masterfully appealed to those susceptible to \u201cmean world syndrome.\u201d During his address at the RNC<\/a>, he relied heavily on the rhetoric of fear, contending that the world is slipping into chaos. He depicted a nation in crisis, stating, \u201cThe attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though he argues that the United States is overrun with violent crime and disorder, there\u2019s ample evidence to the contrary. Reports from the FBI<\/a> indicate violent crime has actually been on a steady decline over the last two decades.<\/a><\/p>\n

But this type of rhetoric is nothing new for Trump, who began his campaign by declaring that Mexico<\/a> was sending rapists and murderers pouring over America\u2019s borders. Based on factual data<\/a>, these claims are also false. However, as it\u2019s been noted, Trump relies on rhetorical appeals to fear and populism<\/a>. Newt Gingrich defended Trump\u2019s claims about violent crime in America by stating,<\/a> \u201cthe average American, I will bet you this morning, does not think crime is down, does not think they are safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crime shows on television and news broadcasts have helped cultivate the very feelings that Gingrich referred to. And unless they\u2019re alleviated, those feelings could carry Trump all the way to the White House.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Aaron Duncan<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a>. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Feature image source: inthesetimes.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aaron Duncan, University of Nebraska-Lincoln According to new data, supporters of Donald Trump prefer to get their news from television and enjoy watching crime dramas. These findings might sound insignificant. But they actually offer insight into Trump\u2019s rise. As a presidential candidate, he\u2019s claimed that illegal immigrants are flooding the country with \u201cno regard for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":5162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,4],"tags":[147,479,696,917,860,916,877,915,700,228,240,536,876],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5148"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5148"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6298,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5148\/revisions\/6298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}